Pushback: Home appraiser sues professors who called him racist without evidence
Mott (l) and Connolly, eager to use race to
defame an innocent white man
Bring a gun to a knife fight: A home appraiser, Shane Lanham, who was publicly accused by two Johns Hopkins professors, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, of being a bigot and racist by valuing their home less because they are black, has now filed a countersuit, noting that the accusation was based on data so faulty “a first-year undergraduate” would immediately reject it.
[T]heir claims would fail to pass basic academic muster if treated as scholarship, Lanham argued in his counterclaim, which includes a suit for defamation. The racism claims achieved national coverage such as in ABC News. The resulting allegations have harmed Lanham’s business and reputation, according to the lawsuit.
“Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott’s ill-conceived ‘experiment’ involving different appraisers, a seven-month gap, and intervening changes in market conditions would not withstand even basic scrutiny in the serious academic environment in which they work,” Lanham’s counterclaim stated. The lawsuit noted that the professors “failed to disclose the sale of the similar house next door to their home that sold only a month after Mr. Lanham and 20/20 Valuations’ appraisal for $7,000 less than the amount of the appraisal.”
You can read Lanham’s countersuit here [pdf]. He is requesting, at a minimum, $250K in compensatory damages and $250K in punitive damages.
This story began when Connolly and Mott asked Lanham (who is white) and his company, 20/20 Valuations, to appraise their house. When they were unhappy with his appraisal, they decided to get another appraisal, but this time do what they themselves called a ““whitewashing experiment.” For the second appraisal they removed all evidence that a black family owned the house, to the extent of having a white friend present himself as the owner instead. The second appraisal, done months later, came up with a higher price.
Connolly and Mott then sued Lanham and 20/20 Valuations (lawsuit available here [pdf]), claiming he had violated their civil rights and demanding unstated compensatory and punitive damages. More significantly, Connolly and Mott then went on a public campaign claiming that blacks are discriminated against by white appraisers, and held Lanham up as their prime example. In interviews with the New York Times and ABC News both accused Lanham of racism and bigotry. The subsequent news stories, with these defamatory statements, were then picked up by numerous other media outlets.
Putting aside the simple fact that home real estate values can often change drastically over short time periods, and that the art of appraisal is an imperfect science that carries an enormous amount of uncertainty no matter what the circumstances, to accuse someone of racism based on this flimsy data is certainly mean-spirited and vicious. To do so in such a public way is plainly defamatory and a slander. Lanham has a strong case.
This story also illustrates once again the legacy of hate given to us by Barack Obama. He made it acceptable for the left to spread false lies about its opponents, without evidence, and worse, he made it acceptable to accept those lies without any fact-checking. Thus, both the New York Times and ABC News are equally culpable in this story, as neither bothered to look closely at the racist accusations of Connolly and Mott. Had either news organization done the slightest research, they would have quickly realized that these hate-mongers had no convincing evidence that Lanham and other white appraisers were valuing black homes for less, and would have immediately dropped the story before airing.
Instead, both news organizations went with it gleefully, allowing Connolly and Mott to smear an innocent person because it fit their preferred narrative that all whites are racist and that blacks are always oppressed. (That Connolly and Mott are well paid professors at a well-established university proves clearly that the latter assumption is utterly wrong.)
Even if Lanham wins his case, it is likely that the smear will follow him and his business for years to come, doing him endless harm even if he is exonerated entirely in the courts. As it has been said, a lie can circle the world before the truth even gets out of bed. In this case the lie will linger forever.
Thus, it isn’t the blacks here who are oppressed, but an innocent white man, simply because he happened to be white.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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P.O.Box 1262
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Mott (l) and Connolly, eager to use race to
defame an innocent white man
Bring a gun to a knife fight: A home appraiser, Shane Lanham, who was publicly accused by two Johns Hopkins professors, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, of being a bigot and racist by valuing their home less because they are black, has now filed a countersuit, noting that the accusation was based on data so faulty “a first-year undergraduate” would immediately reject it.
[T]heir claims would fail to pass basic academic muster if treated as scholarship, Lanham argued in his counterclaim, which includes a suit for defamation. The racism claims achieved national coverage such as in ABC News. The resulting allegations have harmed Lanham’s business and reputation, according to the lawsuit.
“Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott’s ill-conceived ‘experiment’ involving different appraisers, a seven-month gap, and intervening changes in market conditions would not withstand even basic scrutiny in the serious academic environment in which they work,” Lanham’s counterclaim stated. The lawsuit noted that the professors “failed to disclose the sale of the similar house next door to their home that sold only a month after Mr. Lanham and 20/20 Valuations’ appraisal for $7,000 less than the amount of the appraisal.”
You can read Lanham’s countersuit here [pdf]. He is requesting, at a minimum, $250K in compensatory damages and $250K in punitive damages.
This story began when Connolly and Mott asked Lanham (who is white) and his company, 20/20 Valuations, to appraise their house. When they were unhappy with his appraisal, they decided to get another appraisal, but this time do what they themselves called a ““whitewashing experiment.” For the second appraisal they removed all evidence that a black family owned the house, to the extent of having a white friend present himself as the owner instead. The second appraisal, done months later, came up with a higher price.
Connolly and Mott then sued Lanham and 20/20 Valuations (lawsuit available here [pdf]), claiming he had violated their civil rights and demanding unstated compensatory and punitive damages. More significantly, Connolly and Mott then went on a public campaign claiming that blacks are discriminated against by white appraisers, and held Lanham up as their prime example. In interviews with the New York Times and ABC News both accused Lanham of racism and bigotry. The subsequent news stories, with these defamatory statements, were then picked up by numerous other media outlets.
Putting aside the simple fact that home real estate values can often change drastically over short time periods, and that the art of appraisal is an imperfect science that carries an enormous amount of uncertainty no matter what the circumstances, to accuse someone of racism based on this flimsy data is certainly mean-spirited and vicious. To do so in such a public way is plainly defamatory and a slander. Lanham has a strong case.
This story also illustrates once again the legacy of hate given to us by Barack Obama. He made it acceptable for the left to spread false lies about its opponents, without evidence, and worse, he made it acceptable to accept those lies without any fact-checking. Thus, both the New York Times and ABC News are equally culpable in this story, as neither bothered to look closely at the racist accusations of Connolly and Mott. Had either news organization done the slightest research, they would have quickly realized that these hate-mongers had no convincing evidence that Lanham and other white appraisers were valuing black homes for less, and would have immediately dropped the story before airing.
Instead, both news organizations went with it gleefully, allowing Connolly and Mott to smear an innocent person because it fit their preferred narrative that all whites are racist and that blacks are always oppressed. (That Connolly and Mott are well paid professors at a well-established university proves clearly that the latter assumption is utterly wrong.)
Even if Lanham wins his case, it is likely that the smear will follow him and his business for years to come, doing him endless harm even if he is exonerated entirely in the courts. As it has been said, a lie can circle the world before the truth even gets out of bed. In this case the lie will linger forever.
Thus, it isn’t the blacks here who are oppressed, but an innocent white man, simply because he happened to be white.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
It makes me wonder if these Black professors rose to professorships ahead of Whites because of their skin color. I shudder to think a brain surgeon was given his job by a hospital not because he rose to the head of his class, but because he was Black and a grade C student. I believe Obama was pushing just such a measure to put more Blacks thru medical school.
I have a couple of wildly successful black friends for exactly this reason. For those that don’t know them, they have been suspected of accomplishing by being black vs while being black. The one friend that I know best, doesn’t see color any more than most of us, which is pretty much not at all. He was roundly ostracized for supporting Trump in 20156.
Sorry for double posting, but my previous post needs some clarity. I was trying to say that they dislike affirmative action because it casts an unwarranted shadow on their accomplishments.
“Instead, both news organizations went with it gleefully…because it fit their preferred narrative that all whites are racist and that blacks are always oppressed.”
Yeah, nothing overblown there. Perhaps you can contact some of the leaders and thinkers whom seem to rule conservative thought these days and get them involved. Especially since you seem to have already seen not only the probable outcome in court, but the future beyond that as well.
Certainly no problems that any black person ever experience when trying to buy or sell a house. That’s all in the past now. Nothing but a square deal for all in today’s America
Seriously, I’m curious about this story and will look into it. You could be absolutely right about this one case and the pertinent facts surrounding it. I just think its pure poppycock to try and force fit a single case into the overarching set of statements you declared.
The more I think about it, the more it seems that some of your pronouncements pertaining to race in American society sound just like those coming from the far-left. Wrong. And wrong for where I think America is progressing toward.
I read both the complaint and the response/counterclaim. Since the plaintiffs are both professors and therefore presumably reasonably intelligent, the question arises as to why they didn’t engage a second appraiser immediately upon receiving the appraisal they didn’t like, instead of waiting seven months?
loanDepot.com’s own website advises, at
https://www.loandepot.com/knowledge-cafe/home-purchase/understanding-the-home-appraisal-process
that if the appraisal comes in too low, to “ask the lender for a second appraisal”, which the plaintiffs obviously didn’t do.
Also, presumably the loan application they filled out IMO should have spelled out the appeal process, and therefore the plaintiffs should have been aware of the 60-day provision when they submitted the loan application.
Related, because it is all related:
WEAKENED FROM WITHIN
James Okeefe, former Project Veritas CEO, comments on his firing: https://youtu.be/HfjRlAIc-5w
It certainly looks like someone high up somewhere dropped a dime to one of the Project Veritas board members on Mr. Okeefe regarding his last very effective and revealing report on the Pfizer corporation and what they may / are up to relating to the Covid19 virus and it possibly being manipulated in order to prolong the use of their mRNA “Vaccine”.
The report comes out and what do you know, next Mr. Okeefe is suspended and is now thrown out at his own company! Lesson? Never give up more than 51% of anything. PS: Project Veritas immediately lost over 100K subscribers and IMO will either be no more or just a husk of what it was under Mr. Okeefe. Apparently one really big corporation threatens a much smaller corporation? Goodbye and good riddance!
Pure Strategy, no Morality.
Next freedom of speech and actual journalism project Mr. Okeefe? I am certain you will have massive amounts of grass roots financing made available to you.
Dave Chappell, commenting on Trump’s honesty: https://youtu.be/f3pnJV8FHkw
Mr. Trump will also now find massive amounts of grass roots financing made available to him for the same reasons.
Why is Trump the focus of the permanent government and the deep state DOJ and the FBI (D / RINO)?
Both Mr. Okeefe and Mr. Trump are without doubt highly effective in the projects that they find themselves undertaking in their chosen fields of endeavors, very effective indeed. And the evidence of their successes is plain for all to see.
Those political insiders who actually despise America and what it represents ALWAYS tell you exactly who they fear the most. Anyone who would dare threaten their gravy train and their despotic political agenda.
And so, it is imperative that both Mr. Okeefe and Mr. Trump very badly need to be rabidly encouraged to continue in their chosen fields of endeavors.
https://uploads.dailydot.com/bbc/14/49014c5311b9dadb.jpg?q=65&w=1135&ar=2:1&fit=crop
IO believe it ..
Two local hospitals banned a surgeon after his patients died..
After the Surgeon’s private practice group fired him.
He went into sole private practice…..
Four bodies later the State pulled his certifications.
The last four patients were also black.
David wrote: “Certainly no problems that any black person ever experience when trying to buy or sell a house. That’s all in the past now. Nothing but a square deal for all in today’s America”
It is bogus claims like this that make everyone wonder whether the other claims are also bogus. When someone sees a noose in a simple garage door pull, we wonder what he thinks a noose looks like, and does he see racism in everything, whether or not it is racism.
“I just think its pure poppycock to try and force fit a single case into the overarching set of statements you declared.”
Robert didn’t declare it. An American president declared it. Obama declared that whites are racist due to their genes.
The American press had been so excited about Obama’s election, because it meant that America would finally become post-racial. Race would no longer matter, because America was finally able to elect a black president. What a disappointment the press experienced as they realized that Obama was himself a huge racist who had as a goal to increase the racial divide, and what a disappointment that he succeeded so effectively. Until Obama, there had been no need to declare that black lives matter, as everyone knew this to be true, but with his poor leadership and horrific racism, it became a cry throughout the land. Under Obama, athletes and sports teams “took a knee” to declare how bad America was, but before him such an action had been so unnecessary as to be unthinkable.
Well, like others here, I’ve now scanned the 35 page lawsuit the couple filed along with the 55 page counter the appraiser filed. Prefaced with the fact I’m no lawyer, if I was the court, I’d send them to arbitration (along with LoanDepot) if that’s possible or just toss the whole mess as weak cases unworthy of the court’s time.
Mr. Zimmerman (and others) make a solid point on the “white-washing experiment” being poorly designed. I can think of several ways they could have tested that hypothesis in a more reasoned and thorough manner than a single appraisal.
Seven months doesn’t explain a roughly 60% gulf in the two amounts, but the fact that the couple used a single instance of having white folks for stand-ins seems a stretch as a solid plank of proof they allege. Discrimination in the housing market certainly can and does occur, even in 2023 sadly. Not like it used to though.
The areas picked along with the transactions sited seem to be more important in this matter. That and the usual differences in what and how much adds and deducts should be. Regarding this, the appeal process being followed/not being followed, the injury both parties allege, etc. send it to arbitration. If that’s a possibility.
BTW, I had tagged portions of my initial scribbling with “sarcasm tags” which did not transfer over when it posted. I think I realize what I did incorrectly.
That said, I do think that instances like this matter get held up by folks sometimes as statements about big social issues when that’s just too much a reach. Particularly race. Seems to happen on both sides of the political spectrum, particularly the wingtips more and more. And that spills into society in general (or is it the other way around?!?).
Maybe that’s good, but I do wonder sometimes.
As always, thank you Mr. Zimmerman for a stimulating piece of journalism.
Andi–
Good stuff.
This is a manufactured grievance.
It’s all location, location, location, and comparable actual transactions. The price your house actually changes hands is the only real number, everything else is just an informed guess at best.
(and then there’s market-value Vs. current-replacement-cost. On a good appraisal, both those figures are included.)
Cotour–
courtesy of Tim Pool, watch the whole James O’Keefe/Veritas video at https://youtu.be/1JPxqKjYG9Q (44:36)
And over at Rumble, Nick Rekieta goes over O’Keefe’s written response in quite some detail. (from a lawyer’s perspective)
https://rumble.com/v2a9u7w-alec-baldwin-beats-his-gun-enhancement-james-okeefe-isnt-finished-trans-iss.html
[I’ve worked for non-profits, the Board is God, and…. it’s always a Mole hunt.}
interstital:
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
The Briefing scene
https://youtu.be/NmmWkJtuxz4
2:45
Cotour:
You certainly offer a spirited defense of Mr. Okeefe, recently of Project Veritas fame. Interesting you failed to note the little part about multiple complaints offered up by several of his employees. You know the allegations of repeated workplace abuse, his theatrical flings, etc.
I think I read there was a review process he was subject to in there somewhere along the way of him being shown the door…
But as you noted, fear not. There certainly is a market for the type of product he excels at. (Sarcasm)
The Blacks won’t last five minutes in court. The adjoining sale, soon after the first appraisal, will sink them.
Just goes to show how dumb some so-called professors are.
BTW, I’m a registered valuer in NZ.
“You know the allegations of repeated workplace abuse, his theatrical flings, etc.”
That would be the unproven allegations by over sensitive snowflakes, yes.
Next company shouldn’t have a board to take over. Personally, I’d love to see him sue them just for the fun of discovery, starting with forensic level audits of them and their acquaintances. Yuan’s in their wallets?
David:
Someone complained about him? Oh my, that is terrible.
I have seldom heard of people complaining about an *A* type personality who founded a unique company of consequence, especially in politics that stands as a great threat to the established corrupted powers that be, and he insists that his original possibly contentious work ethic in the pursuit of their supposed common goals are paramount.
I am sure he is no Gandi like management angle, but there appears to be a whole lot going on here and the timing is lets say convenient.
(*A* type founders of successful companies are often removed from control after their founding because the founding of a company does not necessarily comport with the continuing operation of said company. Especially when just a week or so before they have possibly revealed a MAJOR multinational company embroiled in a planet wide potential scandal.)
When I was young, I used to drink things that were not exactly good for me, I was naive, they tasted good. And being a grown man now who has seen things I seldom drink what someone tells me I should drink. I have forced myself to learn and step back and see things through a better and more realistic lens that more closely relates to reality.
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.rXAVDRaSBI70TbV0K4bnmQHaEK?pid=ImgDet&rs=1
Why would I drink what an interested party tells me I should be drinking? Why would you?
David
February 22, 2023 at 12:17 am
I think you’re missing a very important point with your comments: the couple not only sued, but then went on tv and slandered the guy.
This is prima facie evidence of them not being interested in a true valuation (achieved through arbitration). They were mad they didn’t get the result, and the very first solution they reached for was RACISM! If the judge sends the first suit to arbitration, I sure as heck hope the counter-suit is successful. The ability to smear people with these sorts of things is one reason the racialists have gained so much power in our society (and, thereafter, the homosexual activists and the trans- activists and others).
SDN:
The discovery process might be something to behold… both ways…
The allegations against Mr. Okeefe regarding his handling of money in certain instances also seem to be interesting. If true of course.
Regarding your “snowflake” opinion of the employees whom registered complaints, if they’re accurate, some of those reported hardly seem to just be trivial. Demands to take lie detector tests? Yuck!
GWB:
You make an excellent point! I didn’t think about that facet before (or during) my musings above. Bad mark for me.
If the single white-washed appraisal is indeed all they’ve got, then I think it was a poor decision to go on tv and make racist allegations against the appraiser. If they cannot back it up then it’s slander and they should have to compensate accordingly.
David:
No longer any Savage, no Oreily (on corporate controlled media) now no Project Veritas.
Are you noticing a theme here?
How much does truth cost in America today, David?
$44 billion dollars.
David: By focusing on the appraisals, you are avoiding the main point of my post, expressed in these sentences:
Connolly and Mott could have gone to arbitration. They could have requested another appraisal, immediately. They could have done a lot of things that two well-established and financially secure college professors have in their power to do to correct a bad appraisal.
Instead, they manipulated the situation to slander Lanham, based on incredibly weak information, and did so with the willful intent not only to slander him, but every white person in America, now. They deserve to lose big in court for defamation.
That you avoid this point speaks volumes about where you stand on this issue. My impression is that you are cool with nonchalant accusations of racism. To you, I get the sense that because these vicious and baseless attacks can advance the cause of social justice, they are generally acceptable.
So David thinks the cases should be tossed due to not being worthy of court time?? Yeah, the initial suit should be, but the DEFAMATION of the appraiser by the couple and the media are certainly WORTHY of a TRIAL! Why should anyone be able to make unsubstantiated claims against another person and have NATIONAL (though not overwhelmingly watched) MEDIA take their side of the case and DEEM someone to be a WHITE RACIST??? I’m sure David wouldn’t agree if he had been that appraiser!
This is a good case to pursue and PROVE that RACE had NOTHING to do with it – it’s ECONOMIC! Now the REAL DAMAGE that they might be suffering is due to the turnip in the White House and his merry band of bunglers who have destroyed so much of our economy and cause significant rises in interest rates and DEVALUATIONS of real estate! Just a hint – your house is worth LESS if no one can afford to get a loan to buy it!
You’d think TWO COLLEGE PROFESSORS would be intelligent enough to KNOW basic economics and follow loan procedures, but since they are probably of the “elite”, everything detrimental to them is due to their skin tone!
Good luck 20/20! I hope you clean their clocks and they HAVE to sign over their home to you to cover damages due to you! THEN you should go after the MEDIA and demand to see THEIR investigation material into the matter!! DEEPER POCKETS THERE!!!
Cotour: I said this before to you: If your comment does not immediately appear, assume it has gone to moderation. Don’t post it again and again and again, as you did here, all of which never appeared because all went to moderation.
I don’t know why this comment went to moderation, but it did. Be patient, and I will get to it.
David:
Let’s see if you can figure this one out.
It’s a puzzle, it’s a mystery :)
“A 70-year-old woman has shared on UK television that her husband of almost 50 years “keeps disappearing” to Thailand and sending “hundreds of pounds there monthly”.”
https://nypost.com/2023/02/22/my-husband-disappears-to-thailand-weekly-spends-100s/
Sometimes things are just what they are.
Robert Zimmerman
February 22, 2023 at 8:43 am
…not only to slander him, but every white person in America, now.
Ooooooh, can we make it a class action slander lawsuit? (No, I know we can’t, but it would be fun to throw on to every slander lawsuit over “racism” just to see the media and the woke parts of the justice system collapse into shrieking, hysterical ninnies.)
Has anyone ever watched those help Me Sell My Home TV shows.
They often just go into the homes and clean them out of all the clutter.
Could the white washing have done exactly this? Just cleaned up the place for the second appraiser?
Mr. Zimmerman:
I feel your impressions of me really miss the mark. I think I addressed the slander liability the couple should and deserve to face in a subsequent reply to GWB who made a correct observation about my focus on the filings and not also on the public declarations the couple made over and above their lawsuit filing.
Still have to wait and see how the case turns out.
On Obama and all the big points you lay out… I really don’t have much to add right now. We don’t see eye to eye. I’m one type of conservative and you seem to me to be another. And that’s okay.
Agree or not, I wouldn’t waste your time or mine if I didn’t appreciate your efforts here on your site. I get frustrated sometimes and am no artist with the written word, but hope that’s okay. And like so many, I have more to do than time but just try to struggle through the best I can!
pzatchok Asked: “They often just go into the homes and clean them out of all the clutter. Could the white washing have done exactly this? Just cleaned up the place for the second appraiser?”
It did take them seven months to “whiten” the house. It also depends upon what they think is different about a “white” house than was the condition of their own house. This is one of the problems with their poorly designed experiment. Not describing the experiment when discussing it to nationwide news media can very easily fail to give an indication of how a confirmation bias could have been introduced during the design phase of the experiment, even unconsciously introduced. As noted in Robert’s post, a month after the appraisal under question, the comparable house next door sold for less than the disputed appraisal. This was not disclosed during the interviews in which the victim had been called a racist, and had it been disclosed, the news reports would have lost credibility. This is a major flaw in the experiment and the reporting of the experiment. It shows that not only had the appraisal not been unfair but also that the second appraisal was wildly inaccurate and possibly biased or manipulated to be phony.
Being PhDs, they had to present and defend dissertations, and they should know how to design a well done study, including preventing much of the biases that can creep into a study. Since their jobs are literally to teach students that racism in America is an active and disrupting issue, it is all too easy for this bias to find its way into any and all of their experiments and studies. Because they have this built-in bias, they have a moral and professional responsibility to be extra careful in the designs of their studies and experiments. To not do so can result in inaccurate results and reporting. I have to wonder how well designed any of their other studies have been and how much other researchers have depended upon their studies in their own work. Connolly and Mott could be scary, causing further bias in other studies and causing additional inaccurate results and reporting.
I do think that after Obama made race relations so much worse that there are now people looking for excuses to blame ordinary occurrences on racism. This is another form of confirmation bias. It doesn’t happen only in science, it happens everywhere. As the song The Boxer, by Simon & Garfunkel, said “still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” This is another loss to the public for the change in the way fact checking is now done. Facts in news reports are no longer being checked in order to prevent bias and assure accuracy, but the reports are only checked to assure they are properly biased, even at the expense of accuracy.
Had the news reporters done their own due diligence and investigated the phony claims, they would have realized that they were being used by Connolly and Mott in a nefarious way. It does not take much to do due diligence, they begin by asking the couple’s victim to present his own side of the disagreement. Instead, they assumed guilt merely due to the accusation. Their own bias crept into their reporting, and they didn’t mind.
Since the victim was not a public figure before the news falsely smeared him, he can sue the media that so gleefully participated. He need not prove that they acted maliciously, and he can show that they failed to present his side, that they were biased in the report.
People may say that they no longer trust the news media, but the damage to Mr. Lanham’s reputation and business shows otherwise. If they didn’t believe the reports on the news, Mr. Lanham would not have been damaged and would have no need to countersue. However, careless, biased people such as Connolly and Mott are still able to wreak havoc throughout American society with their false and phony claims.
The video embedded into the linked The College Fix article shows just how biased the news media was in reporting the original lawsuit. The attitude, tone, and words used showed a bias. “this just happens to be a spectacular case of it where you can actually at least identify with it, I mean if you have any bone in your body that allows you to empathize with other human beings. In other words if you’re not a right-winger.” They were eager, even giddy, to present only one side of the dispute. That they didn’t bother to ask the plaintiffs for their side(s) of the story shows that they didn’t care about truth or justice. Guilt by accusation. It isn’t American. It isn’t even British. It is French.
J’accuse!
David,
You wrote: “I feel your impressions of me really miss the mark.”
Keep in mind that you have made several comments here, and each one leaves us with an impression.
“I’m one type of conservative and you seem to me to be another. And that’s okay.”
You may think it is OK, but it is the left-leaning type who thinks he is a conservative that is responsible for the Republican Party electing a lifelong Democrat for president yet still thinks he is the second coming of Reagan when the reality is that he is just the same as Bill Clinton.
Too many young Americans do not know what freedom looks like, and they accept this fundamentally transformed America as being free. Fabian Socialism did its job, and you are part of the result. It is why DC Comics’s Superman now stands for “truth, justice, and all that stuff,” instead of standing for truth, justice, and the American way.
This country is moving to the left, because so many people who think that they are conservative are, in actuality, leftists. They have come to accept the “new normal” as normal. It is why a new dark age is coming and why people are not available to stop it. The frog is in hot water but does not realize it, and the water is approaching the boiling point.
To Edward…i agree with almost everything you said..But if a was the defendant , i would NOT answer any questions from the media…it’s common knowledge how bias they are. And i would not trust them to report true facts…Why the NYT and ABC didn’t do any fact checking is inexcusable considering their operating budget..but i guess they liked the story more then the truth..I am really looking forward to the professors answer to Mr. Lanham’s counter claim..The plaintiffs, NYT and ABC are all politically connected so any judgement against them will be a hard fight.
Steve,
The point is that they didn’t even ask. They were not interested in a balanced story. Asking may not have gotten them a balanced story, but they didn’t even attempt to investigate the couple’s claims. They didn’t ask other appraisers or loan companies any questions as to the veracity of the claims or the methods typically used in these industries. The assumption was that the couple was correct in their claim, the case was settled, no questions could be asked.
Edward,
I think we’re on the same page…i cant’t figure out why the professors were so eager to go on national TV and the NYT and call a person they know nothing about a racist..The numbers were plain to see and they said they were “knowledgeable consumers that researched the market “. Had to be lying ? And for the media, i assume the credentials the Hopkins professors held was enough for them to run the story..Hopefully a big mistake that both parties will eventually have to pay for..
Steve,
You wrote: “I think we’re on the same page…i cant’t figure out why the professors were so eager to go on national TV and the NYT and call a person they know nothing about a racist.”
They were eager to go on national TV and lie, because this is Obama’s fundamentally transformed America, and that is the fashionable thing to do, now. If you see a garage-door pull, call it a noose and get your own fifteen minutes of fame as you help move the narrative along the right direction.
Truth and facts do not matter. Only what people feel, and only what certain, select people feel, especially the elite. If you are not one of the selected ones, then your feelings do not count at all, and you are fair game in this witch hunt. This is what it means to be “woke.” They didn’t wake up and smell the coffee, they woke up and smelled the fundamental transformation of America. Only the woke are free, and they are not as free as they believe, because if they do not keep up with the wokelly correct (“politically correct”) narrative of the day, they, too, can be blacklisted or cancelled, as happened to poor Roseanne Barr.
The woke are allowed to demand that we use their made-up pronouns, no matter what anyone else feels about them, and several governments back up this demand, no matter what the First Amendment says about our right to not use them. The rule of law does not apply, anymore, only the woke feelings of the day. Keep up with them, because today’s are different from yesterday’s.
Welcome to Obama’s fundamentally transformed America, land of the formerly free.
the judge in the lanham countersuit against the hopkins professors is allowing the case to go forward..the judge stated that the second appraisal which hasn’t been seen yet ,will be seen in discovery ..the judge stated that that $ 750,000 value will go a long way in deciding this case…in other words the professors seem to be in hot water considering $750,000 value is waaaaay off the mark..
steve: Can you provide a source for the judge’s decision?
The professors were apparently promoting their “Brand”.
What is their “Brand”? There has been a lot of talk about politics and Brands lately.
Every white person is racist and so they must be compensated for that bias. This is but one method of wealth redistribution and developing “equity” and reparations for slavery. Of course, for people who never were slaves.
Here is another “Brand” that is beginning to also crack and be revealed for what it is.
https://youtu.be/LXmCll0sxHw
Even these Liberal CBS talking heads are being forced to say, hmmmmm.
Some things in time you just cannot not not see.
As disturbing as that may be to some “Journalists”.
A source for the judge’s decision ? Case law of course, plus the arguments made in the motions to dismiss ..
Steve: You misunderstand. I don’t doubt you, I simply want some links that I could use in an update.
the judges decision is posted on the court docket..
steve: Is there a public link? And if so, can you provide please?
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/maryland/mddce/1:2022cv02048/517624/57/#:~:text=Connolly%20et%20al%20v.%20Lanham%20et%20al%2C%20No,Gallagher%20on%208/2/2023.%20(kb3s%2C%20Deputy%20Clerk)…….here you go R Z…thanks for your interest !
steve: Thank you. I will digest and likely post an update essay later this week.