Thoughts on the Duke Controversy.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Duke rape cases, because I'm that kind of person who tends to think about things too much. For a long time, I've been interested in sexual violence and what makes American culture such a hot bed for domestic violence and sexual assault. The Duke rape case just happens to be a well-publicized story of sexual violence which has become disturbingly common in our culture.
Now, I like to make jabs at the South like any individual who walks upright does, but I found it particularly interesting how almost purposefully under-reported it was that the two Lacrosse players charged with kidnapping, brutally beating, and gang raping a young black woman whom they hired as an exotic dancer aren't from the South. They are from the rich, privileged, and homogeneously white suburbs of New York City.
It's hard not to see how race whether consciously or unconsciously played a role in the group victimization of this young woman. But what's more interesting is the finger pointing at the South that much of the media is making by excluding this fact that the two boys who are believed to have committed this awful crime aren't from the South at all. New York Times, I'm looking at you - because you maintain a completely undeserved reputation as a trustworthy news source and again and again have lied, mislead, and omitted essential facts in recent years. The omission leads to ideas like "Oh, it's just a bunch of Southern boys." This just allows people to distance themselves from it.
Now, even as a self-identified Yankee I'll be the first to admit racism is alive and well in the North, as it is everywhere and is defined just like everywhere else by the culture it's found in. In the South, I'd argue that it's much more open and pervasive, and is still widely socially acceptable in many areas. In the North, a combination of political correctness and liberalism has driven racism to be underground for the most part, open racism results in a backlash and ostracization. But it's still there, rearing it's ugly head with less frequency but often with a sinisterly stealthy manifestation that people might not even notice. This is how racism manages to survive everywhere by adapting.
It is very true, that the Duke Lacrosse team has been steeped in controversy for a number of years, including a lot of instances of racism, sexism, steroid use, and even sexual assaults so this is not the first time. Yet, it seems like this is pretty standard for higher education athletics in this country.
The power of omission is more powerful than I think I had previously believed it was. It has the power to make a monstrous act seem distant and foreign, when in fact it's more close to home than you'd ever like to imagine (Hipsters beware!). I am happy that this has become such a debate in the media the more we get it into the public consciousness that these things happen regularly and that we need to take a systematic approach to stem the tide of rising sexual violence in this country. What's unfortunate is that most people stop short of pointing out that it is much more cultural than we'd care to admit.
Now, I like to make jabs at the South like any individual who walks upright does, but I found it particularly interesting how almost purposefully under-reported it was that the two Lacrosse players charged with kidnapping, brutally beating, and gang raping a young black woman whom they hired as an exotic dancer aren't from the South. They are from the rich, privileged, and homogeneously white suburbs of New York City.
It's hard not to see how race whether consciously or unconsciously played a role in the group victimization of this young woman. But what's more interesting is the finger pointing at the South that much of the media is making by excluding this fact that the two boys who are believed to have committed this awful crime aren't from the South at all. New York Times, I'm looking at you - because you maintain a completely undeserved reputation as a trustworthy news source and again and again have lied, mislead, and omitted essential facts in recent years. The omission leads to ideas like "Oh, it's just a bunch of Southern boys." This just allows people to distance themselves from it.
Now, even as a self-identified Yankee I'll be the first to admit racism is alive and well in the North, as it is everywhere and is defined just like everywhere else by the culture it's found in. In the South, I'd argue that it's much more open and pervasive, and is still widely socially acceptable in many areas. In the North, a combination of political correctness and liberalism has driven racism to be underground for the most part, open racism results in a backlash and ostracization. But it's still there, rearing it's ugly head with less frequency but often with a sinisterly stealthy manifestation that people might not even notice. This is how racism manages to survive everywhere by adapting.
It is very true, that the Duke Lacrosse team has been steeped in controversy for a number of years, including a lot of instances of racism, sexism, steroid use, and even sexual assaults so this is not the first time. Yet, it seems like this is pretty standard for higher education athletics in this country.
The power of omission is more powerful than I think I had previously believed it was. It has the power to make a monstrous act seem distant and foreign, when in fact it's more close to home than you'd ever like to imagine (Hipsters beware!). I am happy that this has become such a debate in the media the more we get it into the public consciousness that these things happen regularly and that we need to take a systematic approach to stem the tide of rising sexual violence in this country. What's unfortunate is that most people stop short of pointing out that it is much more cultural than we'd care to admit.