I’ve gotten several e-mails like this one from Joseph H.:

I notice Froomkin said “He got away almost scot-free using a term – “tar baby” – that many consider racist.”
I’m sorry “scot-free”? Isn’t that a dig at my highland ancestors? How come its OK to say scots are unpunished criminals? Is it the kilts? The Cabers? The Haggis?
He owes me an apology.

I am also of Scottish descent, so I thought about looking up the origins of the phrase “scot-free” to find out if actually had anything to do with Scottish people. I found this:

As with the word hopscotch, scot free has no connection with Scotsmen, frugal or otherwise. It’s a Scandinavian word meaning “payment”. The expression derives from a medieval municipal tax levied in proportional shares on inhabitants, often for poor relief. This was called a scot, as an abbreviation of the full term scot and lot, where scot was the sum to be paid and lot was one’s allotted share.

At first, I figured this meant I didn’t really have a case against Froomkin. But then I realized, according to Froomkin’s logic, that a phrase doesn’t necessarily have to be racist — all that matters is that people somewhere consider it racist.

Therefore, I’m calling for the Post to mandate “sensitivity training” for Froomkin. He obviously harbors a deep anti-Scottish bias — so deep, perhaps he doesn’t even know he’s harboring it.