The Duke faculty sounds off again

Not long after the original accusations were leveled against certain members of the Duke University lacrosse team a group of Duke faculty calling itself the "Concerned Duke Faculty" bought a full page ad in a campus newspaper. The ad consisted mostly of a series of quotes from students at Duke about the pervasive atmosphere of racism and sexism on the Duke campus and in American society in general. The original ad can be seen here.

Now a group of Duke faculty has posted an open letter defending the "Concerned Duke Faculty" and their ad. They scold the unenlightened for misunderstanding their intent and swear that they were not prejudging the case. Their statement can be read here.

I thought that it would be interesting to examine some of the statements made by the Duke students in the original ad:

Everything seems up for grabs--I am only comfortable talking about this event
in my room with close friends. I am actually afraid to even bring it up in public.
But worse, I wonder now about everything. . . . If something like this happens to
me . . . What would be used against me--my clothing? Where I was?

What is really tragic about this statement is that it was made by a black student, but could have been made by a white student athlete. After all the University fired the lacrosse coach, suspended the lacrosse program and barred the accused students from class. The University claims to respect the presumption of innocence, but their actions seem to tell a different story.

Then there was this:

Being a big, black man, it’s hard to walk anywhere at night,
and not have a campus police car slowly drive by me.

I have genuine sympathy for this guy. It must really suck to be a innocent member of an easily identifiable group which is responsible for a hugely disproportionate share of the nation's crime. But the answer is not to force police to ignore the evidence of their eyes. The fact is that if you eliminate the crimes committed by blacks America has a lower crime rate than Canada. The answer is reforming the black culture and bringing it into the mainstream of American society.

And then there's this:

I can’t help but think about the different attention given to what has happened from what
it would have been if the guys had been not just black but participating in a different sport,
like football, something that’s not so upscale.

Again, the lacrosse program was suspended (does anyone see a championship football or basketball program being suspended because a few team members were accused of a crime?). The coach was fired (does anyone see a winning football or basketball coach being fired on a mere accusation?). The accused team members were kicked off campus (does anyone believe that if black athletes were treated this way that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and the whole race industry wouldn't be camped out on Duke's doorstep demanding that they be readmitted and granted the full presumption of innocence?).

The best quote, the one which sums up the state of affairs on the far left Duke University campus with its oh-so politically correct campus culture is this:

I was talking to a white woman student who was asking me “Why do people --
and she meant black people -- make race such a big issue?”
They don’t see race. They just don’t see it.

This is the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream. A society which does not see race. And yet this black student sees it as a problem. I wish that this black student would take his/her thought out to its logical conclusion. If whites aren't "seeing race" then how can they be racist? If whites don't "see race" then any difference in the social position of blacks and whites must be caused by something other than white racism.

The fact is that the default position of the overwhelming majority of white America is to oppose racism. White conservatives especially wish to see every last trace of race consciousness purged from our society and banished as far as the east is from the west. White America is almost pathetically eager to find a black political leader who isn't insane (Cynthia McKinney), a criminal (William Jefferson), a huckster (Jesse Jackson), a demagogue (Al Sharpton) or a moonbat (Charles Rangle) to vote for.

Colin Powell could have had the Republican nomination and would be president today if he had wanted it. Dr. Rice could probably have it in '08 if she wanted it as well. The problem is that any black "leader" who isn't insane or a criminal or a huckster or a demagogue or a moonbat is savagely attacked by other blacks who act as though you can't be "authentically" black unless you are fraked up to the nines.

If the Duke faculty is really so "conserned" then they need to understand that the principal contrabution that white people are making to the nation's continuing race problem consists of the white liberal left's enablement of black social pathology, not the white right's mythical desire to return to Jim Crow.