On Cruelty and Context

I was offended by the gratuitous statement by Professor Carolyn Rouse in her article about “Capital Crimes” where she noted that “anyone who works in the field of whiteness studies knows how cruel whites can be to one another.” That statement did not fit within the context of the paragraph. I am not sure what her motive was with that statement. Were it a different author in a different context, there would be calls for their dismissal.