Why would mental illness, temporary or any other temporality, be reason to eliminate any value in categorizing the specifics of the behavior as racist?
If not all racism, maybe some racism could be a symptom of mental illness? [1]
I never claimed it eliminated any value, but to answer your question more directly, it reduces the value for the same reason it reduces the value of any action taken by an clinically insane person in terms of moral weight vs one who is sane: the insane person is presumed to have lost the ability to reason and act rationally due to factors outside of their free will.
Of course, more to the point, is the fact that based on the article the extent of the evidence that this was racial profiling is that the victim speculated it was such, and the two victims were of similar ethnic origin. That, combined with the fact that it sounds like there is evidence supporting the idea the person may have been having a mental episode, should call into question the journalistic integrity of the author who in the title claims as fact that racism was the cause of the employee's behavior.
At the very least, it seems like there is some chance that this person had some kind of lapse in sanity, and this article now labels that person as being a racist -- if that person's name were included in the article, they'd likely now be the target of an internet mob and persona non grata. Insofar as the allegations about their mental illness are true and have been identified as the cause (unknown) I commend Alaska Airlines for protecting the person's identity.
I believe I mistook the use of the word folly in a context that was not relevant.
I would not feel qualified to say for whom it might be of value, but my thinking was perhaps for the individual having their behavior being categorized, or a clinician assisting them. Not super relevant here.
We're talking about the journalist, and perhaps ourselves, and in that light folly makes a lot more sense than it did in how I had initially misinterpreted.
Of course, more to the point, is the fact that based on the article the extent of the evidence that this was racial profiling is that the victim speculated it was such, and the two victims were of similar ethnic origin. That, combined with the fact that it sounds like there is evidence supporting the idea the person may have been having a mental episode, should call into question the journalistic integrity of the author who in the title claims as fact that racism was the cause of the employee's behavior.
At the very least, it seems like there is some chance that this person had some kind of lapse in sanity, and this article now labels that person as being a racist -- if that person's name were included in the article, they'd likely now be the target of an internet mob and persona non grata. Insofar as the allegations about their mental illness are true and have been identified as the cause (unknown) I commend Alaska Airlines for protecting the person's identity.