Much ado about nothing scars teacher's good name

Before we get to the controversy, here's what you should know about Scott Crump, a teacher at Bingham High: Teaching and a love of history are in his blood.

How else do you explain a man who did his first research history project when he was 10 years old (and it wasn't even a school assignment)? Or a man who writes histories of high schools and school districts, just for fun? Or a man who has worked a labor job at the local park every summer for some 40 years to pay the bills and continue teaching history to his students?

If they honored teachers the way they honor athletes, Mr. Crump would be a perennial first-team all-pro. A few years ago, he was honored as Teacher of the Year and was flown to Washington to meet President Bush in the White House. He still marvels that such a thing could happen to a kid from Copperton, a town of 750.

For 34 years, Crump has quietly gone about the business of teaching at Bingham, and other than the White House field trip and the considerable adoration and appreciation of his students, he has done this with little fanfare or notice. The students are enough for him.

So imagine Crump's dismay one morning when he woke up and discovered his name in the news. Just like that, a guileless, hard-working man and dedicated teacher was being investigated for racism.

"It really hurt," he says. "It was like a punch from the side."

What happened? A comedy of errors. The first mistake occurred when the NAACP leaked news that it was investigating a Bingham High teacher for racism where there was no racism.

The second mistake occurred when the media reported an investigation of racism where there was no racism.

The third mistake? "Of all the teachers to go after," said student Elise Christensen. "He has a big following here."

In today's hypersensitive world, a cry of racism is blood in the water. With all the hyperventilation and overreaction in the "KKK hood" incident at Alta High School, the stage was set. All it took was one report from an anonymous parent — who got his/her information second hand from a student who must have gotten it second hand — to the NAACP that there were students marching around Bingham High wearing dark suits with armbands, chanting German and making Hitler-like arm signals and the feeding frenzy was on.