AlphaHistory: The Red Scare (1947-57) was a decade-long period of intense anti-Communist paranoia in the United States. During this period, millions of ordinary Americans were paralyzed by an irrational fear of “Reds Under the Bed” – the belief that thousands of Communist operatives and sympathizers lived secretly among them, plotting or waiting to overthrow the government.
Today we live under the White Supremacist Scare, the irrational fear that there is a white supremacist under every bed. An email sent to parents of students at the University of Virginia, for example, warns that “events have occurred for concerning reasons” and “the nature and timing of these events have led some to speculate that they are related to or part of a larger pattern of racially motivated crimes…”. Here is such an event:
Last weekend, several community members reported that a flag bearing a symbol resembling a crown or an owl, depending on how the flag is held, was left on the grass near the workers’ memorial. enslaved. This same person also left a check for $888.88 which was eventually delivered, by surprise, to a student’s room, and the check bore the same symbol that was on the flag. As rumors swirled around this bizarre set of events, some speculated that the flag represented a white supremacist organization and that the check was in some way a targeted act of intimidation against a student of color.
A crown! An owl! A check for $888.88! Hi Hitler ! It seems odd that giving someone a check “targets” a person of color. But whatever. Logic is not important here. What could that mean other than white supremacy? Keep in mind that this is a university where streak the lawn is a tradition and there is strange numbers, signs and seals all over campus.
The UVA Police and the FBI – yes, the FBI! – were called to investigate (nb there is not even the slightest trace of crime!). And they found the culprit! Of course, what they discovered was quite commonplace. Does it even matter?
“…we discovered he was part of an organization focused on micro-philanthropy that occasionally engages in random acts of kindness to current students.”
Moreover, the UVA administration is publicizing their investigation, as if the seriousness with which they took this potential threat was a credit to the organization instead of an embarrassment of bad judgment and feverish imagination.