In 2018, The New York Times ran a lengthy piece on a viral account of a black college student who was reportedly accosted by racist staff for "eating while black."

Here was a screenshot from the student, then-sophomore Oumou Kanoute at Smith College in Massachusetts, and elite private school.

Here's how the Times covered the story:

"The encounter was the latest example of a black person encountering unwarranted police scrutiny in recent months... Each incident shared a catalyst: Someone considered black people going about their everyday lives to be suspicious or dangerous enough to call the police. On Facebook, Ms. Kanoute noted that the person who called the police did not approach her first."

Sounds pretty bad, right?

Here was the statement made by the college's president, Kathleen McCartney:

"This painful incident reminds us of the ongoing legacy of racism and bias in which people of color are targeted while simply going about the business of their daily lives. It is a powerful reminder that building an inclusive, diverse and sustainable community is urgent and ongoing work."

Did you get that? An "ongoing legacy of racism," which as we all know, is everywhere we look in America. There's probably a racist hiding right behind you right now!

The story led to the leave of the employee involved and staff were forced to undergo aNti-rAciSm training, which is a newspeak way of saying they had to learn to be modern racists.

The training led to a culture that was so demeaning and so racially tense that one staffer resigned earlier this month, citing the psychological abuse of white employees. Here was how she described the trainings they were subjected to:

"Facilitators told everyone present that a white person's discomfort at discussing their race is a symptom of ‘white fragility.' They said that the white person may seem like they are in distress, but that it is actually a ‘power play.' In other words, because I am white, my genuine discomfort was framed as an act of aggression. I was shamed and humiliated in front of all of my colleagues."

Here's where it gets interesting:

The incidence of racism that Kanoute alleged never happened.

Here's what actually happened, as verified by an independent investigation that was published only 3 months after the 2018 incident (although no retraction was ever posted by the media):

• On the day in question, Kanoute went to the campus's Tyler cafeteria, which was off limits to students as it was reserved for a kids summer camp program. A cafeteria worker named Jackie Blair told Kanoute this, but Kanoute ignored her. Because she didn't want to risk Kanoute filing a complaint with her supervisors, Blair dropped the issue.
• A while later, a hard-of-seeing janitor in his 60s saw Kanoute in an adjoining dormitory where she had taken her food. The dorm was also closed for the summer.
• The janitor, who had worked there for 35 years, followed protocol and called an older campus security member to talk to Kanoute.

That's it. That's the story. The original headline should have been, "Student asked to leave off-limits dorm after ignoring request to stay out." Then an editor should have trashed it because there's no story there.

Instead, it turned into a multi-year racial witch hunt. Cafeteria worker Jackie Blair got threats and nasty messages at her home after Kanoute posted a picture of her and the janitor, which gave her so much stress that she ended up in the hospital.

Instead of helping her, the college tried to force her into a mediation session to apologize to Kanoute.

"I exchanged a hello with that student and now I'm a racist," said Blair.

Another janitor who wasn't even part of the exchange was eventually forced from his job as well.

In addition, even the New York Times' followup on this thing reeks of race-baiting language.

"[Kanoute] was eating lunch in a dorm lounge when a janitor and a campus police officer walked over and asked her what she was doing there. The officer, who could have been carrying a "lethal weapon," left her near 'meltdown,' Ms. Kanoute wrote on Facebook, saying that this encounter continued a yearlong pattern of harassment at Smith."

Why quote it that way?? Fact: the officer was unarmed, which the Times admits later. But why frame it in a way to make it seem like this could have been an incidence of racist police brutality when it was absolutely nothing of the sort?

Here's another gem:

"The story highlights the tensions between a student's deeply felt sense of personal truth and facts that are at odds with it."

Ah, don't you see? It may have been factually wrong, but it was morally true!

Now where have I heard that before?

"I think that there's a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right." – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 2019

This insane national story should have been a non-story, but because this student had been trained to see oppression and racism in everything, she saw it even in a situation where she was at fault. Being at fault, after all, is something only ascribable to "whiteness."

Do you see the cliff our society is heading toward yet? You think this case from 2018 is bad? You ain't seen anything yet.