We’ve seen enough of these stories over the past several years to make them hardly worth mentioning, but the response to this incident by both the media and the Sacramento school district where it took place merits a closer look. The “hate crime” in question took place at C.K. McClatchy High School on February 11th. Someone spray-painted the words “colored” and “white” above a pair of drinking fountains at the school, suggesting racial segregation during the Jim Crow era. An investigation was immediately launched to determine who could have perpetrated such an outrageous, racist desecration of the school. Unfortunately for the perpetrator, the vandalism was caught on camera. And unfortunately for those who were loudly pointing to it as yet another example of racial intolerance in America, the graffiti had been applied by a female, Black teenage student who is not being named because she is a minor. (Daily Mail)

A black female high school student has admitted to scrawling racist graffiti over the drinking fountains at her high school, district authorities said Friday, telling them that it was a ‘prank that went sideways.’

The vandal inked the words ‘colored’ and ‘white’ over two water fountains at McClatchy High School in what appeared to be a reference to segregated drinking fountains found during the era of segregation in the Jim Crow South.

The unnamed girl was caught on video and confessed to the act. The school district has said she will still be disciplined.

The first curious aspect of the story involves the fact that it took so long for a public announcement to be made. The school obviously had access to that video almost immediately and if it had been some white kid wearing a face mask who they couldn’t immediately identify, the calls would have been going out the same day seeking help in identifying the racist perpetrator. But they sat on the story for more than a week before finally admitting what had happened. (Assuming they actually did admit it, which we’ll get to in a moment.)

If it had been some random white boy, you don’t need me to tell you what the response from the school district and the media would have been. But since it was done by a Black teenage girl, district officials are simply describing it as “a prank that went sideways.” A community liaison for the Sacramento Unified School District told reporters during a press conference, “I don’t believe those words that were on those water fountains were racist. I do not believe they were hate crime or hate speech. Part of it quite honestly is because the admitted perpetrator is a young African American woman.”

Keep in mind that the statement above is a direct quote from a school district official and it was captured on video. He literally said that the graffiti was not “a hate crime or hate speech.” He then admits that the only reason he’s saying that is that the admitted perpetrator is a young Black woman. So apparently it’s now just accepted that Black students are incapable of racism or hateful speech?

The same official went on to tell the journalists that it’s important for everyone to “come together and make sure this doesn’t destroy this person’s life.” Since I’m apparently going to be the one who is forced to point it out, it’s pretty obvious to me that if this had turned out to be an act committed by a white student, “destroying this young person’s life” would have been the marching orders of the day.

Questions were also raised by one activist as to whether or not the district was being honest about the results of the investigation. He claimed that a school board member had told him that the perpetrator had actually been a Black male student, not a female. That would suggest that the district is seeking to further obfuscate the investigation to shield the perpetrator because of his or her race.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I don’t think any rational person is saying that we should be accusing the perpetrator of engaging in a hate crime against her (or his) own race. This is actually something much worse. When we see these things taking place, including instances of nooses being hung in trees by Black students, what’s really happening should be obvious. These are actions designed to foment racial unrest and further divide society along racial lines. If you can’t find any actual racism or hate crimes taking place to make your point, you gin up some of your own and report them to the local news outlets.

These are not people who are interested in equality or following the words of MLK and judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. If fact, they want precisely the opposite. Do definitely do want to judge people by the color of their skin. And by “people” I mean specifically white people. Before anyone starts warning everyone about some new, 21st-century race war in America, you might want to pause and make sure you know who is pushing for that war.