As a follow-up on Cynthia McKinney, a simple point is that her invoking the race angle is doubly damaging - first, it unnecesarily ups that ante in what is at heart a profoundly silly controversy (or perhaps was until /if she slugged a cop,) and second it obscures real controversies containing disturbing racial implications. To whit, the Duke Lacrosse story.
It's enormously unfair, but McKinney's almost offhand assertion of racism give cover to those who want to dismiss the more explosive aspects out of hand as more of the same. As an example of what I'm talking about see this takedown by Sadly, No! (I'm not going to link to the original article, because it is one of the uglier pieces to have seen the light of day. Be warned.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Dammit Pooh, why the hell did you have to put this up through the night? This is a real early morning mood killer. (I'm referring to the Sadly No pice, which I won't bother to finish.)
I don't know if SN addresses this point, but one of the biggest problems with the Duke lacrosse team and the rape allegations is that the team members have closed ranks and aren't co-operating with the investigation. (At least according to the reports I've heard.) While the players are innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law, they have clearly been troublesome enough to have their privileges as a team revoked regardless of the outcome of the legal proceedings. After all, playing on the lacrosse team is a privilege, not a right.
Sorry to spoil the morning coffee. I did provide warning.
As to your point, absolutely agreed - at this stage there's little proof of anything except serious assholery on the part of the lax team - but tere's plenty of smoke as well, which certainly implies fire.
But my point is that McKinney is essentially crying wolf, and we know how that works. (And even assuming in some bizarro universe that the Hill police man was just hassling her due to race and/or ideology, there's a serious category difference here. It's infuriating to me.)
I agree with your larger point, or course.
And you did warn me about following the links.
Re: your smoke & fire comment: It's possible that this is a Tawana Brawley (sp?) situation, but I seriouslty doubt it. From my (obviously distant and not truly informed) perspective, the allegations would seem to be true.
However, even if the allegations were proven to be false, the actions of Duke University in forcing out the coach and suspending the team are warranted just on the parts of the story that no one seems to be contesting. And the University can and should mete out other punishments as the investigations continue. That someone would claim that Duke University is over-reacting is absurd and offensive.
Post a Comment