stmarysmead
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The case I was close to was the Duke Lacrosse Rape Hoax.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mqt9OX-oAtU
It began with an accusation that aroused very sincere passions...a poor Black girl claimed to have been gang raped and beaten in a small bathroom by three rich white lacrosse players who were students at the expensive and prestigious Duke University. The media, with only an accusation and no evidence, chose a side. The emotional stories they told about these arrogant "swaggering" rich kids and this struggling young mother were heartbreaking and infuriating.
The problem was there was no evidence.
Eventually it was revealed that the young woman, an "escort", had the DNA from numerous men in all three of her orifices, but no DNA from any Lacrosse player. The facts that she had bipolar disease, drug and alcohol addictions, and had accused three Black men of the same crime some years before...were pretty much suppressed by the media.
Good people who are ashamed of our racial,history and who have great empathy for the struggles many have endured, were the most susceptible to want to believe the media narrative. It's very hard to use your head, when your heart becomes engaged. Never underestimate the fierce power of empathy. As the case against the boys crumbled, one student at the neighboring Black college said this;
One NCCU student, Chan Hall, as quoted by Newsweek, [44] stated, "It's the same old story. Duke up, Central down." He continued that he wanted to see the Duke students prosecuted "whether it happened or not. It would be justice for things that happened in the past."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_Duke_lacrosse_case
You can imagine how such a statement felt to the Mothers of innocent young men, who were being "chosen" to pay the price with 50 years of their lives for our shameful racial history. Why my child? If he did not do a crime, why him?
"Mom, she chose me." ...one 19 year old told his Mother.
Would freeing MM for the rage killing of JC be "justice" for all the DV.victims of the past? Especially if the media can make you hate JC and love her enough as they shape the story?
Empathy, emotion...and the law. It was not about the truth. It was about a social justice narrative back then. The problem was...the "example" was a lie.
A few years after the boys were declared innocent, the False Accuser, still deified by many ...set fire to her apartment with her kids in it. She got off with time served. Another year or so, and she murdered the latest boyfriend. She was convicted of that crime and hopefully she is getting the psychiatric help she needs in prison.
http://www.wral.com/mangum-found-guilty-in-boyfriend-s-stabbing-death/13143246/
She is the "sister" of MM in so many ways..soft spoken, the archetypal "victim" for a cause that we all want to embrace.
But it really does need to be about the truth.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mqt9OX-oAtU
It began with an accusation that aroused very sincere passions...a poor Black girl claimed to have been gang raped and beaten in a small bathroom by three rich white lacrosse players who were students at the expensive and prestigious Duke University. The media, with only an accusation and no evidence, chose a side. The emotional stories they told about these arrogant "swaggering" rich kids and this struggling young mother were heartbreaking and infuriating.
The problem was there was no evidence.
Eventually it was revealed that the young woman, an "escort", had the DNA from numerous men in all three of her orifices, but no DNA from any Lacrosse player. The facts that she had bipolar disease, drug and alcohol addictions, and had accused three Black men of the same crime some years before...were pretty much suppressed by the media.
Good people who are ashamed of our racial,history and who have great empathy for the struggles many have endured, were the most susceptible to want to believe the media narrative. It's very hard to use your head, when your heart becomes engaged. Never underestimate the fierce power of empathy. As the case against the boys crumbled, one student at the neighboring Black college said this;
One NCCU student, Chan Hall, as quoted by Newsweek, [44] stated, "It's the same old story. Duke up, Central down." He continued that he wanted to see the Duke students prosecuted "whether it happened or not. It would be justice for things that happened in the past."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_Duke_lacrosse_case
You can imagine how such a statement felt to the Mothers of innocent young men, who were being "chosen" to pay the price with 50 years of their lives for our shameful racial history. Why my child? If he did not do a crime, why him?
"Mom, she chose me." ...one 19 year old told his Mother.
Would freeing MM for the rage killing of JC be "justice" for all the DV.victims of the past? Especially if the media can make you hate JC and love her enough as they shape the story?
Empathy, emotion...and the law. It was not about the truth. It was about a social justice narrative back then. The problem was...the "example" was a lie.
A few years after the boys were declared innocent, the False Accuser, still deified by many ...set fire to her apartment with her kids in it. She got off with time served. Another year or so, and she murdered the latest boyfriend. She was convicted of that crime and hopefully she is getting the psychiatric help she needs in prison.
http://www.wral.com/mangum-found-guilty-in-boyfriend-s-stabbing-death/13143246/
She is the "sister" of MM in so many ways..soft spoken, the archetypal "victim" for a cause that we all want to embrace.
But it really does need to be about the truth.