I have made a fan over at angryblacklady.com. She has written a response to my commenting on the Kymberly Wimberly story.
First there are some things that need to be cleared up. AngryBlackLady acts as if one of my main arguing points was that the superintendent was black. It seems like she is determined to fit me into her preconceived notion of a racism denier, who often make arguments along the lines of “I’m not racist, I have a black friend,” or “it can’t be racism, there is a black person in authority.” But the superintendent being black was never what convinced me that racism was not the likely explanation. It was one of the many things that contributed to my skepticism initially, and one of the many things that simply convinced me to at least wait to hear the whole story. Blacks are less likely to discriminate against blacks than whites are. I don’t know why this was such a focal point for AngryBlackLady.
AngryBlackLady also claims that I accuse the plaintiffs of lying. This is something I’ve never done. They are simply wrong in their conclusion that racism is the cause of Kymberly sharing the title of valedictorian.
AngryBlackLady also said that I implied she is racist. I never implied she is racist, nor the plaintiffs, nor any of their supporters. I did imply that AngryBlackLady is a racialist, which upset her so much that it was cause for her to not even talk to me in the beginning, despite her later admitting she doesn’t know what it means. All I mean by that is she interprets everything in terms of race, which I see as destructive, but not racist. So an example of racialism is interpreting Kymberly sharing the valedictorian status as being determined by her race even before looking into any other cause.
Alright, now that all that is cleared up, I can return to the actual issue, the Wimberly case. This incident is only going to get more embarrassing for AngryBlackLady as time passes.
First there seemed to be complete panic on her part after I simply asked for her evidence. She still hasn’t provided any evidence and acts as if the school holds the burden of proof. She apparently can say whatever she wants, accuse anyone of anything, provide no evidence and think there is nothing wrong with that. Not only is there nothing wrong with that, but it is offensive to even question her.
Her main arguments revolve around a preoccupation with motives. She thought I had some sinister motive for simply asking for evidence, and there isn’t anything the principal of the school can do to prove he isn’t completely evil. Not that I based my conclusion on motives, but shouldn’t it strike people as a little odd that a parent is suing someone for over $75,000 dollars for her daughter having to share the title of valedictorian? If AngryBlackLady had a strong case, based in facts and reason, then there would be no need to even bring up my supposed motives. She could afford to give me the benefit of the doubt, instead she relies on assuming bad motives.
The closest thing to a serious argument provided by AngryBlackLady is that ”Kimberly states that particular school policy was to use credits to break a tie when two students had exactly the same GPA.” I don’t know what else to say, its just not true. Once again, “in deciding class rank, students with lower GPAs who are taking more or harder classes will not be penalized…Wimberly’s co-valedictorian had half a credit more than Wimberly and the difference in the students’ GPAs was .03 or .05.” This wasn’t how it worked at your school? So what? A lot of schools have silly systems. Do you really think Gathen just made that up? Do you think he is lying about a matter of record, which can be easily checked? I’m not a supporter of multiple valedictorians but there just isn’t any evidence to show this decision was made because of racism.
Probably the thing that makes this incident the most embarrassing for AngryBlackLady is that she takes the attitude that it is all beneath her, beneath her intellect, and beneath her morality. She initially had no intention of having a conversation with me, continuously says that I bore her, warns her followers to not engage in a dialogue with me, and has since blocked me. Even if you don’t agree with me about what the cause is of the co-valedictorian status, no intellectually honest person can think there is no room for a discussion on any other possible explanation (especially since the given explanation is so easy to understand).
There were a few more gems which are worthy of note that AngryBlackLady has given us.
“[Ward demonstrated] a stunning ignorance about legal process and practice…A lawsuit can’t be false. A lawsuit is a lawsuit. Derp.”
Did she really not understand I meant the claims of the lawsuit?
A commenter pointed out the obvious inconsistency in AngryBlackLady’s worldview by asking if it was Wimberly who had .03 less GPA would she be just as angry.
AngryBlackLady’s response was “I try to deal in facts, not hypotheticals.”
I’m still waiting on those facts, AngryBlackLady. There is nothing more embarrassing than condescension mixed with complete disregard for facts and reason.
