"A Gutless Lynch Mob"

Thomas Sowell points out the cowardliness of the Duke lacrosse team lynch mob, who are all now saying that they did not pre-convict the innocent young men.

Meanwhile, 88 members of the Duke faculty took out an ad in the campus newspaper denouncing racism. Among other things, the ad said, "what is apparent everyday now is the anger and fear of many students who know themselves to be objects of racism and sexism."

As for the demonstrations and threats loudly voiced by some local blacks, in the wake of the accusations against the Duke lacrosse students, the ad said:

"We're turning up the volume in a moment when the most vulnerable among us are being asked to quiet down while we wait. To the students speaking individually and to the protesters making collective noise, thank you for not waiting and for making yourself heard."

Nope. Nobody was pre-judging these young men as pampered racists and sexists. Not the faculty, not the president and certainly not the New York Times.