I wasn’t talking strictly about Rachel Richardson, either. Aside from Tawana Brawley and Jussie Smollett, “making it up” is very, very rare. But every time anyone says anything about racism, that “case-by-case” lie Mac was telling a few days ago flies out the window and all the right can talk about is Brawley & Smollett, Brawley & Smollet.
Being wrong is much more common than making things up, and having a difference of opinion/perspective is exponentially more common than both of them put together. The left needs to do a better job of distinguishing between u-r-racist and what-you-said-seems-racist. The right needs to do a better job of l-I-s-t-e-n-I-n-g and l-e-a-r-n-I-n-g.
I brought the skit up to illustrate how it can be pretty low-hanging fruit to get a pretty predictable reaction out of most Black people when you’re deliberately flirting with that line, just like if I avoid saying the word “woman” it’s easy to predict getting a rise out of right-wing extremists. That’s not because Black people make things up or are overly sensitive or anything else negative. It’s because they have very good reason — historically AND currently — to be hyper-vigilant.
As far as I’m concerned, BYU has handled this well from the very beginning. They reacted quickly with apologies, denouncing what was alleged, and what amounts to a temporary suspension of someone while an investigation was completed. (No different from putting an LEO on administrative duty after any fatal shooting while the investigation is completed, imo.) They completed a full investigation in a timely manner and went public with their findings without disparaging Ms Richardson in any way.