Colorblindness Comes To Michigan ... Sort Of
As long-time (or even short-time) readers of this blog have seen (and seen ... and seen ... and seen ... ), Michigan, and especially the University of Michigan, have endured a long and bitter struggle to revive the principle of colorblindness on the part of the state and its agencies. In this long struggle the official student newspaper, The Michigan Daily, has rarely if ever encountered any “color-conscious” program or activity that it opposed. Now, finally, it appears to have found one (HatTip: Jennifer Gratz).
Man mugged at gunpoint by campusNow, here is a report of the same incident in the conservative Michigan Review:
DPS issued crime alert to warn suspects
By Emily Barton, Daily News Editor
7/16/07The Department of Public Safety issued a crime alert Saturday after an Ann Arbor resident was mugged at gunpoint near campus because the suspects are at large and potentially dangerous.
....
The victim told police that the men were of average build, about six feet tall and wearing black hooded sweatshirts with the hoods up.
The Michigan Daily goes colorblind!Apparently not.After years of trolling for a racially-sensitive admissions process, the Michigan Daily has seemingly come to the realization that race just isn't that important - at least when it comes to armed robberies near campus.
An Ann Arbor resident was robbed at gunpoint near the intersection of Lincoln and Hill. The suspects fled, and are described by police to be at large and potentially dangerous. According to the Daily, the suspects were:
“of average build, about six feet tall and wearing black hooded sweatshirts with the hoods up.”
According to DPS [Department of Public Safety] however, the suspects were:
“#1: Black male, 6'2", medium build and clean-shaven, wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt with hood up and dark pants.
#2: Black male, 6'0", medium build, wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt with hood up.”
The Michigan Daily - where skin color is central to college admissions, but not relevant to armed robberies.
Look, we all know that criminals come in all shapes and colors. And if these suspects had been apprehended, I don’t have a problem with the Daily withholding their race. But if there are two gun-toting dudes prancing around campus, robbing people two blocks away from East Quad (the home of Summer Orientation) and the University’s own Department of Public Safety issues a crime alert, for the love of God, can’t the Michigan Daily put the racial agenda on hold for two seconds.