Racism Charges in Bus Incident, and Their Unraveling, Upset University at Albany

[cigsandcoffee]

Source: NYT




ALBANY — The allegation set social media ablaze, sowing shock and outrage as it went: Three black students at the University at Albany had been attacked on a city bus by a group of white men who used racial slurs as other passengers and the driver sat silently by.

The Jan. 30 episode, reported to the police, would draw hundreds of people to a campus rally against racism; an emotional response from the university’s president; and even the attention of Hillary Clinton, who condemned the attack on Twitter.

“We are shocked, upset, but we will remain unbroken,” one of the young women who reported the assault, Asha Burwell, said at the rally, on Feb. 1. “We stand here with strength because we value our worth as black women and as human beings in general.”

But only a few weeks later, what seemed to be the latest iteration of a now-familiar debate about race on campus — the protests, the anguished soul-searching, the calls for greater faculty diversity and administrative changes — has metastasized into a controversy of an even more scorching kind: the allegation, the authorities said, was a lie.




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/nyregion/racism-charges-in-bus-incident-and-their-unraveling-upset-u-of-albany.html

---

Incidents like this make it easier for people to ignore real problems with racial injustice.

[NaturalHigh]

1. I think prosecution is warranted in this case.

[TipTok]

2. +1

I'll be interested in their excuse if they ever provide one.

Side note. This same topic died a 4 reply death a few days ago. No one seems interested.

I wonder why?

[NaturalHigh]

3. I put out an OP on the same subject a few days back.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027644903

[Kingofalldems]

9. That's meta--maybe you should go to the admins.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1259

[Kingofalldems]

10. Because DU isn't Free Republic or the CC?

[TipTok]

24. Luckily this one seems a bit healthier...

It's an important topic.

Thanks for contributing.

[7962]

20. Gotta fit the right criteria to get everyone angry.

Sad, but true. And it happens all the time. If this story had the races reversed it would get 300 replies

[Angel Martin]

30. Lesson: wait for the facts

don't go all in on any incident, no matter how much you think it shows you are right.

[7962]

33. Good advice!!

Rarely heeded around here!!

[exboyfil]

4. I thought the remarks of the President

at the university were reasonably measured. He could have qualified them more regarding the uncertainty of the facts (accusations are not facts).

The public protest/demonstration was out of bounds (harkens back to the Duke rape demonstrations). You should only start demonstrating if it is shown that the authorities (police/university) are not doing their job in the investigation.

[elljay]

13. My Alma Mater

We had lots of protests at the Podium back in those days. Sometimes it was anti-apartheid, sometimes a protest of high prices at the bookstore. I'd eat my lunch out there and join in pretty regularly. If things are still the same, a few people organized a protest and everybody else was hanging out nearby and decided it was appropriate to join in based on the topic. Good chance many of the students didn't know much, if anything, about the particular incident but were protesting racism in general.

[NaturalHigh]

19. Good point.

[Democat]

5. There are DUers who believe accusations are always to be believed

Without any proof or evidence needed.

[LanternWaste]

14. The corollary is of course, also true

The corollary is of course, also true. There are DUers who believe that accusations made by minorities are always to be disbelieved without proof or evidence necessary.

[redwitch]

6. Close to home for me.

I am appalled.

[blackspade]

7. Shit. This kind of thing casts a shadow over real incidences of racism and assault.

This false allegation is only one incident out of hundreds of real threats to African Americans.
As a community, we need to not loose sight of that fact.

[rockfordfile]

8. I agree

[leftynyc]

11. People are going to feel free to ignore

these stories - at least until they're investigated thoroughly.

[brush]

12. You can't tell anything from that video on the link.

Everyone needs to view it before jumping to the conclusion that what the women claim did not happen.

[elljay]

15. I just watched it

and I could see one woman getting up and heading to someone in another seat, with a second woman following her. Several people then went over to the area, presumably to break up the fight. I didn't see any white men attacking any women and didn't see passengers ignoring the incident.

[brush]

25. There were too many people between the camera to tell what happen . . .

so you can't, or anyone else, tell really what happened behind that crush of bodies.

[Nye Bevan]

16. In general, never jump to conclusions or automatically believe allegations.

Another example is when five black teenagers were accused of a gang rape in a park in Brooklyn last month. It turned out that there was never any rape and all charges were dropped.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027637215

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141309998

The worst thing about false allegations is that they make people more skeptical of real allegations.

[KamaAina]

17. A friend of mine is quoted within.

Sami Schalk, an assistant professor in the university’s English department, who has devoted class time since the bus episode to talking through the implications with her students, said she was concerned that the women’s detractors had failed to consider the prejudice and “racialized language” the young women may have encountered on campus or before the bus ride that could have played a role in provoking the fight.

Whatever the outcome of the criminal cases, Professor Schalk said, the events had already served a useful purpose: making white students aware of the subtle slights that students of color regularly encounter.

“My white students have said this has opened up conversations,” she said. “Things that are inadvertent, small, but that these white students have no experience with, not being a person of color on this campus.”

[Nye Bevan]

18. Have the women claimed to be provoked into attacking the teenager on the bus?

I'm not talking about their initial lies which the videos debunked, but subsequently?

[brush]

26. The video debunks nothing. Apparently you didn't watch it . . .

because no one can tell what happened behind that crowd of people between the video camera and the incident.

[7962]

21. So basically she's trying to excuse the lie by saying it was helpful? Sheesh.

NO, the lie HURTS people who have REAL cases in the future who are now more likely to be viewed with suspicion instead of empathy.
And how does SHE know that white students on that campus havent been subjected to prejudicial acts or words? She doesnt. Because the reverse certainly happens plenty of times. It might even happen in Albany NY!

[RobinA]

36. Yep

This is about as helpful as that debunked Rolling Stone rape story. Which, as a female, pisses me off to no end. That one, like this one, didn't pass the smell test from day one.

[romanic]

29. Your friend sounds like an enabler of racial tension.

And someone who thinks lowly of black students.

Alot of black people face prejudice everyday; but alot of black folks wouldn't fight on a freaking bus and lie about it for sympathy. She should be concerned about these women's lies and whipping up local activists with a lie instead of "detractors" - many who are black themselves and pissed at these women.

[KamaAina]

32. Sami herself is African American.

It would come as news to her that she is "an enabler of racial tension" and "thinks lowly of black students".

[romanic]

37. My point still stands.

Your friend, regardless of her race, is still another academic trying to steer a narrative to her students in light of the lies brought upon from this incident in the name of identity politics.

[TipTok]

38. It may surprise her....

... But doesn't make it any less likely to be true.

What would her race have to do with it?

[Android3.14]

23. Things like this set back the efforts for equality, respect and acceptance

This morning, after posting in the AA group for years, because I thought certain claims seemed rather unlikely, a moderator banned me from there. It appeared to be politically motivated.

This situation reminds me of that.

***

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1187&pid=44438

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. Doesn't look politically motivated to me.

Somebody posted an OP about being in serious emotional pain, and you and several other folks, instead of saying anything along the lines of 'I'm very sorry for your pain', started asking for proof that the person was in pain. It's kind of a dick move.

[Android3.14]

28. I disagree

The person was making broad based claims promoting the meme that Sanders supporters are racists. The OP said Bernie supporters told him or her that she had no right to an opinion, that he or she should know her place, and that he or she was worthless.

These are dickish things for a person of color to experience, and if true, we should stomp on it aggressively. However, the accusations are nothing like what I have observed, are pointed at supporters of a political candidate, and therefore I think it is reasonable to ask for proof.

In the same way that the women attackers lies, because they appealed to our emotions, undermined the efforts at the university to come to grips with race issues, so does the unsupported accusations of the OP in that thread.

[Igel]

31. This is an ironic quote.

" 'But once you lodge charges against someone,' she added, 'in the minds of most people, that’s guilt'."

Which is the problem. The charges were initially lodged by the three young women. For most people, including the "social justice activist," that meant guilt. No additional proof, no evidence needed; no justification, no defense--to defend those charged with racism is equal to being a racist.

Except now that the young women are being charged, officially or in the court of public opinion, with misrepresenting and even lying, suddenly the truth of that quote is obvious and something to be horrified at.

Because the unmerited presumption of guilt instead of waiting for truth doesn't work for "social justice."

In fact, even up-thread, the very idea of ignoring a claim and waiting for evidence and a clearer story is a horrible, bad thing. As opposed to the much-merited and meritorious rush to judgment, I guess, that must be the norm in some lopsided justice frameworks.

[7962]

34. Everyone should read your post. It says it all

And a lot better than I could

[Democat]

35. Hope more people read your post

Many people want the presumption of innocence for themselves, but they want others presumed guilty.

[Darb]

39. I started out at UUA.

Upset University at Albany. Never finished unfortunately.

[kelly1mm]

40. The students that made the false claims were expelled from the University. Good. nt