The Faked Acid Attack and the Sordid History of Racial Hoaxes: No one knows why Bethany Storro decided to mutilate her own face with acid late last month. Obviously deeply troubled, she was sane enough to make a calculated decision to maximize sympathy and deflect suspicion. She blamed it on a black person.And the fake acid attack became the latest twist on a tactic as old as America itself, one that plays into every long-held stereotype of black folks as criminal and violent: the racial hoax. The racial hoax 'plays into long-standing fear and part of American folklore, that the main victims of blacks are white women,' says Adrian Pantoja, a political scientist at Pitzer College in California who specializes in American racial attitudes. 'It’s very strategic because they know they will get the most attention if they claim the perpetrator is black.'
