Featured Image “Pavilion VIII at the Lawn UVa 2010” by Karen Blaha on Flickr, used under license (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic/CC BY-SA).
“Whenever an abstract ideal acquires the moral urgency that racial equality or opposition to “bigotry” has today, it’s only a matter of time until we find individuals for whom the noble end justifies the questionable means. The militant, moralizing fanatic — quick to compromise important principles in order to enjoy the flush of righteousness — is the stumbling block which any reasonable resolution of racial/ethnic problems must overcome.” — Laird Wilcox, Crying Wolf: Hate Crime Hoaxes in America
I really don’t see how people like Kurds, Bahá’í orRohingya have the gall to whine so much about persecution in comparison to those who really suffer – the pudgy pink middle-class trust fund brat social justice warriors. Direct threats of physical violence, rape, murder, and even harsh language, have run into the hundreds of thousands, are a daily occurrence so common that bleeding keyboard fingers are no longer capable of blogging about them – and law enforcement’s callous indifference, as usual, does NOTHING to assist the survivors… You only need to ask reputable serial victims like Brianna Wu.
Or so the SJW narrative goes – and gets mindlessly amplified by the fear and outrage dependent yellow journalism that passes for mainstream media. The sad result of this dereliction of responsibility by the Fourth Estate1 is that most of the people out there who have not seen their communities undermined and corrupted by identity politic crusaders, or been directly attacked themselves, won’t know any better without some serious effort and applied critical thought.
All of this (the free rein is given to SJWs to spout gibberish with impunity, free from all skepticism, scrutiny or responsibility and dogpiling and attack of any who dare to try, is what has brought about the present toxic environment,) one that is ripe for exploitation by intellectually and morally destitute narcissists that are leading the charge of the SJW brigade.
I only recently stumbled across the writings of LairdWilcox via fakehatecrimes.org where the full text of Crying Wolf is available for download and to be honest, am very surprised he is not better known. He identified the pox of the toxic culture warrior long before any of the commentators in the current resurgence of SJW stupidity2. To carry on directly from the opening quote at the start of this post –I’m going into full Oafy “CTRL-C / CTRL-V” Benson now. As Wilcox’s writing is available for download at above link, “fair use” seems moot, and I will be quoting large chunks.
Further, in my experience, this uncompromising behavior is often a way of compensating for a hidden inner ambivalence. The social psychologist Harold D. Lasswell has written that “dogma is a defensive reaction in the mind of the theorist, but doubt of which he is unaware.”
This unconscious ambivalence appears to explain the willingness of many so-called “anti-racists” to justify and practice a kind of reverse racism or “counter-bigotry.” This manifests itself in the “good” discrimination of affirmative action and race-preferential policies, as well as in rationalizing prejudicial and stereotyping statements about white people.
Twenty years ago one couldn’t have said this, but today discrimination in schools, housing, jobs and government is minimal. Institutional racism is virtually gone. In its place, a series of preferential policies are firmly established.
In recent years “anti-racists” have proclaimed that virtually every behavior and institution in our society is covertly racist. Anti-racism has become a small industry in the United States. Entire career fields are built around defining and combatting “racism” in one form or another. As individual problems are solved and offensive behaviors disappear, the definition of racism is broadened again and again to include more and more behaviors, hence we have the problem of “increasing” bigotry and intolerance. I suspect the last thing many professional anti-racists want is a truly race-neutral society. They have developed a vested interest in the continuation of the problem, a kind of “co-dependency” relationship if you will.
It’s no great surprise that a bright, socially-conscious individual would realize quite on his or her own that there’s nothing like some racist graffiti or some other “hate crime” to invigorate the militants, and what the hell, it’s for a good cause – right? Americans are not known for their ability to defer gratification for long. Hence, the racist or anti-Semitic hoax. It’s as easy as apple pie.
Consider a college campus boiling with racial and gender sensitivity, with courses in victimization, organizations for victims, a constant barrage of victimization propaganda — but no immediate and palpable victims. “Anti-racist” vigilantes with no racists (or misogynists and homophobes) to hang had better get busy and make some, and as we see, they often do.
What I see happening with hoaxes is a kind of “market” process: the frequency of hoaxes increases with their utility in accomplishing desired ends. When the “market” or payoff for victimization goes up, the temptation to create victimization where none exists is very strong, and the temptation of exaggerating minor cases of alleged victimization is even stronger.
This was written over 20 years ago, yet it is so eerily “now.”
The conventional SJW response to a researcher such as Wilcox would be to brand him a [insert whatever is convenient]-ist. However, reality, as always, conspires to challenge such nonsense.
Wilcox has quite a résumé. His life’s work is The Wilcox Collection Of Contemporary Political Movements which has turned 50 and is housed at the University of Kansas library. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest resources for the craziness that is modern American politicals. Beyond that, he has a long list of human rights, journalism, and free speech awards, and has been a card-carrying ACLU and Amnesty International for over 40 years.
In other words, Wilcox is an achiever – he does things humbly and quietly without the need for applause or Patreon parasitism, for the benefit of any that may have the need, contra the SJW drama queens for whom stepping out from behind a keyboard is just too much hard work. To brand Wilcox as anything less than a champion of civil liberties and egalitarian society would reek of the same worthless resentment that human failure peezee myers has for his infinite betters, Dawkins, and Hitch.
What follows below is taken from the same source and is pretty much Wilcox’s check-list of red flags for the scenarios of the alleged “threats” (or attention seeking stunts) claimed to be received by the well-poisoners that have created a lucrative business model smearing and vilifying the subcultures of atheism, skepticism, gaming, tech, sci-fi, comics et al. with vulgar accusations of misogyny, rape culture, white male supremacism and worse without providing any kind of evidence of an acceptable standard – and silencing all criticism and scrutiny with equally evidence-free claims of harassment, threat and a plethora of other insinuations of criminality against those that may pose awkward questions.
TRAITS THAT SUGGEST THE COMMISSION OF A HOAX
What, if anything, distinguishes hoaxes and fabrications from real racist and anti-Semitic incidents? Police, federal, state and local agencies and college officials have observed certain “patterns” that tend to suggest a hoax might be afoot.
- An incident that can’t be corroborated by reasonable evidence or disinterested witnesses, or is accompanied by an account which contains inconsistencies, or when the alleged victim suddenly refuses to talk to police.
Often, alleged hate crimes are insufficiently supported by evidence or reliable witnesses. Upon examination, the statements of the victim may contain inconsistent or contradictory elements. When confronted with a lack of proof to support their claims, or with problems with their story, the victim may become angry or frightened and cease cooperating with authorities.
- An incident that occurs just when it’s “needed” to promote awareness or sensitivity to racism or anti-Semitism, to disarm critics and make them reluctant to “talk back.”
Be particularly alert for hoaxes during appropriate holidays, birthdays, or on anniversaries of important events. Hoaxes may also occur following speeches by minority spokespersons, or at times when the issue of prejudice and discrimination is in the news. Also, hoaxes are more likely when claims by minorities are being questioned, as in controversies concerning black slavery or holocaust revisionism. The conveniently occurring incident should be carefully investigated.
- Repeat incidents, especially with “difficult,” resentful and easily offended individuals who frequently complain of disrespect, slights, insults or harassment.
Incidents directed at specific individuals are unusual. In some cases, hoaxers have been “followed” from one place or residence to another by hate crime perpetrators. Disturbed persons or attention seekers are frequently found among hoaxers. Bear in mind, however, that these individuals often create a “self-fulfilling prophecy” with their behavior and actually antagonize others to the point where they will retaliate in some manner.
- An incident that is particularly skillfully exploited by the alleged victim to attain victim status, manipulates institutions, obtains concessions, special privileges, or money.
When the victims response to a hate crime is particularly skillful and articulate, or when supporters seem very well-organized and appear on the scene very quickly, it suggests some planning was afoot. Bona fide hate crimes are sometimes not reported for days after they occur. Hoaxes are almost always reported immediately.
Because of the possibility of civil damages in hate crime cases, it is likely that hoaxes of this nature will be increasing. Be alert in the event
- Incidents which occur in improbable circumstances, such as racist graffiti in a mostly black dormitory or neighborhood, assaults that occurred in normally crowded areas with no witnesses, graffiti or vandalism in a room occupied only by the victim, and so on. Some hoaxes are surprisingly poorly planned. In several cases hoaxers had failed to dispose of incriminating evidence. The highly improbable case, where an actual hate crime would have been very difficult to pull off, is usually a hoax.
- In the case of graffiti, carefully drawn symbols or slurs suggest that the author really wants to get a point across — precisely what is meant and the repulsive character of the persons behind it and this suggests a hoax.
Most bona fide incidents represent impulsive striking out, not careful planning. Generally speaking, the more elaborate the circumstances, the greater likelihood of a hoax. Cases where the damage is deliberate, meticulous and extensive should be cause for suspicion.
- Another trait that suggests a hoax surfaced in several of the cases mentioned here. Here authorities suspect a hoax and this fact becomes known, the likelihood is enhanced somewhat when local antiracist and radical special interest groups defame and vilify doubters.
In fact, they may suspect it themselves.
Often the perpetrator will confide in others or even brag about the hoax. Persistent rumors of a hoax are often initially ignored because of “sensitivity” concerns, or because the principle players downplay the issue with threats and pleading.
- Finally, several hoaxers have reported marking or symbols painted on their bodies by their alleged assailants. This rarely occurs in bona fide cases.
For reasons that are not clear, body markings on the victim by the alleged perpetrators are apparently a cause for suspicion. One theory is that the markings are intended to represent wounds. Another is that hoaxers are often self-absorbed individuals and the markings are narcissistic attention-getting devices.
- Copycat hoaxes are likely to occur after an earlier, perhaps bona fide, incident has taken place that has aroused great publicity. A large number of similar incidents in a relatively short time very likely include some hoaxes. Often, some of the same people will be involved and the same symbols used for cases where the issue of lawsuits and damage amounts emerge early.
End of part 1. In part 2 of this article, the author will address the following question: how many of the above traits can be applied to our SJW victim frequent flyers?
Notes:
1 – First real effort to remedy this malfeasance – SPJAirplay
2 – Lest anyone think that what we are witnessing is somehow new, it’s not. This idiocy is something that has always been here – it never fully goes away, only volume just varies. Previously, we’ve had the date rape crisis of the ’80s (which was also the birth of the “1 in 4” codswallop), the feminist porn wars a decade earlier (the 2nd / 3rd wave schism) and, if we go way back, The Prohibition – a morality crusade to prevent vulnerable ladies from blossoming into loose women via the demon drink, driven by the much-glorified Suffragettes of the first wave who were also, surprise!, the core of The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.
3 – ::cough:: In fact 20 years later, it is as though universities looked at Wilcox’s advice, then threw together a think tank to work out whatever could possibly be done in diametric opposition and implement it.
This article was originally published under the title “TRAITS THAT SUGGEST THE COMMISSION OF A HOAX” – Laird Wilcox, ‘Crying Wolf’ (1994)” on grey lining.
