Alleged Hate Crime At UVa (cont.)

UVa students are now out on spring break, but the town and Grounds (UVa has Grounds, not a campus) are still in turmoil over second year student, and candidate for Student Council president, Daisy Lundy’s report that she was victim of a hate crime attack last week (discussed here).

The Charlottesville Observer has an article today quoting some of the comments on a “make-shift message” board that was put up in Newcomb Hall, which houses the Student Council offices. Some examples:

“To the attacker: You were wrong.”

“It’s time for white people to tell the others that none of us will tolerate it.”

“There is no ‘us’ or ‘them,’ it is ‘we’ — We must make a change together.”

“Why are U. Va. students so apathetic? Let’s do something about the racist institution we are all a part of. It is not the university’s responsibility to change the situation! it’s ours.”

“I would like to see more outrage from the Asian community: She is half Korean, and this is not only a black issue.” [If she weren’t half-Asian, would it be O.K. for the Asian community not to be so angry? – jsr]

Recently, however, some skepticism has begun to emerge. One student wrote in a thread on the event on a university chat board:

So I’m supposesd to believe that some racist with a keen interest in the outcome of student council presidency followed this young woman to her friend’s room, waited until 2 am when she emerged alone, and then physically assaulted her but did no serious injury and then vanished without a trace in less than 60 secs? A little convenient I’d say. More likely, she’s engaged in a transparent attempt to prop up her flagging campaign by injecting a racist scare story into the mix. Any injuries were self- inflicted, including her impending expulsion for filing a false police report.

This was a decidedly minority view in the discussion thread, and another student with his own blog responded critically here. Nevertheless, given the circumstances of this incident, a certain amount of suspicion is likely to remain, even if only around the edges of student life at or beyond the borders of respectable opinion, especially in light of the number of hate crime hoaxes that have been discovered elsewhere. (On those hoaxes, see a John Leo article on “Faking the Hate” in US News , a 1999 article from the Chronicle of Higher Education on hate crime hoaxes at five campuses, and another on a hoax at Arizona State in 2001. (Chronicle articles require subscription)

In addition to the obvious need to bring Ms. Lundy’s assailant to justice, it is also necessary for the police and FBI to make quick progress in their investigation in order to keep these hoax suspicions from festering.