<p>Report:</a> Oberlin Hate Crimes Were Hoaxes | Inside Higher Ed | August 23, 2013</p>
<p>
[quote]
The monthlong string of hate crimes that prompted a federal investigation and culminated in Oberlin College canceling classes for a day in the spring was a hoax orchestrated by two students who have since been removed from campus, The Daily Caller reported Thursday.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Many reported "hate crime" incidents at colleges in recent years have been hoaxes.</p>
<p>I’m shocked. Shocked! Oh wait. Not at all surprised.</p>
<p>Looks like more and more people are getting paid by the post to initiate politics-baiting on this site. Times must be getting tough.</p>
<p>Wait, I thought half your posts were about how awful it is that smart Asian kids are discriminated against because of holistic admission policies? Does that make you “obsessed with the evil of racism”?</p>
<p>One would think that the reaction to this was – whew! at least it was just a bunch of immature troublemakers as opposed to real hate crimes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No one is paying me. Stop making things up. There was considerable discussion of the Oberlin incident previously on this site, so it makes sense to post about its resolution.</p>
<p>A lot of us said at the time that these incidents weren’t cause for calling out the National Guard and that they were probably hoaxes, but there was a whole hysterical group of posters who were sure that these incidents were a harbinger of white supremacists taking over the entire country, starting with prestigious colleges.</p>
<p>This article offer some perspective on campus hate crime hoaxes:</p>
<p>[Hate</a> crime hoaxes present burdens, lessons for college campuses | Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/31/hate-crime-hoaxes-present-burdens-lessons-college-campuses]Hate”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/31/hate-crime-hoaxes-present-burdens-lessons-college-campuses)</p>
<p>Students know what is likely to cause distress and outrage on college campuses, and some will, once in a while, yank people’s chains for various reasons. The administration should always investigate but not overreact. Personally, I think that Oberlin’s cancellation of classes was inappropriate. It punished all for the actions of two.</p>
<p>We’re always told that we should not allow terrorism to disrupt our lives. These pranks are intended to cause fear. They should not cause the halting of the university’s core business.</p>
<p>Or someone who was freaking out could have come back and said that yes, in fact, this series of incidents seems to have been a hoax.</p>
<p>zm, I would not count this as breaking news. My guess is most people here hadn’t seen either The Daily Caller or Inside Higher Ed from yesterday/today.
In any case, I was not among those “freaking out” so I am not sure who you are addressing…or why it matters.</p>
<p>No you weren’t freaking out, but there were some posters who were very seriously upset and frightened. Hopefully, they will now feel better if they aren’t too committed to the idea that this actually happened. This thread actually isn’t all about you. Since this was such a big issue for some people it’s a good thing to provide closure. Whether you agree with the source or not, it’s still true and some of us wonder why, when the actual incident was such big news in other sources, the resolution failed to get the same coverage.</p>
<p>I don’t know why you would assume it won’t get covered–it just hasn’t yet. I also don’t understand the fixation among some here on reporting everything of importance to them thisveryminute. It’s not all about them. :)</p>
<p>Anyway, I am sure we would both agree that the horrific killing of the WWII veteran in Washington is much more newsworthy this morning, no? And it IS all over the news sites.</p>
<p>Interesting that this should come up now. My Oberlin D knew about this last spring when the kids were expelled. This is not new news. Must be a slow news day for the right.</p>
<p>Did Oberlin cancel all classes last spring and host a teach-in about the hoaxes? ;)</p>
<p>After stirring up a great moral panic in the country about with ludicrous stories about hood wearing Klan members tiptoeing all over the campus, Oberlin had the responsibility to reveal to the public that this was a hoax. They didnt. </p>
<p>If it wasnt for journalists getting the information from the police the record never would have been set straight. </p>
<p>And this is hardly victimless- these two idiots also harassed a girl for a month.</p>
<p>I’m having a little bit of trouble with this definition of “hoax”.</p>
<p>Someone engaged in behavior that they presumably knew would be disproportionately disruptive and terrifying to members of certain minority groups because they thought it would fun. Placing your own desire for “fun” over the need for students of color, and religious minorities to feel safe on campus is a classic example of racism. To argue “it wasn’t racism, it was a joke” just shows the depth of dominant culture privilege.</p>
<p>It may have been a “hoax” in that they were pretending to be members of a specific organization, but they certainly weren’t pretending to be racist when they committed those acts. </p>
<p>I’m glad they were removed from the college.</p>
<p>The Oberlin students deserved to be expelled.</p>
<p>Other colleges have more entrenched issues with racism, sexism, homophobia…</p>
<p>[Dartmouth</a> College roiled, again, by student insensitivity - Metro - The Boston Globe](<a href=“Dartmouth roiled, again, by student insensitivity - The Boston Globe”>Dartmouth roiled, again, by student insensitivity - The Boston Globe)</p>
<p>^I wonder if the Bloods and the Crips host Dartmouth-themed parties…</p>
<p>So, street gangs are off limits for satire/mocking? Seems they should be right up there.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Inside Higher Ed News is anything but “right”. :)</p>
<p>sally, why don’t you lay off Dartmouth for five minutes? This is the second thread you’ve brought this up in. AD is not representative of the entire school. The party was attended by 50 people, and even members of AD objected to it.</p>
<p>Try reading this, an Op Ed by two black fraternity members:</p>
<p>[TheDartmouth.com:</a> Smith and Payne: Equality in Brotherhood](<a href=“http://thedartmouth.com/2013/08/20/opinion/oped]TheDartmouth.com:”>http://thedartmouth.com/2013/08/20/opinion/oped)</p>