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Receive press releases from Public Interest Law Professor John Banzhaf: By Email RSS Feeds: Defacement of Harvard's Black Law Profs Pictures Likely Hoax or Retaliation, Not Racism, Reports Prof. Banzhaf

Although widely reported in the Washington Post and elsewhere as a racist incident - and even a possible hate crime - at Harvard Law School, putting black tape over the pictures of several black professors was much more likely a hoax, or retaliation for at least two similar past defacements by a largely black law student organization, reports public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Washington, DC, November 29, 2015 --(



Because the covering of the pictures of black professors occurred immediately after a group of largely-black protesters, as reported in the Harvard Crimson, covered the seal of the law school, and because, as the Crimson also reported, the same tape was used in both instances, Banzhaf argued that retaliation for the earlier defacement of the seal was a more likely explanation for the picture defacement than a sudden, unexpected, and unrelated expression of racism by white Harvard students.



This theory has now been bolstered by the revelation on the Powerline website that: “black protesters did exactly the same thing–placed tape over the portraits of black law professors–a year ago."



In what might indicate bias by Harvard Law, and a failure to understand and respect that academic freedom protects unpopular speech as well as popular speech, the New York Times noted that Harvard referred the latest defacement to the police for possible investigation as a hate crime, but it apparently took no action regarding the earlier two similar defacements by black protesters.



Indeed, black Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, one of the those whose portrait was defaced, agreed that the action was protected although unpopular, according to the Harvard magazine.



Randall Kennedy, a noted black professor at Harvard Law, has now written in the New York Times that the action may simply have been "a rebuke to those who have recently been taping over the law school’s seal.”



Kennedy also suggests other possible motives for the taping: "maybe it was meant to protest the perceived marginalization of black professors, or was a hoax meant to look like a racial insult in order to provoke a crisis."



Elie Mystal, a black columnist writing in AboveTheLaw, lends support to this hoax theory, writing: "Other people think that it was done by a black student to protest black professors who aren’t using their positions to do enough to help black students at the school.”



Perhaps the strongest evidence that the taping wasn't done by racist white students comes from a group of Harvard Law School student who, with detailed knowledge of the situation, have analyzed the time line and other clues and concluded, in a posting entitled "Relax: It Was a Hoax, Not a ‘Hate Crime,’ at Harvard Law School," that the "Chance of Harvard Law ‘Hate Crime’ Hoax is 99.99%."



Banzhaf also points out that, going back to the notorious incident involving Towana Brawley, which was later conclusively proven to be a hoax, many if not most similar instances where whites allegedly posted racist signs or symbols have likewise been proven to have been hoaxes.



Banzhaf notes that he helped get African Americans on TV in major roles for the first time, helped fight discrimination against blacks seeking to hail taxies, against a social organization which refused to admit blacks, and against an airline which discriminated against black pilots. Washington, DC, November 29, 2015 --( PR.com )-- Banzhaf noted at the time that the incident probably wasn't a racist one; a position which is now gaining support by the statements of a noted black Harvard Law Professor, a widely-read legal commentator who is also black, and a group of Harvard Law students which has posted a report carefully analyzing the time line and other factors relating to the incident.Because the covering of the pictures of black professors occurred immediately after a group of largely-black protesters, as reported in the Harvard Crimson, covered the seal of the law school, and because, as the Crimson also reported, the same tape was used in both instances, Banzhaf argued that retaliation for the earlier defacement of the seal was a more likely explanation for the picture defacement than a sudden, unexpected, and unrelated expression of racism by white Harvard students.This theory has now been bolstered by the revelation on the Powerline website that: “black protesters did exactly the same thing–placed tape over the portraits of black law professors–a year ago."In what might indicate bias by Harvard Law, and a failure to understand and respect that academic freedom protects unpopular speech as well as popular speech, the New York Times noted that Harvard referred the latest defacement to the police for possible investigation as a hate crime, but it apparently took no action regarding the earlier two similar defacements by black protesters.Indeed, black Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, one of the those whose portrait was defaced, agreed that the action was protected although unpopular, according to the Harvard magazine.Randall Kennedy, a noted black professor at Harvard Law, has now written in the New York Times that the action may simply have been "a rebuke to those who have recently been taping over the law school’s seal.”Kennedy also suggests other possible motives for the taping: "maybe it was meant to protest the perceived marginalization of black professors, or was a hoax meant to look like a racial insult in order to provoke a crisis."Elie Mystal, a black columnist writing in AboveTheLaw, lends support to this hoax theory, writing: "Other people think that it was done by a black student to protest black professors who aren’t using their positions to do enough to help black students at the school.”Perhaps the strongest evidence that the taping wasn't done by racist white students comes from a group of Harvard Law School student who, with detailed knowledge of the situation, have analyzed the time line and other clues and concluded, in a posting entitled "Relax: It Was a Hoax, Not a ‘Hate Crime,’ at Harvard Law School," that the "Chance of Harvard Law ‘Hate Crime’ Hoax is 99.99%."Banzhaf also points out that, going back to the notorious incident involving Towana Brawley, which was later conclusively proven to be a hoax, many if not most similar instances where whites allegedly posted racist signs or symbols have likewise been proven to have been hoaxes.Banzhaf notes that he helped get African Americans on TV in major roles for the first time, helped fight discrimination against blacks seeking to hail taxies, against a social organization which refused to admit blacks, and against an airline which discriminated against black pilots. Contact Information George Washington University Law School

Public Interest Law Professor John Banzhaf

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