Having the mindset that everything is racist means that whatever you see will somehow become racist. That’s pretty much what happened at a university in Michigan.
Last month, University of Michigan Hospital staff thought they encountered a “symbol of racism” at a work station of their employees.
What was the supposed symbol of hate? A “noose.”
“Yesterday, in one of our hospitals, a noose — a symbol of hate and discrimination — was found at the work station of two of our employees,” Dr. Marschall Runge, executive vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UM Medical School, said in an email sent to employees Friday, June 21, MLIVE reported.
“We have taken immediate action to have this investigated as both an act of discrimination and a criminal act of ethnic intimidation,” he continued. “This act of hate violates all of the values that we hold dear and will not be tolerated.”
Talk about jumping quickly to conclusions.
As The College Fix reports, after some investigation, the university found the “noose” was actually a harmless fishing knot. An employee happened to be practicing tying a “Uni Knot” on one of their breaks. They later came forward to explain the situation.
“It was a case of (the rope) getting moved by several different people,” Division of Public Safety and Security Director of Strategic Communications Heather Young said, who added “there was no evidence to indicate that a crime, motivated by bias, had been committed.”
MLive followed the initial story with an update, saying:
An investigation by UM’s Division of Public Safety and Security concluded the spool rope used for medical procedures was being used by a person on a break to practice tying a 'Uni Knot,' which is a type of knot used for fishing. After the spool was returned to the storage area, the knot was still in place and discovered the following day by an employee.
The rope is typically used for traction after surgical procedures, DPSS Director of Strategic Communications Heather Young said. The loose end of the rope was tied in the knot while still connected to the spool, Young noted.
This is an example of the need to wait for all the facts to come out before claiming something is “harmful or “racist.” If patience had been practiced, we would have never known about this overblown incident.