On judgment

We should assume basic decency

Iwould have voted against Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, even before allegations that he posed in racist photos 35 years ago.

Yet judging a person requires judgment, not moral panic. Accordingly, I think we should remain open to the possibility of Northam’s basic decency, and probably forgive his trespasses.

First, we should distinguish stupidity from cruelty. No one alleges that Northam bullied anyone because of their race, or refused to hire or do business with people of color—behaviors that still occur. Apparently, Northam at least once dressed in blackface at social gatherings about 35 years ago.

Northam’s behavior was horrendously offensive, but likely more ignorant than cruel. Especially under the influence of alcohol, many young people have done awful things they thought were funny. Does anyone really think Northam, who graduated from a mostly black school and attends a mostly black church, behaviors few white people engage in, sympathizes with the KKK? Northam’s African American pastor numbers among his defenders.

Second, consider the age of the accused. We can presume Northam has more maturity now than 35 years back, when nearly half our nation’s population had not yet been born. We need some sort of statute of limitations for college and high school horrors.

To put this in perspective, in Washington, D.C., the statute of limitations for first- or second-degree sexual abuse is 15 years; 10 years for other sexual crimes, including offenses against minors. Speaking of sex crimes, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, the ambitious designated successor who demanded Governor Northam’s resignation, now faces sexual assault allegations from the early 2000s. Women have alleged that grownup versions of Donald Trump and Bill Clinton committed such actions. Yet many of their defenders wanted Northam to resign for behaviors as a far younger man.

That is politics, not judgment or justice.

Third is the thorny matter of race. Some see racial evils as special since this country has a history of racism. No one should deny that history. I teach my students about it. Distinct mental models of U.S. history often explain why good people interpret the same current events differently. Again, we need judgment.

In aggregate, we should not define America by its racism since nearly every country has a history of bigotry, even enslavement.

In his essay “The Real History of Slavery,” Thomas Sowell reminds us that “races” like the Slavs (hence the term slave) suffered enslavement by Turks, Arabs and other Europeans before and after white Americans enslaved Africans. Some nations like Saudi Arabia did not get around to abolishing slavery until a century after our Civil War. Globally, most societies still treat minorities horribly, worse than America does currently. In my lifetime, I doubt a French Muslim, an ethnic Turk in Germany, or an ethnic Korean in Japan could win election to prime minister. Discrimination in poorer nations is seldom better.

Individually, we must retain the ability to judge individual behavior. Quite simply, if everyone is racist, then no one is. If anyone might face damaging accusations of racism for old behaviors or recent malapropisms, then those charges lose credibility. Calling relatively inclusive leaders like Ralph Northam, the late John McCain, and former President George W. Bush bigots dilutes criticisms of Donald Trump, who really has made any number of statements that, as then-U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan put it, fit textbook definitions of racism.

Finally, in our diverse society, people sometimes say or do things others find offensive, often in clumsy attempts at humor. If people fear severe punishment for that, they will simply avoid contact with anyone different, finding intergroup contact risky.

In “Worlds Apart—Disconnects between Students and their Colleges,” Arthur Levine reported that hypersensitivity had reduced integration on college campuses, leading to suspicion and “a growing sense of victimization” for all.

We can do better. In The Coddling of the American Mind, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt urge integration, and advise that when offended by someone’s words or acts, we should not cast stones; rather, we should assume their basic decency, explain our concerns, and then forgive or discuss, just as we would have them treat us.

Because sometime, any one of us will do something someone finds offensive.

Robert Maranto (rmaranto@uark.edu) is the 21st Century Chair in Leadership in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, and serves on his local school board. These views are his alone. Even when young and drunk, he never wore blackface.