I wrote my first column on how an elite university education could not teach basic common sense. Recent events at UCSD demonstrate the same sad principle again-the individuals supposed to be our best and brightest often lack that little voice in their heads asking them if something is a bad idea.

While the details are still unclear, it appears that a black comedian, Jiggaboo Jones, was having a DVD launch party at the apartment of a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha. The Facebook invitation encouraged individuals to come dressed as every negative black stereotype in the book. Mr. Jones makes his living feasting on these stereotypes, and it is not my place, but rather the black community's, to determine whether his comedic work is beyond the pale or not.

On the other hand, the Pike brother who is reported to have provided his apartment for this ridiculous event should have known better. The event invitation, among other things, read "ghetto chicks have a very limited vocabulary." One does not have to take any classes or be particularly aware of racial politics to know that such a party, hosted and attended by non-blacks, would cause a storm of controversy.

Individuals certainly have a First Amendment right to hold racially insensitive events, as long as they do not incite violence. Of course, having a right does not mean it is proper to exercise it. I strongly doubt that the intent behind the party was to offend blacks, but it was obvious that some people would be offended. (Since the party, more insensitive acts have occurred.) Common sense suggests that offending a significant group of people for the purpose of a party is a display of poor judgment, especially in light of the tense racial history of our nation.

That said, this party was an isolated occurrence. That is not to say racially motivated crimes do not occur or people do not discriminate against others on the basis of race. What I mean is that we do not live in a racist society-individual acts of racism are deviations from what is considered socially acceptable, and when they rise to the level of criminal activity, they are punished accordingly. The fact that there is a significant gap in socioeconomic indicators between blacks and whites is not an indicator that we are a racist society. Discrimination in the labor market, in housing, in voting rights is illegal and aggressively prosecuted.

At one point, this was not so. Blacks were lynched with impunity and denied their civil rights; it was considered acceptable to publicly voice racist beliefs. None of this is true anymore. The fact that racism still exists does not mean our society or its institutions are racist any more than the fact that crime exists suggests we are a criminal society. As a Jew, I would not dare assert that the swastika drawn on a Jewish student's door at Davis (or a similar incident in Bowles last semester) somehow suggests we are an anti-Semitic society.

Unfortunately, certain individuals have taken advantage of the regrettable incident at UCSD promote their political agenda. Some of their requests are prima facie ridiculous-the Black Student Union there occupied the chancellor's office last week demanding the entire campus be shut down. Other demands were less extreme but almost equally troubling.

One which the campus appears ready to indulge is the creation of "a space in the central part of campus safe for African-American students." Are black students not physically safe elsewhere on campus? There seems to be no evidence to suggest that, but if so, this is a public safety issue that ought to be rectified immediately. Everybody, white or black, Hispanic or Asian, should be safe on campus. Rather than stating these simple, powerful truths, the BSU would rather use this incident to secure a dedicated space for its operations.

Other demands made are similarly parochial in their nature, such as free tutors for black students. Aside from possibly being illegally discriminatory, such a program would reinforce negative stereotypes about blacks, such as alleged academic inferiority. Then there are the predictable calls for mandatory ethnic studies classes-an idea that may have merit were ethnic studies faculties not filled with far-left ideologues for whom scholarship comes after politics.

The leaders of the BSU are not naive. They know they are exploiting a few isolated instances of racial insensitivity to push an agenda on an administration that fears being labeled as racist. They state this in not so many words in their manifesto: "This incident has given us a moral edge." They say they choose "not to focus on the event specifically" but on the supposed climate that allowed the Cookout to occur.

It's nice to assert that some institutional fault caused a bunch of college kids to act in a loutish manner. Not only is such a claim utterly unverifiable, but it gives one carte blanche to make "demands."

It is disappointing to see an unfortunate incident used to promote a narrow and counterproductive program. Thomas Sowell, one of America's greatest public intellectuals, describes this sort of behavior as "race hustling." I call it just another day at the University of California.