Non-existent hate crime prompts $1 million diversity initiative

The Daily Caller reports that the University of Delaware is launching a $1 million “diversity” initiative in response to a non-existent hate crime. The “hate crime” consisted of “nooses” supposedly found hanging from a tree on campus. But the police found, and demonstrated through a video, that the alleged nooses were just the remnants of paper lanterns from an earlier campus event.

No matter. One administrator said the mere thought that paper lanterns could have been nooses shows the school has a toxic racial environment. That will be $1 million, please.

It seems to me that the mere thought that paper lanterns could be nooses suggests that some students have been conditioned to find racism (and, more broadly, victimization) where none exists. “Diversity training” will further inculcate this mentality.

And how, pray tell, does one spend $1 million on a diversity initiative? According to the Daily Caller, the college president has not said. I hope that the state legislature will inquire.

The Daily Caller notes that around 20 percent of Delaware’s population is African-American, compared to only 5 percent of the student body at the University. But these numbers are meaningless without information regarding high school graduation rates, college board scores, and so forth.

If, upon sound analysis, the numbers reflect discrimination against African-Americans in admissions, the remedy is to end the discrimination — not to waste taxpayer money on a “diversity initiative” prompted by decaying paper lanterns.

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