(no subject)
The jury is still in deliberation over the verdict to give Dhuran Ravi when it comes to Tyler Clementi's suicide--what to hand Ravi for what he did. He can face up to ten years, something that's harsh, yea, but I'd cheer if the jury came back with that sentencing. Enough with the nonsensical "Oh, but he's just a young guy with SO much potential who made a mistake!"...
Pan made an important comparison: let's look at the idiots that get their kicks beating on the homeless. WHY the homeless? Why not the businessman who just passed you on your way to the alley where you saw the 'stinky bum'?
1.) Choosing the businessman brings immediate repercussions. His family, friends, employees/employers will be involved, the news will cover it to the nth ("A prominent businessman is attacked by a stranger for no apparent reason: are our streets safe?") and the sentence will be swift, unquestionable.
2.) Choosing the homeless man in a dark alley, no witnesses and a good chance that he has no family or friends makes it easy. The likelihood that you're going to face charges is slim to none, even if someone sees you doing it, because:
---2a.) They themselves see no worth in a homeless man, and don't care what happens to them.
---2b.) If they step in to help, they'll stay for all of ten seconds to ask, "You okay?" and walk away to feel awkward for the rest of the day.
3.) The homeless man is already reviled and dehumanized. To that cruel, awful person, they're THERE to BE beaten on for being who they are.
Now go back and apply what Ravi did to Tyler, and there isn't much of a difference. Are gays reviled, treated horribly by society/the justice system/etc.? Yes. Is beating on/tormenting/etc. a gay person more "understandable" to the public, while hurting a straight man trying to go to work is seen as "horrendous"? Yes. Will a jury sympathize with a young college student who made an "awful mistake but deserves a second chance", "why ruin his entire life over that mistake"? Yes.
So really, in excusing Ravi and giving him next to nothing as punishment is to say that anyone seen as an easy target deserves to be beaten, they themselves are at fault in how they live/what they are. Jewish people, black people, obese people, gay people, homeless people, women... you should all stay home, because you need to understand that a bright, full-of-potential young man just might attack you for existing. It's not their fault. They just made a mistake. Sure, they raped you, assaulted you, humiliated you, but it's not their fault. You'll laugh about it one day! :D...
I think, more than anything, the officials and the jury deliberating needs to keep one fact in mind: there wouldn't have been one, feasible positive outcome in what Ravi did to Tyler. Tyler wouldn't have burst out laughing, saying, "Oh man, you guys got me good!" and bought a round of drinks for them all. They invaded, degraded, hurt, destroyed, caused insurmountable fear, all of which gave Tyler the amount of heartache that is lethal. If he hadn't killed himself, he may as well have. He would have left Rutgers, his school of choice, MAYBE started at another school; become a recluse, carrying the constant, debilitating fear that he'd be recognized as "that fag". The joy he found in his music would die. Know how you can't write happy love scenes with C&Z is you've had a bad day? Yea. Have that 'bad day' haunt you for the rest of your life, multiply its pain by a googol and you may as well forget about keeping up with that WIP you once loved to update.
In closing, I will be a very sad person if Ravi--and anyone else involved--gets that slap on the wrist we're used to seeing in these cases. I ain't a praying woman, but I send many "make him pay" vibes to that jury. Please guys... make this a landmark case that creates a standard we should all follow, where it doesn't matter who you are, what you do--you're not allowed to violate anyone, the end.
Pan made an important comparison: let's look at the idiots that get their kicks beating on the homeless. WHY the homeless? Why not the businessman who just passed you on your way to the alley where you saw the 'stinky bum'?
1.) Choosing the businessman brings immediate repercussions. His family, friends, employees/employers will be involved, the news will cover it to the nth ("A prominent businessman is attacked by a stranger for no apparent reason: are our streets safe?") and the sentence will be swift, unquestionable.
2.) Choosing the homeless man in a dark alley, no witnesses and a good chance that he has no family or friends makes it easy. The likelihood that you're going to face charges is slim to none, even if someone sees you doing it, because:
---2a.) They themselves see no worth in a homeless man, and don't care what happens to them.
---2b.) If they step in to help, they'll stay for all of ten seconds to ask, "You okay?" and walk away to feel awkward for the rest of the day.
3.) The homeless man is already reviled and dehumanized. To that cruel, awful person, they're THERE to BE beaten on for being who they are.
Now go back and apply what Ravi did to Tyler, and there isn't much of a difference. Are gays reviled, treated horribly by society/the justice system/etc.? Yes. Is beating on/tormenting/etc. a gay person more "understandable" to the public, while hurting a straight man trying to go to work is seen as "horrendous"? Yes. Will a jury sympathize with a young college student who made an "awful mistake but deserves a second chance", "why ruin his entire life over that mistake"? Yes.
So really, in excusing Ravi and giving him next to nothing as punishment is to say that anyone seen as an easy target deserves to be beaten, they themselves are at fault in how they live/what they are. Jewish people, black people, obese people, gay people, homeless people, women... you should all stay home, because you need to understand that a bright, full-of-potential young man just might attack you for existing. It's not their fault. They just made a mistake. Sure, they raped you, assaulted you, humiliated you, but it's not their fault. You'll laugh about it one day! :D...
I think, more than anything, the officials and the jury deliberating needs to keep one fact in mind: there wouldn't have been one, feasible positive outcome in what Ravi did to Tyler. Tyler wouldn't have burst out laughing, saying, "Oh man, you guys got me good!" and bought a round of drinks for them all. They invaded, degraded, hurt, destroyed, caused insurmountable fear, all of which gave Tyler the amount of heartache that is lethal. If he hadn't killed himself, he may as well have. He would have left Rutgers, his school of choice, MAYBE started at another school; become a recluse, carrying the constant, debilitating fear that he'd be recognized as "that fag". The joy he found in his music would die. Know how you can't write happy love scenes with C&Z is you've had a bad day? Yea. Have that 'bad day' haunt you for the rest of your life, multiply its pain by a googol and you may as well forget about keeping up with that WIP you once loved to update.
In closing, I will be a very sad person if Ravi--and anyone else involved--gets that slap on the wrist we're used to seeing in these cases. I ain't a praying woman, but I send many "make him pay" vibes to that jury. Please guys... make this a landmark case that creates a standard we should all follow, where it doesn't matter who you are, what you do--you're not allowed to violate anyone, the end.