Email attacks

I, in no way, shape or form, support sending racist and hateful emails to blog owners, faculty at a college, or anyone. KC Johnson's blog, while well done, may have well deserved this response on a blog

2)Racist Hate Mail: Blogging and Bigotry: Many Duke faculty have received harassing, sometimes threatening anonymous e-mails and phone calls in connection with the Duke lacrosse case. But the hatemongers have reserved a special place for Duke’s African-American faculty; they’ve been flooded with an astonishing amount of disgusting racist hate mail and even death threats. Distinguished Duke faculty mainstays like Wahneema Lubiano, Karla Holloway, Paula McClain, and Kerry Haynie have been among the targets of these attacks. In fairness, Johnson himself never uses such vile racist language, but he has never spoken out against it, and it’s clear that many of these anonymous e-mailers are enthusiastic readers of his blog. We offer here a compendium of some of these hate e-mails and death threats with the full addresses concealed for legal reasons. Warning: these messages use gross, disgusting language.

Maybe KC should have said something. But can we be so sure the emails came from "blog hooligans." Also, people anonymously sending emails are low. But, should professors be held to a higher standard? What about this little tid-bit from a former Duke professor (This is from KC Johnson's blog. Scroll down to number one under the subheading of articles/faculty publications):

1) Houston Baker, e-mail, December 31, 2006. The mother of a former lacrosse player e-mailed former Group of 88 leader Baker (now at Vanderbilt) laying out the new developments in the case, and asking if he would reconsider his decision to sign the Group’s statement. His complete response:

"LIES! You are just a provacateur [sic] on a happy New Years Eve trying to get credit for a scummy bunch of white males! You know you are in search of sympaathy [sic] for young white guys who beat up a gay man [sic] in Georgetown, get drunk in Durham, and lived like “a bunch of farm animals” near campus.

I really hope whoever sent this stupid farce of an email rots in .... umhappy [sic] new year to you ... and forgive me if your [sic] really are, quite sadly, mother of a 'farm animal.'"

Should professors be held to a higher standard in the case of the above email? Should professors be held to a higher standard to hold due process and not jump to conclusions?

Maybe KC Johnson should have made a post and ask that his readers not send racist and vile emails to professor. But you have to ask, would the effort be fruitless? If I really wanted to send a vile, vulgar, or racist email to someone (which I have not, by the way); do you think a plea from KC Johnson would stop me?