Reading the coverage of the Pomona incident, I am reminded of Elise Viebeck's commentary on "hate crimes" and "bias-related incidents" in the February/March issue of the CI. A few lines in particular stand out:
"One side generates emotional platitudes about 'bias' as the other shakes its head and laughs. Is there any room for movement?
"Were we a past generation, this controversy would have moved forward with a discussion of propriety. [...] In a culture that denies taste its proper place, however, we are left with the sterile and empty vocabulary of 'bias-related incidents.'"
Got that, kiddies? Dirty words (pardon the pun) scrawled on automobiles about Jews and lesbians might make you chuckle, but this sort of April Fool's joke is crude and inappropriate. Furthermore, its unjustified conflation with "hate" averts our gaze from the underlying problem of a culture that can't take the feelings, let alone the persons, of fellow human beings seriously.
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