No, they wouldn’t be calling it “art.”

It would be another sign of “insane rage” and “violent escalation of rhetoric.” And: RAAAAAAACISM.

But string up a mannequin of Sarah Palin from a rope, and it’s just all in good Halloween fun.

Related: Severed head of Bush, anyone?

Just more cheeky humor from the unhinged Left.

Can I say I told you so?

I’ve covered hate crimes hoaxes long enough to know one when I smell one.

Those of you who trashed me in comments might want to think twice before doubting my instincts next time.

And those of you on the left who are now so interested in debunking despicable hate crimes might show a little more skepticism yourselves next time when similar narratives hit the news pages involving politically correct hoaxers who share your politics.

I told you so:

Police say a campaign volunteer confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter B in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker; now she’s facing charges.

At a news conference this afternoon, officials said they believe that Ashley Todd’s injuries were self-inflicted.

Todd, 20, of Texas, is now facing charges for filing a false report to police.

Todd initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect began beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.

Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.

Investigators asked Todd to return to the police station today for more questioning and to help them release a composite sketch of the suspect.

When she did, police say she admitted that she made the whole thing up and that it snowballed out of control.

Todd told investigators today that she “just wanted to tell the truth” – adding that she was neither robbed, nor attacked.

She said he believed she may have scratched the backward “B” on her own face because she was the only one in the car at the time. Todd told police that when saw was the “B” in her rearview mirror, she thought of Barack Obama.

Final lesson: Trust your instincts. Use your brains. Stop jumping every time Drudge hypes something in Armageddon-sized font.

Throughout my career, I’ve covered dozens of fake hate crimes — campus hate crime hoaxes, Muslim hate crime hoaxes, fake noose hangings, etc., etc., etc. Most were perpetrated by liberals, but there have been some shameful ones on our side of the aisle as well.

I’ve reported on the great lengths that warped attention-seekers have gone to in perpetrating fake hate crimes, including beating themselves up, carving swastikas on their dorm room doors and walls, locking themselves in bathroom stalls, and burning down their own houses.

Which is why I’m not jumping up and down with outrage over Drudge-promoted story of a McCain volunteer claiming to have been attacked by a black man whom she accused of carving a “B” in her face after spotting her McCain bumper sticker.

She refused medical treatment after reporting the incident to police. Why on earth would she do that?

Look at her face (photo via Hot Air):

What’s wrong with the “B?”

I share my reader Kathy’s suspicions on this. She writes:

Notice how the “B” is backwards on the right cheek……if you were looking in a mirror and put it on your own face…it would appear backwards and would probably be on your own right cheek (due to most folks are right handed)……she put it on her own face but forgot it would show up backwards.

She may have been robbed and beaten but I think she added the “B”….

Take a close look at the picture.

Maaaaybe the alleged robber straddled her upside-down while carving it into her face.

Maybe.

But I’ve got my doubts.

(Update: And yes, as many readers have pointed out, it’s also the neatness and superficiality of that “B” that also raises red flags. See my police officer reader’s e-mail below.)

The woman has been identified as GOP volunteer Ashley Todd of Texas. Her Twitter page is here and I find it, well, odd.

This seems to me to have shades of Paul Mirecki (note that there was a photo in that case, too), Sarah Marshak, and Tawana Brawley all over it.

If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize. If I’m right, will this woman?

It needs to be said — and since it is not said often enough by those on the other side of the political aisle, I’ll say it again:

We have enough low-lifes and thugs in the world running loose and causing campaign chaos and fomenting hatred without having to make them up. I’ve been blowing the whistle on the real, left-wing rage not on the front page and in-your-face tactics throughout the election season.

Hate crimes hoaxes — by anyone, of any political persuasion, and of any color — diminish us all.

Either way, I hope that Todd gets the help she needs, that the whole truth comes out, and that justice is served on the perpetrator.

Whoever he or she may be.

***

Ace weighs in.

And from a reader who is a police officer:

“I’m a cop – 8th year now – and this McCain supporter attack just didn’t pass the “smell test” as soon as I read about it.

At this point, I’ll guess the shiner was inflicted either by a friend willingly as part of this hoax or a boyfriend in a domestic dispute.

The “B” is far to[o] shallow and clean to be taken seriously. Reminds me of the stab wounds that a “hero” would get when fighting off a phantom attacker – far to[o] superficial to have been done in what is a fairly violent encounter.

Either way, I’m voting McCain

***

Update 1am Eastern: Via Pittsburgh Tribune-Review…

A knife-wielding man robbed a McCain-Palin campaign volunteer and etched a “B” into her face after he saw a McCain bumper sticker on her car, the woman told Pittsburgh police.

Police planned to administer a polygraph test to Ashley Todd, 20, because her statements about the attack conflict with evidence from the Citizens Bank ATM where she claims the incident occurred, police said.

FYI: Todd’s MySpace page has been turned private, but cached links are here.

Her Facebook profile has been deleted, but the cached front page is here.

Update 9:30am Eastern 10/24: She told police the assailant sat on her chest and pinned her hands down with his knees.

So much for all those thinking the attacker was upside-down with her head between his knees.

Update 3:26pm Eastern: I was right.

Professor Madonna Constantine, whom administrators initially rallied behind after she claimed she had been racially targeted, has now belatedly been fired after the school found her guilty of plagiarism. You’ll recall that the sanctions against her had been kept secret in February. Someone spilled the beans to the NYTimes yesterday:

The Columbia University professor who gained widespread attention last fall after a noose was found hanging on her office door was fired on Monday after months of wrangling over charges that she plagiarized the work of two former students and a former colleague.

Madonna G. Constantine, a professor of psychology and education with a focus on racial issues at Columbia’s Teachers College, was sanctioned in February, after an 18-month investigation into the plagiarism charge, but allowed to stay in her job and to appeal the ruling that she had violated the university’s academic standards. But over the last five months, tensions between Dr. Constantine and the administration grew more strained as she vigorously defended herself, filing not just the appeal but also a grievance against Susan Fuhrman, the college president.

Paul Giacomo, Dr. Constantine’s lawyer, said that the college’s move to dismiss his client was “purely retaliatory.”

Dr. Constantine has until July 15 to decide whether to challenge her ouster before one of two faculty committees, Mr. Giacomo said, adding that she also might sue the college for wrongful termination in either state or federal court.

A Teachers College spokesman confirmed that Dr. Constantine had been dismissed pending a hearing by a faculty committee, but otherwise refused to comment on what led to the action.

A letter announcing the decision, sent Monday to the faculty of the college, indicated why the punishment had escalated. “During the months since the college levied sanctions against her, Professor Constantine continued to make accusations of plagiarism, including in at least one instance to the press, against those whose works she had plagiarized,” the letter stated.

Indeed, Dr. Constantine’s lawyer continued to point out during an interview on Monday that the three people who accused her of plagiarism were themselves promised indemnity.

The original sanction against Dr. Constantine was never made public, but the letter was clear that the college now wanted her gone.

“We are terminating Madonna Constantine’s employment with Teachers College for cause, subject to a hearing before a faculty committee,” it said. “In the interim Professor Constantine is suspended, effective immediately.”

But what about the noose incident that just happened to take place in the midst of the plagiarism probe? When will the campus cough up the truth about that? In March, I noted that Constantine’s files were being subpoenaed
by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force and prosecutors.

No word on what they found. Yet.

This story’s far from over.

Read it here. My conclusion:

Campuses remain fertile ground for hate-crime hoaxes because administrators – whipped up into p.c. frenzies when the “crimes” are first reported – are reluctant to crack down on minority students and professors who perpetrate the lies. In many of these cases, charges against the con artists are reduced to wrist-slaps or dropped completely.

And the university grievance-coddlers come up with excuses to rationalize away the manufactured hate: They meant well. At least they “raised awareness.” Nobody was hurt.

Bull, bull and bull. Faked campus hate crimes diminish the credibility of whistleblowers with bona-fide claims of victimization. They squander law-enforcement resources. They poison the academic environment.

It’s time to man up, stand up to race charlatans and crack down hard on those who play the system.

As the grievance-hustlers like to chant: “No justice, no peace.”

There’s definitely a book to be written someday on the phenomenon of hoax crimes.

A Manhattan grand jury has subpoenaed the university records of the controversial black Columbia Teachers College professor who found a noose hanging from her office door – signaling that the investigation is broadening to examine possible links between the teacher, her closest friends and the racially charged incident, The Post has learned.

According to sources, the subpoenas obtained recently by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force and prosecutors demanded the college hand over a laundry list of records pertaining to embattled professor Madonna Constantine, whose colleague found a 4-foot hangman’s noose on her office doorknob last October.

The incident happened at the height of the school’s probe of plagiarism charges against her.

Last month, Teachers College announced that Constantine was responsible for two dozen incidents of stealing the work of a faculty member and two students under her tutelage, including lifting passages from their dissertations and hijacking their ideas. Constantine has denied the charge.

In addition to the plagiarism report, investigators want to examine all the information gleaned during the university’s probe and by a law firm and private investigator hired by the school to investigate the plagiarism allegations.

They also want Constantine’s financial contract with the school – which would include her salary, benefits and pension – and any other administrative personnel and academic records.

Sources said the records would provide investigators with a timeline on the tightly guarded 18-month plagiarism probe and what Constantine – one of only two tenured black Teachers College professors – stood to possibly lose if she were found guilty and her job were threatened.

The revelation that Constantine had been under university review provides a possible motive for a sympathetic friend to consider placing a noose on her door – thinking it could whip up support for her, sources said.

You don’t say.

When is lynching rhetoric acceptable? Newsbusters recounts recent kerfuffles over noose references and finds that it’s only okay when it comes out of the mouth of a black Hillary Clinton demagogue. Witness Ohio Democrat Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones:

Well, you [k]now what, the camp, the Obama campaign is trying to put that noose on her neck. But the reality is that Senator Clinton does not wear, uh, NAFTA. NAFTA is something that occurred during the presidency of her husband. She was the first lady, but she has been very clear about NAFTA.

Tubbs Jones, by the way, is the sycophant who calls Hillary her “sista.” And sistas gotta look out for each other’s backs. And necks.

Not enough to get her fired from one of the nation’s most prestigious universities.

Just enough to earn her secret “serious sanctions.”

The NYPost blasts Columbia:

Teachers College claims to be indepen dent of Columbia University – but when it comes to moral cowardice, it’s hard to tell them apart.

To wit, Teachers College revealed last week that an 18-month investigation has determined that Professor Madonna Constantine had lifted the work of a colleague and several students.

Now, plagiarism is a firing offense at Morningside Heights, right?

Amazingly, no.

Teachers announced that it had merely imposed secret “serious sanctions” against Constantine.

If her name seems familiar, it should. She’s the prof upon whose door last fall was found a four-foot noose; the discovery sparked a national uproar, and the case remains unresolved.

The noose and plagiarism charge – which Constantine denies – are related, she said: They are proof of “structural racism” at Teachers College.

That’s absurd, notes department Chairwoman Suniya Luthar: “The students who came with the complaints – most . . . are ethnic minorities, and a number of them are African-American.”

As for the noose – well, let’s just say that the police probe is ongoing.

But what about Teachers College – and, by extension, Columbia?

By retaining Constantine as a tenured professor, and by keeping the alleged “sanctions” applied against her secret, Teachers has demonstrated that it cares as little about its reputation as Columbia cares about its own.

Rick Moran has more on the double secret super sanctions:

“Serious ’secret’ sanctions?” It sounds made up – like the “double secret probation” Delta House was put on in the movie Animal House.

When academic standards are sacrificed on the altar of political correctness, a university loses all respect. In Columbia’s case, that happened a long time ago.

It’s the rule of the mob and the school of Mahmoudapalooza.

Parents of college-age students, if you haven’t crossed Columbia off the list, get out the permanent marker and do it now.

We still don’t know who hung the noose at the office of Columbia University professor of psychology and education Madonna Constantine. It remains one of the notable unsolved mysteries of 2007. But now we know something about Constantine. According to a new report by the Columbia Spectator student publication, Constantine has been sanctioned for plagiarism. Fraud. Dishonestly passing something off as genuine (hat tip: reader Danny).

Food for thought:

Professor Madonna Constantine has been sanctioned by Teachers College for plagiarism, according to a memo obtained by Spectator Tuesday evening. The memo, dated Feb. 18, was hand-delivered to professors on the Office of the President’s stationery.

TC confirmed in a statement later Tuesday evening that after an internal investigation TC had “found numerous instances in which she [Constantine] used others’ work without attribution in papers she published in academic journals over the past five years.”

The statement specifies that “the investigation, which began in 2006, was prompted by complaints from students and one former faculty member who said language from materials they wrote was included without attribution in the articles.”

The statement explained that “the investigation, which was conducted by Hughes Hubbard & Reed, a law firm with a substantial practice representing universities and academic institutions, concluded that Professor Constantine’s explanation for the strikingly similar language was not credible.”

Constantine has the right to appeal to the Faculty Advisory Committee, the President’s memo noted. An emergency TC faculty meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday.

In October, Constantine, a professor of counseling and clinical psychology, was thrust into the spotlight as the victim of an apparent hate crime when a noose was found on her office door. Students and colleagues rallied to her defense, describing her as a scholar who addressed issues of race head-on. As of last month, the New York Police Department had not identified any suspects in the case.

Tuesday’s memo commended Professor Christine Yeh, former TC professor and current faculty member at the University of San Francisco, and former TC students Tracy Juliao and Karen Cort for their cooperation. Yeh did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening. One TC faculty member said that nine other students did not come forward against Constantine because they were unable to seek indemnity in time.

Jasmine Alvarez, a TC student in Constantine’s department, said she was shocked when she learned about the memo from a Spectator reporter. “I’m shocked. I’m surprised,” said Alvarez, who is also the diversity representative for the TC Student Senate. “I wouldn’t have expected that. From the many publications that she already has written and from her reputation, that just doesn’t add up to me.”

Yeah. A lot of things don’t add up.

This is definitely a piece of the puzzle that remains.

***

The NYPost has some more eyebrow-raising details. Yeah, it smells to high heaven, people, as I’ve said all along:

The plagiarism probe was already under way last year when a 4-foot twine noose was discovered on the door of psychology and education professor Madonna Constantine’s office, officials at the university’s Teachers College said.

They said they disciplined Constantine for stealing other people’s work for articles she published in academic journals.

They cited two dozen instances of plagiarism over the past five years that were substantiated in an 18-month investigation by a Manhattan law firm.

Teachers College spokesman Joe Levine would not say how Constantine was punished, but college officials said her position is secure.

In a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News Service yesterday, Constantine said she was the victim of a racist conspiracy.

The school accused her of plagiarism because of the “structural racism that pervades this institution,” she charged. “As one of only two tenured black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted.”

And check this out:

After the October incident, cops were rebuffed – by Constantine herself – in their efforts to catch the person behind the alleged hate crime.

The professor was one of several faculty members who objected to the idea of posting surveillance cameras in her hallway, according to sources familiar with the campus investigation.

President Bush spoke today at a Black History Month event and condemned a spate of high-profile, noose-hanging incidents. He is right to condemn bona fide cases of racism. He should have also condemned opportunist race-hustlers and fraudsters.

One of the noose-hanging cases in Baltimore turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by a black firefighter. A Jewish student at GWU, riding the wave of noose-related hate crime publicity, manufactured a hate attack against herself.

And, of course, the most prominent case at Columbia University remains unsolved.

Want to hear something really appalling? The biggest race-hustling fraudster of them all, Al Sharpton, was at the White House and gave President Bush his seal of approval:

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who was at the White House, said he was pleased that Bush addressed the issue.

Sharpton helped organize a massive rally in September in Jena, La., to protest what marchers believed to be the unfair treatment of six black students charged with beating a white student at Jena High School. The beating came months after three other white students were suspended, but not criminally charged, for hanging nooses in a tree at the school.

“I am encouraged that the president addressed the issue that caused me to bring 30,000 marchers to Jena, Louisiana, in September and 50,000 marchers in front of the U.S. Department of Justice on November 16th,” Sharpton said. He said he hoped the president has discussed specific legislation to address the rising tide of hate crimes and increasing displays of nooses.

It was just three years ago that Al Sharpton was calling Bush “evil.” But hey, who’s gonna turn down partying at the White House? Not The Reverend!

Here’s the White House transcript:

3:00 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House. Laura and I are honored that you all came, as we celebrate African American History Month. This is a month in which we recognize the many African Americans who’ve made great contributions to our country. We honor the talent and their courage. We renew our commitment to securing liberty and justice for every American. That’s why we’re here.

I appreciate many of the notables who have joined us: Madam Secretary, appreciate you coming. (Applause.) Mr. Secretary Alphonso Jackson and Marcia. Thanks for coming, Mr. Secretary. Proud you’re here. (Applause.)

If I skip some of the notables, it’s because I’m going to say something about them a little later on. (Laughter.) So, Congressman, I’ll be with you in a minute. (Laughter.)

I appreciate Dr. Leonard Haynes, who’s the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I am proud — Doc, thanks for coming. I’m proud to welcome all the presidents from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities here today; really appreciate your service to the country.

I want to thank Ron Langston, National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency. Roslyn Brock, Vice Chairman of the NAACP — Roslyn, thank you for coming. Somewhere — there you are. I thank John Fleming, President, Association of the Study of African American Life and History. Reverend Al Sharpton, and his wife Dominique — Reverend, it’s good to see you.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Daughter.

THE PRESIDENT: Daughter. (Laughter.) Daughter. (Laughter.) I don’t get them right all the time. (Laughter.) But thank you for coming. And, Dominique, you’re sure a lot prettier than your father. (Laughter.)

As long as the police-smearing, crime-coddling race demagogue Al Sharpton is welcome in the White House, race relations will never improve.

***

Just a reminder of who’s welcome at the White House and who’s not:

Al Sharpton: Welcome.

Tom Tancredo: Not welcome.

The New York Police Department’s hate crimes task force continues to investigate the Oct. 9 hate crime at Teachers College but remains without suspects in the incident involving a noose found on an African-American professor’s door.

The incident was the first of a series of bias incidents on campus, including racist graffiti in a Lewisohn Hall bathroom and a swastika on the door of a professor’s office in TC’s department of counseling and clinical psychology, the same department where the noose was found. The victim of the noose incident, professor of psychology and education Madonna Constantine, said previously, “I would like the perpetrator to know that I will not be silenced.”

A test performed on the rope used to form the noose yielded no DNA that could be used to identify the perpetrator.

Furthermore, a review of the security videotapes subpoenaed by Teachers College produced “no valuable information,” confirmed Deputy Inspector Michael Osgood, who heads the investigation. The police subpoenaed the video tapes at TC’s request, as the school could not otherwise hand them over due to privacy concerns.

Osgood insisted that the hate crimes task force will continue to work on the case as long as information resources remain untapped. “We will maintain discipline through the investigative process, we will exhaust all investigative pathways, and whatever that yields … that will yield some result,” he said.

Osgood declined to estimate the amount of time the investigation might continue.

Funny how incurious the administration seems to be about the culprit now that public interest has died down:

Teachers College Student Senate President Michelle Cammarata said that she believes, however, that students have turned their focus away from the investigation of the crime and toward the diversity and community issues highlighted by the incident.

“I think that people were much more interested in the investigation months back when this actually happened. Now, sure if something turned up and they found out who it was, I think people would be interested in it, but I’m not sure anybody is still on the edge of their seat waiting for something to come out of that,” Cammarata said.

What ever happened to “No justice, no peace?” Hmmm?

My nominee for the year’s number one unsolved mystery: Who hung the noose at Columbia University?

Still no suspects. Still no release of security video.

A look back at an ABC/GMA interview with the Columbia professor who was the alleged hate crime target:

And here’s a reminder of the innocent professor who was unfairly smeared as the possible perpetrator.

My second nominee for 2007’s top unsolved mystery: Who defaced the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington?

Still no suspects. Reward money for info leading to an arrest is still unclaimed.

Our Hot Air report…

***

Related: A new case of war memorial vandalism.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Kreager has been placed in a witness protection program:

A law enforcement source close to the investigation said yesterday that Kreager, who is homeless, has entered the state’s attorney’s office’s witness assistance program because officials are concerned for her safety.

The Sun also provides a few details on how the incident might have escalated. Apparently, Kreager had an eye injury before the beating that the accused assailants mocked; it appears during the dragging/punching/beating, they went after her injured eye–breaking bones in her face around the injured eye, in addition to bruising her ribs and causing the head wounds that had to be stapled. Investigators are examining surveillance camera tape as part of the probe. The MTA police continue to probe the racial angle, though the prosecutors’ office remains more circumspect:

As the 26-year-old woman beaten on a public bus by nine middle school students was put into witness protection yesterday, conflicting accounts raised questions about whether the attack was racially motivated.

One of the girls charged in the assault told The Sun yesterday that there were no racial overtones in Tuesday’s after-school incident on West 33rd Street, insisting that no racial slurs were exchanged.

The victim, Sarah Kreager, told The Sun in a telephone interview last night that she feels race might have played a part in the attack, but she said the events spiraled out of control because the adolescents became caught up in actions of their peers.

“A woman at a corner house came out, and she saved my life. I think they would have killed me,” Kreager said.

Maryland Transit Administration officials stood by their earlier statement that they are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime – though they did not release any specifics.

But the city state’s attorney’s office declined to confirm that prosecutors are looking at racial bias as a possible factor in the attack.

Meantime, the Sun’s Gregory Kane excoriates black city officials who jumped all over the recent noose incident that turned out to be a hate crime hoax:

Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, said the noose and notes were threats and that the matter “had to go federal,” as in the guilty party being charged with a federal hate crime.

Henry Burris, president of the Vulcan Blazers, said, “Whoever perpetrated it, whether they know it or not, this has reached the level of a federal hate crime.”

Mayor Sheila Dixon said she was “outraged by this deplorable act of hatred and intimidation. … Threats and racial attacks are unacceptable anywhere – especially in a firehouse.”

Subsequent investigation revealed it was [troubled black firefighter Donald] Maynard who put the noose and the note in the fire station. How did Cheatham, Burris and Dixon react to this news?

Cheatham: “It really saddens us to hear that evidently things have reached a stage that even an African-American does an injustice to himself and his own people as a result of a negative culture in that department.”

Burris: “I’m extremely upset. I believed [Maynard] was telling the truth.”

Dixon, through her spokesman, Sterling Clifford, said that she was “pleased to find out that, in fact, there wasn’t a threat of that nature made” and that she was “disappointed” in Maynard.

Let me get this straight: As long as the suspect was thought to be a white guy, this incident was a threatening act of hatred and intimidation that warranted calling down the wrath of the feds. But since it turned out to be a black guy, now Cheatham, Burris and Dixon are saddened, upset and disappointed. Whatever happened to Burris’ assessment of the situation?

I’ll run that by you again, in case you didn’t get it the first time.

“Whoever perpetrated it, whether they know it or not, this has reached the level of a federal hate crime.”

It strikes me that Maynard comes under that category of “whoever.” And I’m not alone.

“Whether it’s a black member of the department or a white member, it’s still a hate crime,” said Stephan Fugate, who’s president of a union for Baltimore’s fire officers. “If I had put the noose there, whatever penalty would have been directed at me should have been directed toward Mr. Maynard as well.”

***

Following on the heels of the Denver diversity debacle, here’s another p.c. brouhaha of the day (via the Cincinatti Enquirer, hat tip – OrbusMax):

A widely performed school play has been canceled by Lakota officials after a recent meeting with a local NAACP official.

The internationally acclaimed play – Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians” – was to be performed by students at Lakota East High School this weekend.

But Gary Hines, president of the local NAACP branch, recently complained to Lakota officials that the play, based on Christie’s 1939 mystery novel, was inappropriate for a school production.

Hines said the book’s original title and cover illustration used for its initial publishing that year in England was a racial slur toward blacks and included a cover illustration of a black person and a hangman’s noose.

“The original title was ‘Ten Little (N – - – - – -),’ and it is important to say that because that was the actual title,” Hines said Monday.

The title of the international bestseller was widely changed after 1939, and school theater productions in America have performed the murder mystery play as either “Ten Little Indians” or “And Then There Were None” for decades since.

Hines claims that a lack of racial diversity among Lakota’s students and teachers allowed the play to be chosen despite the history surrounding its original title.

“It’s a lack of diversity knowledge on their part. Diversity is not a way of life in Lakota,” Hines said.

Hines has a vested interest in manufacturing p.c. outrage. Guess what he does for a living? He’s a diversity consultant “who operates GPH Consultants – a diversity training company – in West Chester Township.” Of course!

I smell a cheesy diversity training video in the works…

***

Dan Riehl has some background on the evolution of the title of Christie’s play.