A number of years ago, the menace of “ bullying ” was all the rage, although it was never clear whether NPR was so worked up over it because they’d gotten a memo from the Obama Administration or whether the Obama Administration was sending out memos because they all listened to NPR.

In any case, it was seen as a useful way to stir up hate against the Haven Monahans of America, who were presumed to be doing all the bullying. For example, Valerie Jarrett wrote in 2012:

We were joined by bullying prevention advocates from a range of communities – LGBT, AAPI, faith, disability, and others – as well as educational partners and key Obama Administration staff who work on these issues every day …

The only problem was: who exactly was more likely to be a bully?

From the Journal of Youth and Adolescence:

Not Just Black and White: Peer Victimization and the Intersectionality of School Diversity and Race June 2015, Volume 44, Issue 6, pp 1241–1250 by Sycarah Fisher. Kyndra Middleton, Elizabeth Ricks, Celeste Malone, Candyce Briggs, Jessica Barnes Although bullying is a prevalent issue in the United States, limited research has explored the impact of school diversity on types of bullying behavior. This study explores the relationship between school diversity, student race, and bullying within the school context. The participants were African American and Caucasian middle school students (n = 4,581; 53.4 % female). Among the participants, 89.4 % were Caucasian and 10.6 % were African American. The research questions examined the relationship between school diversity, student race and bullying behaviors, specifically race-based victimization. The findings suggested that Caucasian middle school students experience more bullying than African American students generally, and specifically when minorities in school settings. Caucasian students also experienced almost three times the amount of race-based victimization than African American students when school diversity was held constant. Interestingly, African American students experienced twice the amount of race-based victimization than Caucasian students when in settings with more students of color.

Funny, that never seemed to come up on NPR.

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