So, today all remaining charges against the 3 Duke Lacrosse players have been dropped (surprise, surprise!!) This damn looser of an accuser will go free, no consequences and no fines or penalties for these false accusations. Causing 3 students to be barred from school, one of them loosing his job on wall street, costing a coach his job, an entire team the very possible win of the 2006 NCAA championship, ripping a town apart, causing a huge discussion making race the primary focus and most disturbing of all: Causing harm to every past, present and future rape victim in the US. I am so disgusted I want there to be consequences, I can't believe she will just get off the hook like that... ok that's just me ranting and raving
Who gives a damn about those fuckers!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: Just kidding, but for real shit like this has happened and continues to plague black men everytime. I am very well understanding of the fact that two wrong do not make a right but you and i are aware of the tumultuous history of rape and race in America. Well, flash forward to 2007 and it still happens. Let a white woman scream rape, federal investigation. Many times, their claims have been bogus but the accusation is a conviction in itself and so it doesn't really matter. Now i am not saying these boys deserve to have their lives screwed up but many black men right now are sitting behind bars because they've been accused of crimes they didn't commit. You don't see them demanding a federal investigation. Emmett Till's family, till today, have not had justice done to them. Kobe Bryant's otherwise fairytale career is being overshadowed by a (bogus) rape claim that continues to cost him millions of dollars today. The list goes on and on. I hate to play Devil's Advocate here but these men won't have any scrutiny to live with. After all, they're white, Christian males - America's Number 1 "hero" - and they have life on a silver (or shall i say golden) platter for them. They'd be fine eventually. In conclusion, if this case wasn't an indication of the almost untouchable yet unsolved conflict of race relations in America, i don't know what else is.
Well with all due respect, or maybe lack thereof, you say yourself 2 wrongs dont' make it right and I simply don't see how your response adds any constructive perspective to my post... I very well understand how wrong many have been treated by the Justice system, black and white alike, without doubt more blacks but if you want to argue about the plight of those situations start a thread about it. Why is your comment just one of stating "it's been happening to us for a long time so who gives a shit?" Sorry in my opinion this attitude is not helping anyone. I give a shit and I give it no matter who has been wrongly accused and their lives destroyed, this case caused a lot of publicity and since I watch Lacrosse I have been following it very closely in case you wonder why I haven't posted about a similar instance before. More than anything I am upset about the fact that this worthless piece of a woman just screwed over all women. It is hard enough to bring a rape case to trial, cases like this won't make it easier for true victims, and that is black and white alike.
I agree with you Chigirl but let’s not leave out the DA and the Prosecutor because it’s their job to say we have enough evidence for a case. She was wrong up and down but without the prosecutors and DA’s it could not have made it this far. This whole case was a joke from the start and I thought the players had raped her but after the DNA results came back, I said “let them go.” The powers that be did not see it that way. The DA could bring charges against her however I think at this point they want the whole mess to go away.
Designer, I completely agree with you and should have included that in my original post. One "good thing" though, it looks as if the DA will have to bear some consequences, he has an ethics investigation pending and could be disbarred in NC. But yes you are correct, if it wasn't for him this would most likely not have gone as far as it has.
I live near Durham and it was big news here. They named the accouser and printed her pix. It is doubtful the black papers will do it. Never has a woman who has cried rape been in the newspapers accross the US til now.
I read a very interesting reader comment on the NYT today, the writer basically stated that the hysteria on all sides makes a good argument to keep the identities of the accuser and the accused in rape cases hidden until a case either goes to trial or a verdict is reached . I like the idea.
Well, no disrespect, it is what it is. Why bother hiding the facts or the real anger behind this case by both black and white? Yes, this has been happening to blacks for years. So when a white person is on the order end of the injustice, that's when they realize what they were doing is wrong. To begin with, I feel this girl, or anyone who lies about a crime happening to them should be held legally liable. Layd attitude is helping, because it proves the bias and one sided treatment society and the law is. Kobe's accuser was lying. Yet nobody even mentioned about holding the female accountable. Snoop's accuser was lying. Yet no demand to hold the female accountable. Alot of black males are sitting in jail for "rape" without hardcore evidence against them, just a "eye witness". Yet nobody is holding the accuser accountable. I guess "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" doesn't apply to them. I think you know where I'm going with this. I honestly don't want this to turn into a race issue. But if people want to hold this woman responsible, go ahead. But snoop's, Kobe's,etc accusers better to held responsible also. And this woman did not screw over all women. Back during slavery years where bortha's were getting hung for no reason, I'd say those women screwed all women. Wouln't you?
Welcome to world of American Women... Where they drown their children and claim Insanity - Andrea Yates Where they drown their children and blame on a frictional "black man" - Susan Smith Where they claimed they got kidnapped by some Latinos in Arizona, when she in reality just wanted to avoid some doting man back in Georgia (I still can't believe that moron wanted to marry her still!) - Jennifer Wilbanks Where she was a ho, before and after the Kobe trial and still tried to get him convicted on "something" - Katie Lovell Where 80% of American Men are DENIED sole custody of their children based on "nothing" Where American Women call you a LOOSER for dating/marrying Foreign Women (He can't deal with a "Strong American Woman") more like won't put up with the BS. Where they can have sex with underaged boys and generally get a "slap on the rist" (Mary Kay Laturno not withstanding) Where some lady offs here Preacher husband and fleas to ALABAMA??? Mary Winkler I could go on but you get the point...
DJ, women don't have it made in the shade. This is a very white male-dominated society, make no mistake about it. Women make less than 30% of what men do. Women need big boobs, can't age, are judged more by their looks than their abilities, yet are also expected to be strong and independent. When we are strong and independent, we're beyatches. When we chop our hair and dress down, rumors that we're lesbians start coming out, yet if we dress the least bit provocatively, we're sluts. A woman can have two sexual partners in one year, and be a ho. A man can have 10 sexual partners in a week and be a stud. Most women take on the majority of the childrearing and household duties, yet work the same hours as men, and likely get paid less. I've had more than one person in a job interview ask me if I have children, am married, or plan to have children in the future. Do you think that happens to a young man? Instead of being critiqued on their politics, women have to deal with the media picking apart their haircuts and choice of dress. Hilary Clinton said, "If I want to make headlines, I just change my haircut?" Why aren't ugly as hell men like Dubya not picked apart on their appearance? 25-year-old males who aren't married are "career-oriented" and "bachelors." The female counterpart is "the Old Maid," and is constantly haggled by relatives and everyone else about marriage. The few inequalities that men suffer don't compare, IMO, to the ones that women suffer. Men aren't granted custody as much as women because they have proven to be more violent and bloodthirsty throughout history. 91% of crimes in the U.S. are committed by males. Males commit more crimes against children than women. Custody should be unequal, and favor the woman. Of course, each case should be looked at individually, but if it's unclear who custody should go to, the woman should win. You have to admit that Susan Smith is an isolated case. Look at all the men who beat their own children to death EVERY DAY. No inequality is fair, but the inequalities women have suffered throughout history and continue to suffer today are paramount compared to the inequalities men suffer. When it comes to rape, rape is hard to prove, and when it is, the rapist usually gets a slap on the wrist - TV theft is a more serious crime in the eyes of the law than rape. It's disgusting... I truly believe things won't change there are more women in power. Men just can't understand things like freedom of choice, and they don't acknowledge the double standards that are in place and surely don't want to do anything to correct the problem. Non-white men at least generally have more understanding of women's issues and peeves moreso than white men because they've suffered racial inequality. I don't want to get into the racial inequality versus gender inequality debate, just say that I feel that I'm on a more level playing field with non-white men vs. white, especially when it comes to things like social issues.
Update on the Duke rape case. I would have to agree with maiseycat from Ohio with respect to nonwhite males having more empathy than white males regarding issues of inequality. I reside in the triangle,NC, so this case hit hard locally.When it first broke, it did appear like the preliminary line of defense was going to be to discredit the dancer, just for being a dancer, and that this reeked of yet another case of privileged white males getting off "Scot- free." But fast forward to Nfong and the rest of an incompetent legal team who dropped the ball in nearly all phases of the case, and another result comes to light.Not to mention the inconsistencies in the woman's story. What I would like to learn as a moral from this is that had race not been disclosed, then the material facts could have had a better opportunity to present themselves.Nfong was ready to jump on this case from the get go, I believe, because of political and career ambition,plus he believed the racial dynamics of the case would lean in his favor. The end result is that these boys were hurt as a result of this.This is where I get a little upset when so called "activists" like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who claim to be so passionate about justice-mysteriously disappear into the distance when an apology was clearly in order on these boys' behalf. I understand that black men have undoubtedly been wrongfully accused and convicted due to gross miscarriages of justice especially in this country historically, but let's not forget that justice is objective.If the evidence doesn't bear out what the DA claims, then the defense should prevail white ,black, or otherwise-and does the scale really balance itself if an innocent white man goes to jail just because in the past an innocent black one did? I do not think so.I think a miscarriage of justice is exactly that in both cases. Some may take this view to task, and I'm not saying there isn't a small part of me that does feel cynical enough at times to take the view that "Now you know how it feels."But if I am striving to improve and be more intellectually honest I feel I must take the higher view. Thank you.
That's not really true. Rape is taken very seriously by all but the most hateful people and when you look at the failures in rape cases and how the victims are treated you are really seeing the failures of our criminal justice system overall. I respect your opinions but I hope you understand that MANY men of color are/can be very sexist in how they see and treat women and just as corrupt so I would think that the same faults you find in white men will also be found in men of color given time. You do make some great points however I truly doubt the ills of the world can be given to any single group of people. We all have our hands in the cookie jar....
I was mainly talking about rape not being taken seriously by the courts. Most people would say that rape is bad, but then again, I don't see much push from the public for stricter sentencing. You can talk the talk, but not walk the walk. I don't know what can be done, except to build more prisons, but something must be done. Most rapists and child molesters are repeat offenders. I understand that there are sexists of all colors. You're exaggerating my words a bit. I think that generally speaking, men of color are more sensitive to women's issues. This has proven to be true in my experiences. Not to say that there aren't black men who are total pricks, treating women crudely - just listen to some of the rap lyrics today. I do live in an area that is pretty rural and predominately white, but most white men I've dealt with really see no harm in racial or sexist slurs. They're more likely to see it as "just joking around" because how many white man slurs are there? I don't think they can truly know what it feels like because they haven't been subjected to discrimination based on race or gender (unless it's "reverse racism," which eh, can't think of many examples of that). I've experienced varying degrees of this attitude from white men of all different walks of life, accompanied by the whiny, "I bet I didn't get this job because it's EEO again." I transferred from a predominately white college to a college with close to equal numbers of black and white students. There was a remarkable difference of social attitudes b/w the two - a huge difference in beliefs on issues like affirmative action and freedom of choice. The first poli sci class I had in the mostly white school didn't even want to discuss affirmative action. Our class was mainly white males, and the response was: oh yeah, affirmative action is just a way to screw the white man over. :roll: Because it's all about white men. Maybe I've just been around the wrong type of white man (which I think is impossible because I've been around all types of white men), but I'm sick of the attitudes on social issues. I have yet to find a white man that even wants to discuss politics with someone (esp. a women) who doesn't share his political views, and who can do so without blowing his top. I love to discuss politics, even with Republicans :lol:, and can have reasonable discussions with those who are on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've just generally not found many white men who I can have good political discussions with, or convos on social/racial issues. I've found the "angry white man" in white men that I didn't think had any of that in them. I think many men are intimidated by intelligent women, esp. intelligent, attractive women, but white males as a whole have shown to be slightly moreso in my experiences. What I've said is generalizing and controversial, but it's simply what I've experienced, pure and simple - no way around it. I'm sorry for the sidetracking on this thread - I wanted to address DJ's comments, but I also wanted to comment on the Duke case: I don't care if the boys raped this girl or not - they admitted to doing other sex acts with her and to using racial slurs. I don't know if it was mutual or not, but would I want to perform oral sex on someone who was calling me vulgar names? From what I understand, strippers are highly discouraged from partaking in sex acts, too. They can even lose their jobs. If this girl is indeed lying about being raped, then I look down on her for that. Every "Crying rape" case in the media will cast more and more doubt on girls and women who are telling the truth. Rape isn't taken seriously enough as it is. But, regardless, I think the boys deserve to have their reps trashed. If you don't want to end up in something like this, don't get drunk and invite a stripper over to your frat house. College drinking is a big problem, and maybe seeing these boys reaping what they sowed will make people see that there are consquences to your actions. Though the case has been dropped (big surprise) these boys are still guilty of being scum.
