Duke and Durham: The Structure of the United States

The shout of racial slurs. A 911 call. An exotic dancer and 47 lacrosse players.

Duke University and Durham, N.C.

But no DNA matches. No DNA matches.

The highly publicized accusations of a black exotic dancer, who said three of Duke’s white lacrosse team members raped her, have not been formally filed as charges.

The situation has spurred conflict between the university and surrounding community where a history of tension between black and white has never been resolved. It has also fueled discussion that underneath the racial aspects, the alleged crime is ultimately a sex and sexist crime of man against woman.

Think it’s not? "I plan on killing the bitches as soon as the[y] walk in and proceeding to cut their skin off,” wrote one of the players in an e-mail sent around 2 a.m. just after the time of the alleged attack. He expressed a desire to invite strippers into his dorm room after the events of the night’s “show.” Most papers didn’t publish the whole e-mail because it was so explicit. Whatever the content, it was enough to cause the coach’s resignation and cancel the rest of the team’s season.

This situation is in no way just about racism or just about sexism. Both are embedded in the crime and in the way the media handled the news.

It disgusts me that the media covered so poorly these problems that are inherent in our society. What if all of the lacrosse players were black or if the alleged victim were white? What if the race roles were completely reversed?

What if the alleged victim were a bartender rather than a stripper or if she were a student at Duke? What if the lacrosse players were fraternity brothers or gang members instead?

The media made it seem as if the lacrosse players had already been convicted and jailed. It seemed like the pending results of the DNA tests were just going to be a confirmation of what was already etched into the playbooks — Duke had lost the battle. But that wasn’t the whole story; it was just what the media irresponsibly suggested. Now two of the players are on trial, and the evidence doesn't look good for their accuser. It wasn’t until later that anyone began to wonder if the allegations might be false, because subconsciously most of us know it wasn’t such an improbable incident.

All white people are racist. That is so in the same sense that all men are sexist. We live in a society whose structure supports both these notions. And each in his own remains so until he decides to fight to change the system.

And now that the tests have come back negative, that it seems each of the charged has an alibi? In retrospect the whole situation was sketchy.

I’m not denying that race was a factor here. But in theory, if the allegations are true, the woman wasn’t raped just because she was black. She was raped because she was a woman in a stereotypical role of objectification further dehumanized, in some minds, by the fact that she was black.

Research shows that rape is a violent crime about power and control — in rape the victim is usually a woman indicating that it’s most often about power and control over women. For this to occur, the victim must first be dehumanized in the mind of the attacker. All rapists are misogynists, and one cannot deny that a man who rapes a woman does not have respect for her.

Add to that the issue of racism, which is also about power and control and the dehumanizing of a group of people. Add to that the issue of class, which, surprise, surprise, in this capitalist society, is about power and control and the dehumanizing of a group of people. Then we have a clearer picture.

The media should not have focused so exclusively on race. Even though that is an obvious issue, sexism is the underlying central factor.

And if the allegations truly are false? I can’t even imagine the ramifications against the black, the female, the poor and all oppressed groups fighting for equal status in this country.