There’s a shortage of racism in America and it’s creating real difficulties for self-identified victims who now find themselves forced to oppress themselves. In recent months, there have been several reports of fake hate crimes being carried out across the nation.

In March, Anayeli Dominguez-Pena, a 25-year-old student from the University of La Verne reported receiving several racist and threatening messages over email and social media, allegedly from a campus fraternity and its president.

Following an investigation, police found Dominguez-Pena had sent the messages to herself. She was arrested and now faces charges for making a criminal threat and for committing perjury in filing victim compensation requests with false information.

“I think she was trying to instigate some racial issues within the university,” Nick Paz, La Verne Chief of Police said.

In Johnson City, the words “White Pride” were carved into a black-own DC Fitness, prompting a police investigation. In March, officers arrested Mahagany Teague in connection to the crime and charged the 41-year-old woman of color with vandalism.

Jonathan Lopez, a 29-year-old Oregon politician, claimed on social media in June that he had received a racist and homophobic letter in his mailbox. The letter warned Lopez that he was not welcome in the area and that people like him are killed in Umatilla County. The letter was signed, “Sincerely, America.”

Hermiston Police investigated the incident and two weeks later revealed that they’d found Lopez to have penned the letter himself and may be charged for initiating a false police report.

Police Chief Jason Edmiston told East Oregonian, “Our investigation has shown that Mr. Lopez wrote the letter himself and made false statements to the police and on social media.”

In Texas, Isaih Martin, a 21-year-old senior at A&M University called the police on June 24 to report three handwritten notes on his car that said, “All Lives Matter,” “You Don’t Belong Here” and the n-word.

“Yesterday afternoon I learned of a detestable racist event,” university president Michael K. Young said in a statement. “Messages of hate were left on the car windshield of a #TSMU student. Acts of racism are irreconcilable with the values we hold here at Texas A&M University.”

The incident resulted in an investigation and authorities issued a $1,200 reward for any information leading to an arrest. However, after reviewing surveillance video, Campus cops discovered that the racist notes were placed on the vehicle by Martin himself.

In June, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace claimed to have found a threatening noose hanging in his garage. Following an outpouring of support for the only black driver competing in the series, investigators discovered the noose was, in fact, a garage door pull down and that no federal crime had been committed.

President Trump responded to the incident, along with NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag by tweeting:

“Has Bubba Wallace apologized to all those great NASCAR drivers and officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, and were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That and flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!”

The incident, of course, has been likened to the Jussie Smollett case, in which the actor claimed to have been physically attacked by two white men wearing MAGA hats. Smollett alleged the men tied a rope around his neck.

A month later police found two Nigerian-American brothers who were paid by the actor had purchased the rope found around Smollett’s neck, along with a red hat that was used to fake the hate crime assault.

You’d think if America were as racist as some would like to suggest, there’d be no shortage of opportunity to find real oppression from real white supremacists. And yet time and time again, we hear of instances of people having to fake their own oppression.

Of course, one of the difficulties is finding real examples of oppression in a nation that’s been deemed one of the least racist countries on earth, but the question we should be asking is, why? Why would anyone fake a hate crime against themselves?

The answer is simple: Victimhood has now become currency.

We’ve silenced particular groups of people and eliminated them from making any meaningful contribution to discussions on certain subjects. The straight, white, Christian, male wouldn’t know what it’s like to be oppressed, we’re told. What would they know about the struggles of the Lesbian, brown, Muslim, woman?

We’ve established a standard that measures the value and validity of an idea, not by objective truth, but by the degree to which the person expressing that opinion is oppressed.

In other words, oppression is essentially a prerequisite to being heard. Your victimhood status will determine whether your voice has any authority on certain matters.

The problem is, where victimhood is a virtue, oppression is in high demand. Not only is this an incoherent means of measuring truth, but when society makes victimhood a virtue people won’t only go out of their way to claim victim status, they’ll entirely invent oppression where there is none.