“If you can’t find a guilty black person, any black will do.” Was that on the minds of an Oak Park, Illinois resident and the editors at the Wednesday Journal, a weekly newspaper in the city?

I have to ask because, in response to a recent series the paper wrote on the achievment gaps between black and white students there, one letter to the editor has sparked a huge controversy and shows just how stupid some people can be when relying on stereotypes to shape their opinions of people.

Check this out:

The letter to the editor was accompanied by a photograph that had run on at least three previous occasions in the paper. The letter was in response to a commentary that had run in the Journal about the academic achievement gap between white and black students.

The letter, credited to an Oak Park resident, stated that young black men were not achieving academically because of gangs in school. The photo was of a march by student proponents of installing lights in the football stadium. Three African-American males were shown in the photo, and one of them, a football player wearing his jersey, was pointing toward a “Light the Stadium” sign. The letter writer said that the student was flashing a gang sign.

The letter writer asked rhetorically whether lights at the stadium “will likely bring this player’s fellow gang members or rivals to their neighborhood?”

Students and faculty at the school said the student, a junior, did not flash a gang sign or belong to a gang. District 200 Supt. Susan Bridge said the young man gets good grades, has a superb attendance record and a spotless discipline record. School officials say there is no gang problem at the school.

For its part, the paper is now apologizing for the letter and has pulled it from its web site and is placing a front-page apology in its next edition.

The school where the misidentified gang member a.k.a. good student who has no disciplinary issues held a rally in support of the classmate who was subject to the vicious lie.

It’s still true. Too often, Black people are born suspects.

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