Check this one out.
I am purposely avoiding any public declaration of innocence or guilt of the members of the lacrosse team because it would be irresponsible for someone in my line of work to say anything in either direction at such a preliminary phase of the legal process. However, I can’t let this line pass without saying something. From the above link,
Yet when the nation’s most respected and widely consumed media are showing Duke students opening professing our status as a “white supremacist” university, suspicion of the protesters is entirely warranted.
Ummm, why’s that?
Without question, I’d say that Duke is a white supremacist institution. It’s hard to imagine such a concentration of rich white people–or rich any people, really–without there being a palpable air of white supremacy. But Duke shouldn’t feel too singled out. I feel the same way about the University of North Carolina, a school that I attended and that also has slave owners and Klan supporters’ names on different buildings on campus. And I’d say that many black colleges suffer from white supremacy, with their curricula frequently more about teaching black people how to do things instead of cultivating their students’ ability to think and create new scholarship.
White supremacy is everywhere, folks, lurking deeper than most people are willing to look. It’s in white people, it’s in black people, it’s in everybody. It’s so insidious and it is an unavoidable characteristic of American life.
And Duke is not immune.
So yes Dukies, I think your school is steeped in white supremacy. But then again, so has been the case with every school I’ve attended, including Clark.
Don’t take that so personally. Just do something to fix it.
And Clark. And Carolina. And the Claremont Colleges. And every other school that I have not attended.
And so the plot thickens …
Wow rattlebrat, you really root for people to take their own life?
Who’s rattlebrat?
I think I’m a lot older than most of your reader’s and poster’s, but i went to a lily white public school (William and Mary) which was rocked by the date rape scandal that made the front page of Time magazine in the late ’80’s…one thing about college is absolutley certain…college students are not disciplined to the extent of the general public…they don’t go to jail for sex offenses, drug crimes, any of the normal shit that sends less fortunate folks away…college is for the most part a holding tank for kids who aren’t ready for the real world, who are insulated from real responsibilty, and protected (for some reason) for their perceived naivete…the rest of america is an adult at 18, many times earlier than that…go to undergrad and postpone that shit for 4-5-6 years…Duke is only different because of it’s proximity…it’s very unusual to have that many rich northern pricks coagulating so nicely in a southern town, and white yankee elitism is far more exclusive than white southern elitism…I’ll never forget how self absorbed and uninterested my rich northern classmates were in college, many of whom participated in a gang rape on the same floor of the dorm I lived in on a passed out girl…they really don’t think they did any thing wrong…or the guys who had consensual sex with townie minors…they have been told for 13 years that they can’t do any wrong…they went to Choate and Exeter and Andover and they were better than anyone else because they had always been told they were better than anyone else…booze (and/or coke) and a sense of entitlement is a very perverse recipe, and it’s being mixed together at Duke (and hundreds of other college campus’) tonight…the results are inevitable, and so is the lack of punishment
well said, bo. i couldn’t agree more and have nothing to add to the notion that most post-secondary institutions in this country are comfortable with white supremacy. i would, however, like to address something else mentioned in the editorial. toward the end, the writer argued that no purpose was served by protesters who “sling epithets” at the lacrosse players or at duke students in general. well, as a cat who is known to sling an epithet or two i’d like to disagree. here’s why: for members of the oppressed and powerless, sometimes an angry epithet tossed in the direction of the oppressive and powerful is the only weapon one has to employ. here’s what i mean: i’ve read that eldridge cleaver during the heydey of the black panthers would motivate his comrades by exhorting them to say “FUCK ronald reagan!” – reagan having been the governor of california at that time. such exhortation was cathartic, giving the panthers and other members of black communities some way to release pent-up resentments over racial aggressions and insults they had endured over the course of their lives. again, for the black and poor, that may have been the only release one was likely to get. tying this together with present circumstances, then, it seems clear as time goes on and the media continues to use official as well as subliminal channels to discredit the alleged victim’s story (see both the “timeline” piece and the limbaugh piece), that substantive charges may never be brought against those tightlipped redneck muthafuckers (yes, i’ve slung my first epithet for today, deal with it). inded, one “fact” is clear to me: as many blacks have said, if the perpetrators were black athletes from crosstown north carolina central, and the alleged victim was white, then the police and the district attorney would have found some way to stick those young men in jail already, while awaiting more formal charges from a grand jury indictment, or the like. this is a fact proven time and again in american history right up to the present day. but even though durham’s d.a. has been talking tough, he hasn’t actually done anything. kobe bryant, if memory serves, was flown back to colorado and faced charges only a few days after the incident between him and the young woman (someone please correct me if i’m wrong about that). mike tyson was arrested before he could leave indianapolis, where his rape (which he still denies, but for which he served prison time) occured. and no one who is old enough to remmeber will ever forget the sight of o.j. simpson “fleeing” down the highway with a fleet of l.a.’s “finest” in pursuit, ready to arrest him for the murder of his ex-wife, a mere few days after the fact. today, right here in nyc, a black man sits in prison – and has been sitting there – for the rape and murder of a young white woman. that man was arrested long before the d.a. had any evidence linking him to the crime (in that case, he’d violated probation, which became a good excuse to lock his black ass up until more substantial charges could br brought against him). so why the wait here? the more time that passes between the alleged event and the filing of applicable charges would suggest that applicable charges may never be filed, or so it seems (i hope i’m wrong, of course). but if i’m right about this, then, again, anger is an appropriate response. the righteous anger of the oppressed and powerless, in this case, would be a gift. in fact, it would be the only gift under the x-mas tree this year. that is why – getting back to you, bo – even though i respect the professional stance you’ve taken; that is, to say nothing until the facts come in, nonetheless i encourage you to say something. i know the stakes are high and that you’ve got to “play your position,” whereby you emphasize the word “position” and how it’s got to be protected. i understand. i know you’ve worked hard for it, and talking about race can be the first thing to bring it crashing down. still i would encourage you to emphasize the word “play” in that pithy lil phrase: say something! use your position to do something! or else cats like me who are clearly less principled and disciplined than you are – and who lack a national voice as well – will be forced to.
much respect, brother
Annnnnd in the tradition of white people not being able to take the heat…Buh-bye, Coach!
Now all we need is a suicide and we’ll be all set!
Wow rattlebrat, you really root for people to take their own life?
Just in case it’s not evident, I was making a joke at my own expense regarding my post of Rush Limbaugh going hunting with Dick Chaney. Sometimes I’m too deadpan for my own good.
No pun (deadpan) intended.
In response to the editorial: Give me a break.
In response to RDR’s link: Damn.
In response to rattlebrat’s link: Damn.
Can the DA file charges already and get it over with? I’m tired of not knowing where to direct all this anger building up inside me…
The cats that wrote the editorial are either morons or socially disconnected. Probably a mix of both. It is not this incident in particular that makes Duke a sexist/racist, its all the shit that doesn’t make it to the front page or the nightly news.
Let me put my alma mater on blast: My first few years there, I was totally in the dark as to the crazy discipline problems the school had. It was only after I became a resident assistant that I realized how many allegations assaults, date rapes, battery, ad nauseaum. Most of these allegations resulted in a slap on the wrist.
That shit pissed me off then, and still comes to haunt me now. This past summer I worked at a law firm. The HCIC (head cracker in charge) had a daughter that went to my school, a few years my younger. Apparently, she got sexually harrassed on multiple occassions. The judicial board hearing didnt do too much. Eventually, the girl felt so unsafe that she bailed to another school. The whole office knew about the situation. When I would meet a new attorney and they asked me where I did my undergrad, the response was “Oh, isnt that where Steve’s daughter went?” After enough of those questions, I felt like I was the sexual harrasser.
My point: The shit runs deep. When it comes to the sexist/homophobic/racist leanings of our colleges, we all carry that baggage. If the allegations at Duke are true, then my greatest sympathy goes to the victim. But I also sympathize for all those people who are gonna have to carry this shit with them for some time to come.
Props to Kobie. I feel what you mean.
There more news on these dudes…check out the smokinggun. I also posted it on my site.
There more news on these dudes…check out the smokinggun. I also posted it on my site.
Back to the issue of the rape. A theory of mine concerning the 911 call from a girl (99% sure she is white) saying that she and a black friend were walking by the house and someone called her a Nig***.
Who calls 911 to report being called a name? Why would a black girl make a point of saying her friend was black?
My theory is that the phone call was placed by a friend of a lacrosse player who was in the house when the shit went down. Everyone in the house left after the victim left because they knew something really bad, life altering bad happened. Then they had a friend make the 911 call so the cops would come out to the house and report than nobody was there.
The only thing I don’t know is what time the girls arrived at the house to dance. The phone call was placed at 12:53am and the victim called 911 1:22am. Of course she had to walk over 2 miles to make that call. So in the time it took for her to go from the house to the phone everyone had left the house and the 911 Nig*** call was made.
Your thoughts??
Back to the issue of the rape. A theory of mine concerning the 911 call from a girl (99% sure she is white) saying that she and a black friend were walking by the house and someone called her a Nig***.
Who calls 911 to report being called a name? Why would a black girl make a point of saying her friend was black?
My theory is that the phone call was placed by a friend of a lacrosse player who was in the house when the shit went down. Everyone in the house left after the victim left because they knew something really bad, life altering bad happened. Then they had a friend make the 911 call so the cops would come out to the house and report than nobody was there.
The only thing I don’t know is what time the girls arrived at the house to dance. The phone call was placed at 12:53am and the victim called 911 1:22am. Of course she had to walk over 2 miles to make that call. So in the time it took for her to go from the house to the phone everyone had left the house and the 911 Nig*** call was made.
Your thoughts??
This whole debacle is troubling to me in some many was and on so many levels and I think that the media will ignore the big issues, as it often does, to sensationalize the story even when the truth comes out.
On epithets:
They may be cathartic, but they ultimately make those who hurl them look as childish as the privileged people who use them. More importantly, while epithets may be effective against the disenfranchised, they are completely ineffective against the powerful. In fact, due to the nature of language and power, there are few (if any) words that can cut the powerful. Some people may betlieve that epithets are the only weapons they have to fight oppression, but they need to be guided toward real channels of power.
epithets (again):
sure, there are times when someone, who could be black or white, calls a white person “cracker” and despite their meaning, intent, or effort they sound remarkably childish. but if you can admit that SOMETIMES (for reasons like the ones i specified) when an oppressed and powerless person hurls an epithet its use can be cathartic, then you have not betrayed the point i was trying to make. during THOSE times, it is my contention that the powerless ultimately ARE NOT to be regarded as mere children, because there is a certain liberating effect, even if it is only a sort of psychological liberation which is temporary and fleeting. my point is, again: sometimes, that’s all we get! the rest of your commentary does not pertain to my argument, as i was not talking about the effective use of epithets like “nigger” against the disenfranchised, nor the ineffective use, in a material sense, of epithets like “tightlipped redneck muthafucker” against the powerful. the historical example i used from the panthers was quite clear in this regard: ronald reagan, i’m fairly certain, could not have cared less whether cleaver and a bunch of (from his point of view) ghetto dwellers called him a pig, a cracker, or told him to fuck off. rather, the cathartic moment takes place internally, challenging the exhorter to throw off his or her own feelings of inferiority, nothing more. but this isn’t childish, in fact it can be very powerful. and of course i did not say that such exhortation was the only weapon with which to fight oppression. rather i said that SOMETIMES it’s all we got! if you’ve found access to “real channels of power” then that’s great. sign me up. damn, eauhellzgnaw, i’m not your enemy.
Believe me, I am not above epithets, but I think that even the short-term cathartic effect is empty; there is always an alternative: constructive language that is positive rather than reactionary (“Black is beautiful” did more than “Fuck Ronald Reagan” ever could). And as for channels of power, though I’m an idealist at heart, I’m very practical when it comes to power: money, people (sometimes weapons), votes, and the biggest one, control over media.
Well throughout history, different things got you power. Money and weapons with some brains seem to get you all the other stuff now. I suppose it breaks down to a chicken egg kind of thing with defferent actors starting with different resources.
Saying that it is OK for minorities to use epithets is a slippery slope. If minorities feel justified in using epithets, then so will white people. It is just a vicious circle. Epithets may help in releasing anger, but there are much more effective ways of doing that.
You are absolutely right. Racism exists at Duke as epitomized by the predominantly black faculty in the African and African American Affairs Department who screamed rape orally and in writing against the three Duke lacrosse defendants who are caucasian and have since refused to acknowledge by apology or otherwise in the light of irrefutable evidence that they were wrong. Contrast this with the reecent case of the white female Duke student alleged to have been raped by an identified black man at a black fraternity party where there is no rush to judgment by the black faculty or anyone else at Duke. No wonder 6700 Duke students, black and white turned out to see the 2007 Team play and applaud them. Your racist comments do these players and the defendants an injustice. Shame on you! Shame on ESPN!