In the opening chapters of Japanese By Spring, the character of Professor Crabtree surfaces as a racist colleague of Professor Puttbutt. Whenever Puttbutt greets Crabtree, Crabtree looks right through Puttbutt without saying a word. Consequently, Puttbutt suspects Crabtree is the unidentified white male professor whom the newspapers quoted as having said that blacks and Hispanics were lowering the standards of the Jack London College. Puttbutt believes Crabtree is acting unreasonably hostile toward him, especially since Puttbutt agreed with Crabtree's quotes and wrote an op-ed story in a local right-wing paper supporting Crabtree's article. Crabtree never responded to the letter (21-22).
Later, Puttbutt asks the head of the Department of Humanity, Professor Hurt, why Puttbutt was denied tenure. Hurt is, like Puttbutt, a black professor at the college. (And, unbeknownst to Puttbutt, Hurt later complains to the college president about a racist cartoon depicting Puttbutt in the campus magazine.) But, even though Hurt does not agree with Puttbutt's views, Hurt does begrudgingly enlighten Puttbutt by explaining that some older faculty members, the Miltonians, denied Puttbutt tenure because of a paper that Puttbutt wrote. Hurt told Puttbutt why Crabtree opposed granting tenure to Puttbutt: because Puttbutt did not agree with Crabtree and his colleagues; specifically, Puttbutt did not idolize the classical writings of deceased author John Milton, like Crabtree did (79).
However, after Dr. Yamamoto and his Japanese investors take over Jack London College and promote Puttbutt, Puttbutt senses a slight change in Crabtree's demeanor. When Puttbutt passes Crabtree on campus, Crabtree offers a weak smile and Puttbutt begins to wonder about Crabtree (91). Meanwhile, one of the perks that went along with Puttbutt's promotion was that Puttbutt now had access to his own confidential file. He learns that the Miltonians had been rallied ...