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Media Coverage of Duke Lacrosse Indictments Masks Real Tragedy

by Christopher McIntosh
04/18/2006

There are no "alleged" victims in this story.

The situation at Duke will claim a victim - regardless of outcome.

A young woman from North Carolina Central University was party to an "incident" that the papers have referred to as "boorish behavior" at an off-campus party populated almost exclusively by members of the Duke men's lacrosse team.

Incident. Boorish behavior.

Let's call a spade a spade. This woman claims she was hauled into the bathroom by three men and gang raped.

As one might expect, the media coverage has been, to put it mildly, intense. It's been aptly referred to as the "perfect storm." People love to hate the Duke sports program. The campus itself seems to confirm all the stereotypes of the modern racially-divided Southern city. Populated primarily by white students from privileged backgrounds in the North, it serves as a stepping stone for future consultants, lawyers, doctors, and corporate leaders. The fact that it looks like a plantation in the middle of a city that is 44% black and "diverse" both racially and economically doesn't help either.

The lacrosse team was already on double-secret probation. The coach had been told that the team was "under the microscope" because of arrests, public complaints about the team's behavior and their general refusal to act as if the rules applied to them. After the alleged rape occurred one student sent out an email to the team indicating his desire to murder and skin strippers he wished to hire for the team the next night - and went on to graphically detail the sexual pleasure he would derive from this act.

Let's put it another way. A black woman claims to have been sexually lynched by three white men too young to legally order a drink. The exploitive occupation she had chosen - working for an escort service and stripping - was what she felt was the only way she could simultaneously pay for school, earn her college degree, and support her children.

She's also a single mother.

Protests occur almost daily. Jesse Jackson has been airdropped in and offered to financially support the alleged victim. In a strange coincidence the event occurred during Duke's sexual assault awareness week - needless to say, attendance at rallies and demonstrations has mushroomed. The national media have descended upon this story with the passion typically reserved for presidential scandals and Jennifer Lopez marriage rumors. Two players were indicted this morning and as of noon EST there were no less than 1400 stories detailing the arrests.

Rape trials are notoriously difficult to prosecute. Often, there is so little evidence that it ultimately comes down to a question of who the jury believes. As recently as twenty-five years ago, rape wasn't even taken seriously by most police departments, hospitals, or social welfare institutions. "Take Back the Night" seems a bit anachronistic to those of us born in the Carter administration, but not so much for those whose memory is a little longer.

Given the difficulty in prosecution of these cases, people tend to fall back on their own prejudices. There is little faith in the judicial system by members of the black community already - in a case like this where the nature of the crime renders it uniquely difficult to eliminate jury bias, the influence of class (e.g., who can hire the best lawyers), and the inevitable tactic of placing the victim on trial, it is extremely difficult to resist viewing the issue through your own lens.

It appears to be an open and shut case. Injuries consistent with rape confirmed by the Sexual Assault nurse at the hospital. There are other injuries consistent with physical abuse. Neighbors report hearing racial invective spewed at the dancers as they left.

Women are at a unique disadvantage in these cases. They not only have to overcome the psychological trauma to even report the crime in the first place, but they have to be prepared to go through the difficulty of publicly recounting the humiliating experience in court. And there is no guarantee their rapist will be put in jail. Even the experience of going through trial, regardless of outcome, is considered by some experts as a second form of victimization because these women must relive the experience while simultaneously having their credibility called into question by defense attorneys whose only goal is to insure the acquittal of their client, regardless of collateral damage.

Needless to say, whenever I hear these stories, I tend to defer to the victim's accounts, almost without thinking.

But there is another side to this story.

There is no DNA evidence conclusively linking any of the players to the alleged victim. Discrepancies exist regarding the 911 calls believed to have been made by the second dancer at the party. The "vile" email sent after the party by the Duke lacrosse player apparently was not a fantasy generated by the player, but a reference to the movie American Psycho, a cult favorite on the team. A set of pictures have surfaced that show the alleged victim was missing her right shoe and fingernails while she was dancing, before the alleged rape took place and not the result of forcible rape. Various witnesses indicate that the dancer appeared to be under the influence of some substance that progressively and rapidly affected her ability to function even to the point where she couldn't leave under her own power. Some of the injuries she claims took place during the attack appear to have been present prior to her dancing and also may have occurred during what photos indicate was a fall down the back stairs. Some believe these claims may have been made in retaliation for the racial harassment these women received - harassment bad enough that they nearly left and had to be talked back into the house. The accuser works for an escort service and some have surmised that the injuries could have occurred during her previous outings - outings she cannot legally admit to without conceding that she committed a crime and, fair or not, could bias a potential jury against her. Finally, the young woman has a criminal record.

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