There’s been a mass casualty incident at the University of Memphis Law School after students and faculty got triggered by a trophy they say is blackface.
This was the “controversial” football. Photo obtained by the Daily Memphian.
The makeshift trophy was constructed by staff of the Law Review to celebrate the conclusion of an editing project. It was made from a football, a black wig and other items to resemble a face.
Click here to pre-order a copy of my new book, “Twilight’s Last Gleaming.” President Trump wrote the forward.“Although no one involved recognized it at the time, the face resembled images of black face, which historically has been a horrible and humiliating means of degrading African Americans,” the Law Review staff in a blog posting.
I’ve asked several times to see a photo of the trophy, but so far those requests have been ignored by the university.
“No one involved intended to make an item that resembled an image with such terrible racial connotations,” the posting read. “However, Law Review’s leadership should have immediately recognized what the ‘trophy’ resembled and how it harmed members of the Memphis legal community who viewed it.”
The trophy had been on display for about a week and a half before a staff member saw it and came down with a raging case of microaggressions.The Law Review’s leadership profusely apologized for the “hurt we caused by creating the image, failing to recognize what the image resembled, and for making it visible.”
I asked the university to specify what made the trophy blackface. As near as we can tell, the trophy was concocted using a tan pigskin, a long black wig and other items that gave the appearance of a face.
Based on those standards, the University of Memphis Law School would consider Mr. Potato Head to be a form of blackface, too.At that point the law school went into full-blown crisis mode.
“Racism in any form is inexcusable and will not be tolerated,” Dean Katharine Schaffzin wrote in an emergency screed. “These actions have caused actual harm to students, damaged relationships, and set back our vigorous efforts to teach the cultural competence necessary for the modern practice of law. Moreover, these actions have tainted the reputation of the Law Review, its members, and the Law School itself.”
Take a breath, ma’am. No need to hyperventilate.
“These actions were extremely traumatic, offensive, and contrary to the core values of our law school,” she wrote in a statement provided to KWAM AM 990 News Radio Memphis.
Dean Schaffzin said many students were hurt by what she called an egregious incident. And the school is providing emergency counseling resources. I cannot confirm whether triage tents have been erected on the campus to treat the mentally-wounded.
“Many students were hurt by this egregious incident,” the dean said. “I invite any member of our law school community to reach out to me to discuss this matter. Additionally, counseling resources are available to all students.”
And while our thoughts and prayers are certainly with the victims of this heinous act of triggering, we must also pray for the Law Review staff.
By the end of the day, they could all be sharing prison cells with the January 6th defendants in the DC Gulag.
Dean Schaffzin warned there would be hell to pay.
“We have referred the matter to the University’s Office of Institutional Equity for investigation into potential violations of the Student Code of Conduct,” the dean told KWAM News Radio. “We will not wait for that investigation’s conclusion to take immediate steps to address the impact of this incident on our community and to amplify our educational efforts to prevent similar instances from recurring.”
“The law school and several student organizations have been taking swift responsive action and have begun planning to offer educational programs for Law Review and the broader student body, including education in the areas of cultural competence, implicit bias, microaggressions, and upstanders,” she added. “We will consider additional action on an ongoing basis as these investigations continue.”
The University of Memphis Blackface Football Scandal will no doubt take its place alongside some of the nation’s most egregious racist atrocities — from Jussie Smollett to Bubba Wallace and Tawana Brawley (google Al Sharpton).
To the survivors of the 2023 Blackface Football Scandal, I recommend the following: pack your bags and get as far away from the University of Memphis as possible. Enroll in a law school that’s not infested with disciples of critical race theory.
And the next time the University of Memphis Law Review staff wants to create a trophy — I’d recommend going with a volleyball.
