BECAUSE THE ACADEMY PRIZES IDENTITY OVER IDEAS NOW: Why Was It So Easy for Jessica Krug to Fool Everyone? Academe fetishizes fake racial authenticity.

Of the many staggering and sensational aspects of Jessica Krug’s exposure, the thing that has left the deepest impression on me is the video footage of her vituperative testimony before members of the NYC City Council. “I’m Jess La Bombalera,” she declares in an affected, charmless accent that sounds like Rosie Perez’s soaked in bleach; “I’m here in El Barrio, East Harlem.” Krug “calls out” a council member for having “sold my neighborhood to developers and gentrifiers.” Now, I’ve lost track of how many waves of gentrification Harlem has gone through over the years, but I know this is not a new problem. The footage, however, is from 2020; even “La Bombalera’s” grievance seems out of step with time and place, to say nothing of that damn accent.

Who could possibly be fooled by this? How?

As is usually the case, people who are happy to be fooled.