The Duke U. Rape Case

It appears that the case brought by the D.A. of Durham, N.C., against three white, wealthy lacrosse playing students, is falling apart. The D.A. has just dropped the rape charges, but has maintained sexual assault and kidnapping charges, for what is alleged to have happened to a black stripper, who is the accuser.

In a country where disproportionate numbers of black people are targeted by abusive police and prosecutors, this case is an anomaly. Some have said, it was brought because the D.A. wanted to ensure black support in his bid for re-election. Whatever the reason, the D.A. clearly thought he had enough evidence to bring the charges, and he was able to convince the grand jury to issue the indictments.

It is being said by defenders of the students, that they are innocent and their reputations have been irreparably harmed. I say to these students, get over it - welcome to the real world! It's rare that wealthy whites get a chance to see the justice system at the level most blacks routinely see it. As for their reputations, they will just have to get over it as blacks have always had to do. If they are proved to be innocent and all charges are dropped, they have the means (unlike most blacks), to sue for millions in damages as a result of the charges.

At least one of the defendants, has a prior arrest record and conviction for assault. Had he been black, this would have been enough to presume his guilt in this case, even without DNA or any other corroborating evidence.

The media is outraged that the NAACP and other black organizations, supported the D.A. in bringing these charges against these students. One paper branded them as 'appallingly demagogic', 'identity-politics-obsessed', and said the accuser was 'an unstable black "exotic" dancer' (presumably then, unworthy of any legal protections). They also note that the black vote put the D.A. over the top in both the earlier primary and then in the general election last month. To them this means that the fix was in from the beginning, and the accusations by the black stripper against these upstanding sons of the South, should have been discounted, ignored and summarily dismissed from day one.

Maybe the South is changing, and black folks are finally being listened to when they allege that crimes have been perpetrated against them.

If this is so, it's a positive step forward.