A Hateful Prank

By Ernest B. Fleishman

An ugly incident of racial hatred, in which five high school seniors used their personal yearbook statements to spell out the coded message "kill all niggers" focused the nation's attention in June on Greenwich, Conn. But anyone who thinks the incident says something unique about Greenwich is missing the point entirely.

I was the Greenwich superintendent of schools between 1976 and 1989. Since then, my work in educational publishing has brought me in contact with administrators, principals, and teachers across the country. I can report that Greenwich is neither more nor less prone to incidents of this type than any other school district, anywhere else. They...