Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

Why did Weber girls make a racist video?

10/18/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Last summer, the Harvard Crimson reported that at least 10 students admitted to the freshman class of 2021 had their offers rescinded after the school discovered they had posted offensive messages on a private Facebook chat set up by incoming students.

The offensive items included racist memes as well as messages and photos “mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust and the deaths of children.” One 
student who didn’t join the group said, “This was a just-because-we-got-into-Harvard-doesn’t-mean-we-can’t-have-fun kind of thing.”

This week it’s hard to read about this (I’ve spared you details about the more gruesome things posted) without also thinking about the female students at Weber High School who made a video of themselves effectively chanting a disgusting racial slur while riding in a car.

A school district spokesman said they apparently recorded gibberish that, when played backward on a special app, made the sound of the offensive words. The whole thing might have escaped notice except that one of the girls posted the video on a private social media account — which is, of course, as real as a unicorn. Nothing is private on the internet, as many now-former Harvard freshman can attest.

No one should try to excuse what these girls did. They easily could have chosen to say an infinite variety of un-offensive and even clever things backward. For some reason, they chose to say what they did.

To be clear, their language was despicable and unacceptable in any context, and they need to be held accountable for it.

But understanding why they did this is no easier than understanding why kids accepted to Harvard would do things equally absurd. Are they really so insensitive and hateful, or are they just kids with immature minds and limited real-world experiences acting out in ways they don’t fully understand?

Since the early days of the 20th century, states in this country have established special juvenile courts to handle crimes committed by young people.

One reason these exist is to protect young offenders from the adults they otherwise would encounter behind bars. Another is to recognize that many people with immature minds do things as adolescents they wouldn’t dream of doing as adults. Juvenile records are sealed and protected from public view. Except for those who commit the most heinous crimes, kids who offend are given a chance to emerge from their mistakes as responsible adults.

But the internet is not so generous.

As I write this, the Weber girls’ video is posted many places, including the New York Post website and even a website belonging to an Australian news organization. Their faces are there for all to see, in full color.

People of my generation also were immature, thoughtless and even hateful as teenagers, but our fears focused mainly on not being caught by our parents, not on having our actions broadcast internationally.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, author and social media expert Ana Homayoun identified a biological basis for this kind of reckless modern behavior by adolescents. It has a lot to do with smart phones and “an instantaneous positive feedback loop that can perpetuate poor decision making.”

“Many people … view likes, loves, comments and followers as a barometer for popularity …,” she wrote. “Teens can quickly get caught up in the feedback loop, posting and sharing images and videos that they believe will gain the largest reaction.” Combine this with “an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex,” and you sometimes get offensive online posts.

Derek Olsen, an African-American man in Plain City, may have had the most rational reaction to the Weber High girls when he told the Deseret News he believes they didn’t have ill intentions and should not have their lives ruined, but that their mistake can be a learning experience.

“I believe that if we can all understand and still spread awareness that racism does exist, then maybe we can go about it a certain way and change things.”

One would have hoped the rising generation, so far removed from Jim Crow America, wouldn’t so easily succumb to the false narratives of the past. But whether it’s in Ogden or among Harvard’s freshman class, the internet makes it clear many lessons remain to be taught.
​
Too bad that same internet also will make it hard for many kids to learn and move on.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.