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Universities lamented the Atlanta shooting, ignored the Boulder massacre

ANALYSIS: An advanced Google search shows a major difference in the reactions from campuses between the two incidents

After a white man on March 16 gunned down eight people in Atlanta — six of Asian descent and two white victims — the response from campus leaders was lightning fast.

In most cases, within a day or two of the massacre, university presidents fired off memos to their respective campus communities lamenting the tragedy.

Fast-forward to March 23, when a young man of Middle Eastern descent shot and killed 10 people in a Boulder grocery store, a massacre in which all 10 victims are white.

Were these college presidents quick to take to their keyboards once again to mourn this loss with their students, faculty and staff? Outside of Colorado, the answer is a resounding no.

An advanced Google search shows a major difference in the reactions from campuses between the two incidents.

Search for “Atlanta shooting” from websites ending in “.edu” over the last month and page after page after page after page of returns brings up statements from campus presidents marking the tragedy with various lamentations.

Do the same for “Boulder shooting” and guess what pops up? Outside of Colorado, not much at all aside from a few perfunctory campus notices that the U.S. flag would be flown at half staff.

What could possibly be so different about the two incidents that campus presidents would pounce on the Atlanta tragedy and ignore the Boulder one?

Let’s see. The Atlanta suspect is a white man named Robert Aaron Long who is said to be Christian. The Boulder suspect is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Syria who identifies as Muslim, according to a former classmate.

But the alleged shooters both have some things in common — they’re both 21, and they both reportedly struggle with unique mental issues.

But campus presidents are not so quick to comment on the Boulder shooting, no, not at all.

If they can say that the Atlanta shooting represented “violence and hate” against Asians, why can’t they say the Boulder shooting represented “violence and hate” against white people?

The difference is that in the Atlanta case, the left blames that nebulous enemy of all — whiteness. In the Boulder shooting, the bad guy, according to the left, is the gun.

Indeed here’s a prediction: If campus presidents do start sounding off on the Boulder shooting, the blame won’t fall on mental illness, it will fall on the Second Amendment.

MORE: College president declares Atlanta shootings result of ‘normalization of white supremacy’

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About the Author
Fix Editor
Jennifer Kabbany is editor-in-chief of The College Fix.