Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Interesting Conclusion to the Trinity Racist Post Controversy:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_30-2008_12_06.shtml#1228412938
I posted about the controversy [1]a month ago; to recap, quoting from
a [2]Hartford Courant story,
More than 200 Trinity College students, faculty and staff rallied
on campus Monday in response to a racially offensive comment posted
on an online message board....
The comment, posted anonymously on a website called TrinTalk,
disparaged minority students and said their admission to the
college correlated with a drop in the rankings of "our fine
Trinity." TrinTalk is not affiliated with the college....
I referred to the incident, and criticized a sociology professor who
responded that "If the college wishes to end hate on campus, ... it
could, by changing its policies to not admit students who are
intolerant, increasing student and faculty diversity, and making
diversity a central goal" (the Courant's paraphrase, but I confirmed
its substantive accuracy).
Well, here's the interesting twist, according to [3]The Trinity
Tripod:
Lynda Ikejimba '09 announced that she was responsible for the
racist TrinTalk.com post ....
"I am the person responsible for the outrageous, despicably racist
post published on the TrinTalk website," wrote Ikejimba in a
campus-wide apology email. "And I am a black woman. I am writing to
apologize to all of you for what I have caused."
Explaining that she had hoped to set up a social experiment
mirroring the satire of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift,
Ikejimba said, "In my experience at Trinity, race relations have
not been optimal. Those who have been here long enough can recall
the incidents that stand out the most, but often there are more
minor unreported events that ultimately shape our time here.
"Over time, significant efforts have been made to reshape the
culture for the better, with the establishment of the Campus
Climate Committee, and a surge in the number of accepted
minorities, to name two examples. In my mind, the metamorphosis
begged the question of how students feel about Trinity finally
shedding some of its legacy [...] For this reason I wrote in the
TrinTalk forum, under the guise of someone very resistant to the
transformation [...] These ideas notwithstanding, I realize now
that what I did was incredibly stupid and wrong, and far from the
shadow of any resemblance of literary work, the idea was
ill-conceived and its execution was horrendous."
Ikejimba ended with, "I asked whether the remake of the face of our
school was genuine, and the answer was a resounding 'yes', but I
deeply regret that the answer came at the expense of your dignity.
I am very ashamed of the pain I have caused the students, faculty,
staff, and administration, and I hope this apology brings some
sense of relief." ...
References
1. http://volokh.com/posts/1225296793.shtml
2.
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:9VSzRAeSXWIJ:www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-rally1028.artoct28,0,6715992.story%3Ftrack%3Drss+site:courant.com+%22Student+and+Faculty+Diversity%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a
3.
http://www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-trinity1108.artnov08,0,2944785.story
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