In Collective punishment at the University of Tennessee, April 8, 2019 Hans Bader argues against punishing all University of Tennessee students for what he describes as “a Snapchat image with a racist caption”.

Two students wore blackface at the University of Tennessee, in a Snapchat image with a racist caption. The University is responding by putting tens of thousands of students, faculty, and staff through sensitivity training. It may even require the 186,000 minors participating in the state’s 4-H program to attend sensitivity training. It will also require students at the University of Tennessee’s main campus in Knoxville to take classes in “global citizenship,” as a way to make them to engage in racial “dialogue” and increase “understanding” of racial “differences.”

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This all seems like an overreaction. There is no sign that these students’ racism is widely shared among the student body. And while wearing blackface is offensive, it is not a crime: Indeed, the federal appeals court in Richmond ruled that the First Amendment protects students’ right to wear blackface, in Iota Xi Chapter v. George Mason University (1993).

He doesn’t say what the racist caption is. Did it involve a Word that is now unprintable? No, the white University of Tennessee students sent a Snapchat picture of themselves in blackface, with this comment

We for racial equality boys

Bout to get this free college now that I'm black let's gooooo

#blacklivesmatter

A black female student posted a screenshot of it with the comment

I thought long and hard about posting this but it hit an emotional spot for me for people to think that i did not EARN what was given to me because of my race.

If she means that she was admitted with SAT scores that were good enough to get a white student into college, she may be right, but that’s not what this comment is about. It’s about all the free money available to black students, and not available to whites.

This is well known enough to have been the subject of a 1986 movie called Soul Man, in which, as IMDB puts it “To achieve his dream of attending Harvard, a pampered teen poses as a young black man to receive a full scholarship.” Believe it or not, Hollywood used this movie to teach a lesson about white privilege.

Vijay Chokal-Ingam was a self-described “ethically challenged, hard-partying Indian American frat boy” who portrayed himself as an American black (shaving his head conceal his straight hair) to get into medical school. He didn’t get scholarships intended for blacks, though—that might have led to charges of fraud.

It’s the colleges that are racially discriminating here, and these young whites are victims of racism.

Here’s a list, from the University of Tennessee Knoxville website, of all the "free college" available to blacks and other minorities but not whites. Two of the racially discriminator programs are named after Jackie Robinson and Thurgood Marshall, who were famous integrationists—when it suited them.

Emphasis added:

• American Indian Graduate Center Scholarships/Fellowships
  The American Indian Graduate Center, Inc. announces the availability of fellowships and loans for service to American Indian and Alaska Native undergraduate and graduate students.
  http://www.aigcs.org/scholarships/
• AMS Minority Scholarships
  The American Meteorological Society Minority Scholarships will award funding to minority students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the sciences, especially Hispanic, Native American, and Black/African American students. Funding for the scholarships is provided by industry and through donations made by members to the AMS Giving Program.
  https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/information-for/students/ams-scholarships-and-fellowships/ams-minority-scholarships/
• APTA Minority Scholarship Award
  Three scholarship awards are supported by the American Physical Therapy Association Minority Scholarship Fund.  These scholarships are awarded annually to physical therapy students in their final year of physical therapy education and faculty members pursuing their post-professional doctoral degree.
  http://www.apta.org/HonorsandAwards/Scholarships/MinorityScholarship/
• Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund
  The Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) provides scholarships to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs) with financial need.
  http://www.apiasf.org/
• Central Intelligence Agency Undergraduate Scholarship Program 
  This program is designed to attract students enrolled in or desiring a four or five year college program majoring in computer science or electrical engineering. The agency also has a goal to attract minorities and students with disabilities. This program offers students the opportunity to work at the forefront of our nation’s foreign intelligence effort.
  https://www.cia.gov/careers/student-opportunities/undergraduate-scholarship-program.html
• The Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy Summer Scholarship
  The Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) is an Internship program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy to provide opportunities to women and under-represented minority students who are pursuing academic majors related to the Fossil Energy mission.
  http://fossil.energy.gov/education/lelandfellowships/
• Federal Scholarships &Aid Gateways from Black Excel
  Black Excel has the top scholarship gateway for minority students on the Internet. Thousands of scholarships are presented.
  http://www.blackexcel.org/25scholarships.htm
• Graduate Fellowships For Minorities Nationwide
  Special fellowships designed to increase the diversity of Cornell’s graduate student population may be available on a competitive basis to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
  http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/costs-and-funding/fellowships
• Hispanic Scholarship Fund
  The Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s (HSF) mission is to strengthen America by advancing the college education of Hispanic Americans. We deliver a range of programs to Hispanic families and students through community outreach and education, affordability via scholarships, college retention and career opportunities.
  http://www.hsf.net/en/scholarships
• Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship Program
  Through its Education and Leadership Development Program, the Jackie Robinson Foundation provides scholarships of up to $7,500 annually to minority high school students showing leadership potential and demonstrating financial need to attend an accredited 4-year college or university of their choice.
  http://www.jackierobinson.org/apply/application.php
• Microsoft University Scholarships, Careers and Internships
  Microsoft is offering four different types of technical scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year to current undergraduate students: General Scholarships, Women’s Scholarships, Minority Scholarships, and Scholarships for Students with Disabilities.
  https://careers.microsoft.com/students/scholarships
• NAACP Law Fellow Program
  The NAACP Law Fellow Program was created with the vision of developing future generations of civil rights attorneys. Under the direction of NAACP Interim General Counsel Angela Ciccolo, the NAACP Law Fellow was initiated in 2003. Since its inception, the Law Fellow Program has been funded by generous grants from the Kellogg’s Corporate Citizenship Fund.[The Law Fellow program is open to whites, but is disproportionately black.]
  http://www.naacp.org/pages/awards
• NASP-ERT Minority Scholarship Program
  The NASP-ERT Minority Scholarship Program was established in 1995 to support the graduate training of minority students pursuing careers in school psychology. The Program seeks to lower financial barriers to training and to highlight the accomplishments of promising future professionals. It advances NASP’s commitment to diversity in the field of school psychology by supporting culturally diverse graduate students who will eventually provide school-based services to diverse student populations.
  https://www.nasponline.org/membership-and-community/awards-scholarships-and-grants/minority-scholarship-program
• Ron Brown Scholarship Program
  The Ron Brown Scholar Program seeks to identify African-American high school seniors who will make significant contributions to society. Applicants must excel academically, exhibit exceptional leadership potential, participate in community service activities and demonstrate financial need. The applicant must be a US citizen or hold a permanent resident visa card. Current college students are not eligible to apply.
  https://www.ronbrown.org/
• Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP)
  The goal of the Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP) program is to increase the enrollment and graduation rate of underrepresented students (Hispanic, African-American, American-Indian, Alaskan Native, and Pacific Islander) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by at least 100% at the end of the five-year period.
  http://tlsamp.utk.edu
• Thurgood Marshall College Fund
  The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is the only national organization founded for the sole purpose of providing scholarships to students attending the nation’s Historically Black Public Colleges and Universities. In addition to scholarships, TMCF provides leadership development and training as well as programmatic and capacity building support to its member universities. TMCF partners with other organizations to support students in preparing for graduate and professional school.
  https://tmcf.org/our-scholarships
• United Negro College Fund
  The United Negro College Fund Program Services Department administers various scholarship programs. Each program has its own eligibility criteria, open/close dates and required documents.
  https://www.uncf.org/scholarships
• Wheaton College Multicultural Scholarships
  At Wheaton, we not only desire a culturally diverse educational community, we’re committed to making it happen by offering specific scholarships to students of color through the Multicultural Scholarship Program and through substantial need-based financial aid. Each year, $250,000 is awarded annually to new students through the Multicultural Scholarship program and over $14 million in scholarships and grants is awarded to all Wheaton students.
  http://www.wheaton.edu/Admissions-and-Aid/Undergrad/Financial-Information/Multicultural-Scholarships