There are all sorts of interesting power dynamics in that Duke lacrosse rape case mentioned below and all over the blogosphere (Rachel's got an update) but I just want to highlight one of them that's particularly relevant to my own locale: town-gown relations. This comment comes from a post on deadspin.com
The racial atmosphere does make it disturbing as well, Lance, mostly because Durham town-gown relations... which were not good to begin with... broke mostly along racial lines.
That should sound familiar to us Gainesvillians. The university here has the lowest diversity level of the state universities generally; that is, we are the whitest of all the universities in the State of Florida. Earlier this year critics lamented the law school in particular has very few people of color. (Comparing it to my undergraduate alma mater, USF in Tampa, with one of the highest, my own experience definitely supports these claims.)
I live in the mostly black, much poorer east side of town. Riding my bike two miles west to the campus I pass a very clear color line. Many of the folks on this side of town work as maintenance and janitorial staff at the university. A few years ago when the university tried to force the people who clean the classrooms to do it at night instead of during the day, upturning their lives on a nightshift schedule, a very successful coalition was built between student groups and the service workers' union. We protested outside the Administration building until the university backed down. That was a great step toward alliance building, but I'm not sure where those relationships stand today.
The incident... which occurred at an off-campus house owned by the university, has brought into sharp relief long-simmering tensions between the private university and the city (NYT article today)
Hopefully things are better here than they are in Durham, but it's sad to say I don't really know. This is something every college town should be concerned with, especially ones where town-gown relations break along color lines. Do we have to wait until something like this happens before we realize this is a problem?
Technorati tags: Duke lacrosse rape case duke lacrosse
More posts on the matter:
The Happy Feminist: "This is not a case of a single anti-social criminal. These were supposedly the best and the brightest -- a group of young men at an elite university -- who apparently never learned basic empathy, especially for other human beings who are female and black."
David Wright ponders the culture that raised these kids: "the fruits of the materialistic, me first values we have portrayed for our kids will continue to come back to us in headlines like this" He actually lists the names and pictures of the guys on the team and has several posts on the incident. I highly recommend this one.
4/11/06 UPDATE: DNA results are in and there's no match. They'll have to use other evidence. Because of the news there's a lot of traffic coming in from google searches. A lot people are ready to throw out the case now so it bears repeating: lack of a DNA match does not mean a rape did not occur folks. A sexual assault of some kind has been verified by a nurse and doctor at the emergency room. Whatever the DNA results say the fact remains a crime was committed that night. We just don't know by who.
Comments on this thread are closed because this blog is on hiatus. There are good discussions of this case on other blogs so feel free to post your reactions over there. I don't have time to moderate comments here.
david wright posted his link in my comments, but i was hesitant to go...i'm a little troubled by the idea of posting pictures of the whole team when no one has been formally charged yet. i mean, the case is heinous, and anyone who was even there and allowed this to happen, nevermind participated, deserves (and will get) my personal scorn and derision. but until we know that factually, i think it has a whiff of witch hunt to post information like that.
thoughts?
Posted by: kate.d. | Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 10:43 AM
I agree, it does seem eerily reminiscent of people posting the names and addresses of abortion doctors in the pro-life movement. I don't necessarily agree with that part of his post. Then again, he's not really saying all these guys are rapists, he's just saying this is the Duke lacrosse team and regardless of which of the 3 did the actual deed all or most of them were at the party and participated (even if only in level of awareness and silent consent) in the collective atmosphere of hostility and abuse that took place that night...
and I think the point of his post was to say something about the demographics of the team, (all from Long Island and maybe their wealth--are there non-wealthy parts of Long Island? I really don't know much about New York.)...
So yeah, I can kinda see it either way. I personally probably wouldn't have done it; I have too many hesitations about it, but he apparently felt otherwise.
(Do you think my linking to him implies support? maybe this can be a clarifier.)
Posted by: barb | Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 12:13 PM
Hi! I have read some of your posts and while I don't think I agree much with what you say, it is nonetheless interesting to see what people of your political and cultural orientation think.
I wonder why do you live in "the mostly black, much poorer east side of town". And why don't you at least give your name, so that commenters would be able to adrees you by name. Which is much more conducive to a dialogue.
Posted by: Igor | Saturday, April 01, 2006 at 12:02 AM
Anyone objective person spending anytime on David Wright's blog will discover that he is not a reliable source. There are people like me who always try to be fair, rely on evidence, and not jump to reckless conclusions, something which I try to teach others, and then there's people like David Wright who cares nothing about fairness, guilt, innocence, or being objective in general. If you go to his site, you won't find a balance discussion as you would here and a few other sites. He is the type of person who fans the flames to put peple in a frenzy. Anyone who's unable to think objectively and is too emotional to think fair and resonable, going to his site would only further promote a mob mentality. People like me try to interject balance and calm so people can think clearly...
A different perspective on how Mr. Wright and I differ. If we were at a party, and things were getting out of control whether it be to fighting or rape, I would be the one who would speak against the storm, while people like MR. Write would excite more out-of-control and reckless behavior.
Here's an excersice: Think how you've been thinking and commenting. What kind a person are you? Are you the type who would try and calm people down to think rationally, no matter how emotional the situation gets, or are you the type to join the mob with a sense of false entitlement of a vigilante? After reading your own comments, would you trust a person like you to be a juror for you or a loved one?
Posted by: Ryan | Monday, April 03, 2006 at 08:15 AM
Ampersand has a response to accusations like Ryan's here. I highly recommend it.
Posted by: barb | Monday, April 03, 2006 at 08:37 AM