Hate Crime Hoax
Hate Crime Hoax
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Hate Crime Hoax by Wilfred Reilly
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Dr. Reilly properly points out that hate crime hoaxes (“HCH”) are not harmless jokes intended to promote the mission of social awareness. Rather HCH rips at the social fabric by perpetuating noxious stereotypes and pitting communities against each other. Although Dr. Reilly did not mention it, another social injury that runs through his text is that HCH bankrupts social trust in our institutions, whether government, universities or journalism, as people know on some level that they are being gaslit.
I came to realize even prior to the 2016 election that many of the reports of hate crimes were mere hoaxes. During the aftermath of the 2016 election, I watched the social media outrage as one after another apparently fake hate crime was reported. Of course, it was impermissible at the time to suggest that a given hate crime was a hoax until long after the hoax had been exposed, by which time the narrative had moved on to another outrage.
Dr. Reilly's book is useful for those of us trying to hold on to our sanity in demonstrating in detail that what we are seeing is actually there.
Dr. Reilly's book is, in addition, quite enjoyable. He systematically dismantles HCH after HCS, invariably with humor and insight. Some of the cases he addresses are both pathetic and funny in their absurdity, such as when “Bias Outreach Response Coordinators” create the HCH they then blow up into a cause celebre to justify their existence. On other occassions, Dr. Reilly ably explicates the pathos of mentally broken individuals pathetically looking for some attention.
I came away from Dr. Reilly's book wondering about the mystery of evil. Some of these cases I can understand as ordinary venality, such as efforts to defraud insurance companies. Other times, the depth and extent of planning is completely baffling. Also, it is amazing how quickly these affairs unravel under the weakness of the plot's contradictions.
People should read this book. The key point of Dr. Reilly's argument is that HCH are ripping at American social fabric. Dr. Reilly, an academic, a conservative, and a POC, honestly believes that America is at risk of being ripped apart by HCH, which, though largely perpetrated by the left, have recently become appropriated by the alt-right. God protect America if both sides adopt the strategy previously owned by the Left.
Some of Dr. Reilly's observations need to be quoted. Here is one:
“The Dolezal case is an almost perfect metaphor for the relationship between the activist Left and the Black community. For almost half a century now, activists on the Left have ginned up charges of racism. They use faked or at best atypical incidents to create a false impression about the level of racism in America. And many of the activists playing this game are not Black. A surprising number—not just Dolezal, but probably at least 60 percent of BLM and antifa stalwarts—are not African American.43 And those who are biologically Black—the Nation of Islam, “the Moors,” the “Back to Africa” brothers—are completely out of touch with mainstream Black America, which is culturally conservative, respects Christianity, and is imbued with a nuanced but real patriotism. (Anyone who doubts the patriotism of Black Americans should take a quick look at rates of military service by race. African Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but 30.27 percent of active-duty enlisted men.)44 Tragically, fake hate crimes and the activists who exploit them are succeeding in convincing African Americans that our country is much more racist than it actually is. Removing this parasitic contingent of outsiders from positions of influence would do the Black community more good than almost anything else.”
Finally, Dr. Reilly offers some solid suggestions about curbing HCH. Normally, I am averse to increasing criminal penalties or using the concept of “hate crime” as a component of criminal offense, but I am convinced that IF we accept the notion that hate crimes are particularly threatening to American social order, false reports that hold one side up to social obloguy are equally threatening. I'd like to see the concept of “hate crime” retired, but until it is, then Dr. Reilly's idea of holding hate crime hoaxers to higher penalties as a deterrence, and to take away the rewards that such hoaxers enjoy, is absolutely necessary if we are to avoid becoming the new Bosnia.
This is an easy, enjoyable, informative, important read.