Columnist Jamala Rogers
I was recently in the Raleigh-Durham area and checked out the local news. The lead story was the double-digit drop in Duke University’s 2007 new student enrollment.
Since early spring, Duke University and its lacrosse team have been in the spotlight and not for its athletic abilities. David Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty have been charged with rape and kidnap in an incident at the team’s house. All three come from well-to-do families.
Two strippers were hired to perform at a party sponsored by the team; both women were black. Before the night was over, one of the women was filing a police report that she had been gang-raped by several of the white teammates.
News of the sexual assault caused instant racial polarization. Duke, predominantly white, and North Carolina Central University, historically black, squared off. The rape victim was a student at NCCU where students have organized protests both on and off campus to demand that justice is served.
There is a history of the elite Southern school flaunting its white privilege and students getting away with more than their fair share of criminal behavior. The school’s athletic program is a cash cow and thereby its investments must be duly protected. Athletes are often given sanctuary from the glare of bad publicity or the short arm of the law.
The African-American community in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, also known as The Triangle, is incensed at the legal posturing. They have stated loudly and in unison that the course of action would be profoundly different if the accuser were white and the athletes were black.
What has been playing out heavily in the media is the public relations wars. The case in now being vigorously tried in the court of public opinion.
The accuser has been trashed. Mike Nifong, the prosecutor, has been criticized for his handling of the case. Duke University has been accused of using its political and financial clout to spin the facts and buy people off. They have enough resources to “duke it out” until they get what they want.
Examples of “buying people off” comes in the form of Kim Roberts, the second stripper, who appeared on 60 Minutes to dispute the rape victim’s story. This means that she has now contradicted her own original account.
With high stakes and millions involved, it is unlikely that the concerned public will ever know the truth or if the victim will ever get true justice.
There is a multi-racial group of young men and women who understands this historical reality. Although they came together in the wake of the Duke Lacrosse saga, they are organizing the community for more long-term goals. The explosive intersection of class, racial and gender with sexual violence will have a presence long after the Duke incident has faded from the front pages.
These young people know that racism, sexual violence and gender privilege will continue to cough up other such incidents. Their education program and community dialogs are to give people the framework for analyzing the roots of such violence. They say it’s a thin line between racist violence, homophobia violence and misogynist violence.
I am confident that their valuable work will prevail after Duke University saves its golden goose or that its goose gets cooked.