Almost from the time I heard about the players on the Duke Lacrosse team being charged with rape, the whole thing looked fishy. One of the young men had an alibi from a cab driver, the supposed victim's story constantly shifted, her friend who had been with her that night said it never happened, but the Disctrict Attorney decided the boys were guilty and not only ignored but hid any evidence that questioned that. Media coverage, evidently especially in the town where they had been charged, was heavily weighted toward their being guilty.
White boys rape poor black woman. Definitely the kind of thing that fits our racial stereotypes (and in the reverse) and not to say it has not happened, but just because a woman says she was raped, does not mean she was. There should be supporting evidence of some sort-- bodily marks on her that fit with rape, DNA evidence that matches the supposed perpetrators, maybe other witnesses, above all her own story staying consistent. None of that was there and yet these boys, for a year have had this hanging over them.
The story today changed with all charges being dropped with the statement there was no evidence. This is after the DA, who had brought the charges, had left the case. After he has been charged by the State Bar with unethical conduct.
So today the boys got their moment of vindication, their lawyers were able to discuss with some detail the work that had to be done to finally see this day of justice. The boys, when they spoke, were as admirable to watch as the Rutger's basketball team girls had been; but unfortunately their coverage was considerably less because of the big story being Don Imus being fired by MSNBC. (MSNBC is claiming they did it out of noble reasons but they waited a week and a half to do it and not until one major sponsor after another had dropped the program. How noble was that?)
I am not saying a story that involved bigotry, racism and freedom of speech was not important; but so was one about a miscarriage of justice. What is also disturbing to me as a woman is when women do this kind of thing as a way to get revenge-- and she's not the first woman to do that-- they damage the credibility of the next woman who actually was raped. These boys had their lives ripped apart over false accusations and there is no way to get that last year back. The girls on the Rutger's team said they will never be the same, but their wounds should certainly be far less than spending a year under threat of spending 30 years in prison.
The other issue the boys brought up as a concern they felt was how would this have ended if it had been people with less financial resources, less family support, you know the answer. They'd have spent 30 years in prison.
How do we prevent such miscarriages of justice? It should be scary to us all. I am happy the boys were vindicated, but will their reputations ever be totally returned to them? What kind of protection do any of us have once a prosecutor decides to abuse his power? From what those attorneys said, standing up against the unfairness, which there were those who did, took a lot of courage.
The one good thing in both these incidents was the quality of young people that it showed the rest of us. We hear so much about this current generation being weak, lazy, unsubstantial, but the press conferences I have seen the last two days would tend to tell me there are plenty of those which we, as a country and their families, can be very proud.
5 comments:
Very interesting. I hadn't considered these two stories together, and yet that makes so much sense to see it that way. Yes, the young people who have been in the center of these two maelstroms have presented themselves incredibly well. It is almost hopeful to consider that, beyond the events that cast them into the glare of our country's insatiable appetite for salacious news.
It looks like the DA has finally been totally discredited and some of the players are talking about lawsuits. This is truly a sad case where many people's lives have been forever tarnished. The DA got power hungry and wanted to be re-elected. The college and the Lacrosse team got a black eye. And because of stories like this when a woman anywhere says that she was raped the police have to think about whether the woman is telling the truth.
My experience with young people is that this is a very responsible generation, and anyone who suggests otherwise isn't seeing them like I see them.
This has been a week of lots of stories and this one of vindication is a good one. I also feel sad that a woman, especially a black woman, would have attempted to convict them. Having an adolescent athlete boy in my house these past years, they can be so darned raunchy that it drives me nuts sometimes. But, all the young men who spend time here, even when they have had too much to drink et al, are such good young men. They do not come from wealthy families and most of them have only one parent, but they seem to have gotten values instilled. As for Imus, his career is over. I never even heard of him before all this.
There was a rush to judgement by the media and the legal system to convict these Duke Lacrosse players. Duke University treated them reprehensibly. Imus deserved what he got. His comments were way out of line. That being said Jesse Jackson,Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan and gangsta rappers get a free pass. Talk about hypocrisy! If you want to address racism and sexism then air ALL of the dirty laundry and let the chips fall where they may. Right is right regardless of color or sex.
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