If you are a hate crime hoaxer you can expect punishment in the form of a thorough lashing by a wet noodle followed by a severe chastisement. It is also known at the student-run newspaper of the University of California at Berkeley, the Daily Californian, as "restorative justice." Of course, had the culprit been revealed to have fit the narrative of the thousands of Berkeley High School students who walked out of classes in protest of a "hate crime" last Thursday, then the prescribed punishment would have been much more severe with no "safe safe" for his privacy.
Here is Daily Californian reporter, Anderson Lanham, doing his best yesterday to pretend that the giant elephant in the room staring straight at him does not exist:
A Berkeley High School student responsible for the hostile language and threats to black individuals discovered on a library computer last week will face disciplinary action, according to school officials.
School officials are still in the stage of deciding what form the punishment could take. According to Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan, the punishment could range anywhere from restorative justice, which focuses on rehabilitating the perpetrator through community, to expulsion. The punishment will be determined through a confidential process in order to protect the student’s identity.
If the student had fit the narrative of the protesters, his racial identity would have been immediately revealed followed by instant expulsion. Yes, the name of minors involved in crimes must remain confidential according to California law but their age and race information can be revealed. So far we know the culprit is 15 so that leaves only one ID that remains a mystery...at least to those clueless enough to not figure out the obvious "tells" in supposed hate crimes.
A Berkeley High School student responsible for the hostile language and threats to black individuals discovered on a library computer last week will face disciplinary action, according to school officials. Students have also requested a space specifically for black students and faculty to have a discussion among themselves about their experiences at Berkeley High School and the campus climate.
That means the inconvenient culprit can probably enter that safe space.
The feigned cluelessness of the reporter is also shared by the Senior Editorial Board of the Daily Californian as you can see in today's editorial:
When public threats of terror against black students crop up on a school computer and permeate a community, any semblance of safety in an already racially tense environment is shattered. Taking steps toward healing — the first of which ought to be expelling the student responsible — must be done thoughtfully.
The triggering and traumatizing text and images were found on a library computer Wednesday. On Thursday, when students arrived at school, trying to make sense of the senseless, seeking answers but not finding any, they came up with their own response — to march. Students walked out of the school, taking to the streets of Berkeley as they did last December for the Black Lives Matter movement.
In the wake of this act of terror, the students’ strength is braver and more necessary than ever. The fact that the walkout was a protest of not only the administration’s response but also the incident itself demonstrates students’ dedication to the fight against racism and injustice.
It is now on the administration to give its full support to the student body.
Does this include providing psychological support to those previously outraged students now ashamed of being publicly revealed as complete schmoes because the hate crime has proved to be a hoax? Notice that the Facebook Berkeley High School Protest page quickly dissipated from hundreds of angry comments to none soon after the announcement that the culprit had been caught. Another strong clue that the culprit had a highly inconvenient identity.
The administration must create time and space for black students to discuss discrimination they experience within the Berkeley Unified School District as well as opportunities for solidarity and continued education of students, like it has already promised to do later this year.
It also must remove from campus the student responsible for such an outrageous act. Someone who thinks it is acceptable to call for lynchings and pledge allegiance to the Ku Klux Klan has no place on a campus committed to equality.
Pssst! Hello Daily Californian? Do you really have no idea why those same prominent news outlets which reported on the Berkeley High School walkout last week have now dropped the whole topic like an embarrassing hot potato? Somehow I can picture Berkeley High School principal Pasarow reading this editorial and thinking something like, "Hey, cool it with the removal from campus bit. Do you not get the not very subtle signals that the culprit is hardly a Ku Kluxer?"
This student needs to be educated on the effects and the moral reprehensibility of his or her action, but the necessity of removing the student from the space he or she threatened with historically entrenched racial oppression overrides the student’s possible reintegration into student life. Additionally, as called for by the NAACP, the school should disclose the discipline it enacts, even if it cannot disclose the student’s identity.
Is the Daily Californian editorial board really this clueless...or do they know the highly inconvenient facts and think they can bulldoze their way through with complete reality avoidance and pray to God, in whom they do not believe, that no one notices their all too obvious deception?
