More than a year has past since that infamous lacrosse party.
More than a year since the accusations, since the trial via the media, since these three players were caught up in a whirlwind of sex, race, and society.
And now, after a year of dealing with the allegations, the harassment, a lost season, and a disgraced coach and university, the three men are innocent of any crime.
I'm not going so far as to say that they are innocent of doing anything wrong. I've been to lacrosse parties before, and none of them included strippers. You're asking for trouble if you invite that kind of entertainment into that kind of social scene. But it happened, and while I'm pretty sure there was some inapropriate conduct, no crime was committed.
But the guys were guilty anyway. They were guilty the very second the national media got ahold of this story. They were guilty for the same reason Kobe was guilty in Colorado. White vs. Black. Men vs. women. Privalege vs. The Mean.
You can thank Mike Nifong, the Durham Distric attorney who rushed to file charges. In the middle of an election year, this case fell into his lap, and he thrust it upon the media, hoping to cater to a voting audience who wanted to see these white boys brought to justice. The social climate in Durham is very fragile, with mostly low-income communities surrounding the white-bread Duke campus.
And the trial by media commenced. Black leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton spoke out. The New Black Panthers protested and rallied outside of Duke's campus. National talk shows, sports radio, and the World Wide leader all hopped along for the ride.
I find it wildly ironic that as these men are being exonerated, the Don Imus circus is in full swing. I'm not equating one act to the other, but the response has been similar. I wonder if Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton will find time to come down from their soap boxes and offer an apology to David, Reade, and Collin. I have my doubts. Meanwhile, I wonder if all the media outlets who spent so much time breaking down this case will committ 1/10th of that same time breaking down why these men were shown to be innocent. Sadly, most organizations will turn this story into just another blot on a rolling ticker, rather than own up to the fact that they treated these players as guilty until proven innocent.
Well, now they are innocent; however their lives are certainly much worse off. If you're one of these three guys, how can you possibly ever shake the persona that you're an accused rapist? Future co-workers will look at you funny. People outside the situation will whisper rumors and make flippant remarks. And speaking from the perspective of a 23 year-old bachelor, how the heck are you supposed to date girls with that kind of rep? "Hi, I'm Collin, you or your friends might recognize me from the national media coverage of my rape trial." I don't care how much game you spit, nothing's going to shake that one.
So I would like to apologize on behalf of our sports radio show, and anything we did to help feed the fire in the Grand Rapids area. And excuse the national media for sheepishly ignoring the fact you guys have been proven innocent. Apparently the remarks of a senile bigot posing as a radio host are ruining more lives than false rape accusations headed by a over-zealous district attorney. I mean, Imus called those poor girls "Ho's". It's outrageous. So you Duke lacrosse players may have been wrongly dragged through a year long process during which you were accused of gang-raping a young woman...get over it. They'll get to you if they have the time.
1 comment:
Interesting to know.
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