Related: Lunenburg Hate Crime Was a Self-Inflicted Hoax
"Lunenburg can take pride in handling of graffiti case, December 06, 2013
The announcement this week by police that the Lunenburg High School football team was not responsible for the racist graffiti that led to the cancellation of its final two games, including its Thanksgiving contest, is, no doubt, a bitter pill for coaches and players. The satisfaction of being vindicated won’t make up for the lost memories and opportunities. The news that the prime focus of the investigation is now the mother of the 13-year-old player who was allegedly targeted with slurs adds a further element of shock.
Not for all of us.
But amid the understandable frustration, the people of Lunenburg should be proud of the way they and their town officials have handled this crisis. And the local police and FBI should, of course, continue their investigation to assure that whoever is responsible for the vandalism — or for faking it — is punished appropriately.
When a virulent racial slur appeared Nov. 15 on the home of 13-year-old Isaac Phillips, a biracial athlete on the Lunenburg freshman and junior varsity teams, police immediately began investigating the potential hate crime.
Encouraged by other agenda-pushing organizations as well. That case now mired in months of investigation after the rushing to judgment by the media -- which then turns around and excoriates people for rushing to judgments!
The school superintendent, backed by the school committee, decided less than a week later to cancel the rest of the football season. Though prompted by the graffiti probe, the decision to cancel the season was also influenced by reports — since confirmed — that some Lunenburg players had engaged in racial taunts in a game in Worcester.
Between the racism, rapes, and mental degeneration due to concussions, maybe it is time to BAN FOOTBALL! It's along the lines of banning guns because of gun violence and banning booze and cars because of drunk driving. The only way to stop the problem is to eliminate the things that cause the problem, right? No football, no racism, no rapes. Case closed.
That suggests that the school wasn’t acting reflexively; there was deeper reason to believe there was a problem on the team, and forfeiting the final two games was a defensible decision. But there clearly would have been no cancellation if not for the graffiti case, and players and coaches have full reason to feel aggrieved.
But what!? Cancel the seasons wherever they are! NO MORE FOOTBALL! Why should racist taunters be rewarded or feel aggrieved?
Meanwhile, residents of Lunenburg rallied to the defense of Phillips, with hundreds of neighbors attending a candlelight vigil to condemn racism. This show of civic support speaks well not only of the town’s conscience but of its togetherness. The rally was reassuring to minority residents and meaningful to people of all backgrounds, and stands on its own as a mark of Lunenburg’s character, regardless of how the case turns out.
In other words, who cares about the particulars of the case, the lying deceit, the fraud, the manipulation of emotions and minds. Forget all that. The war-promoting paper tells me it's so great everyone came together in unquestioned condemnation of racism that -- ????
It's amazing how words like regardless and nevertheless make my newspaper reports when such words would get me a failing grade on a college paper. I guess that's what happens when you have the second string in there.
Town residents understandably struggle to imagine what might have motivated the mother who is the main suspect. No one should prejudge the case, but if she, or anyone else, is determined to have written the graffiti, they should pay the fullest penalty the law provides. Isaac Phillips has since moved to another school, disrupting his education. The football players, coaches, and other school officials have been put under intense pressure, amid unwarranted accusations.
Welcome to 21st-century AmeriKa! As a truth blogger I have seen such things for years -- even after I have been proved right.
And this war-promoting, agenda-pushing media that rushes to judgment so often lecturing us all? Ugh!
Everyone in the town has been touched in some way. But there should be no shame in Lunenburg, only sadness and — yes — a sense of pride in the way residents rallied in response to a loathsome act.
Hey, good to have Globe approval, isn't it?
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