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Monday, January 08, 2007

One prediction come true

Last week I had a column in The Examiner about the Duke rape story in which I predicted the following:
Those who were quick to say that this story was emblematic of racism at elite colleges will say that the lesson is still true, even though this one specific story was a hoax. Wahneema Lubiano, the Duke professor of African and American Studies who led the group of 88 who published that ad, wrote back in May that, no matter the outcome, the whole story exposed deeper truths about racism on Duke’s campus. Expect that storyline to be repeated if the charges are all dropped. The song of “fake but accurate” will be sung again.
And today, ABC News publishes a column by Ben Mankiewicz, who hosts a show on Air America, to argue exactly that. He starts off by saying that no one knows what happened in Durham and that people should stop acting as if they did. I hope this guy is never on a jury, because, apparently, he can't make up his mind about evidence unless he himself was a witness to the event. But, grant him his uncertainty about what happened in that house in Durham. What else does he know. Well, he knows that racism exists because he used to live in South Carolina and witnessed five separate incidents when people said racist things.
Honestly, I don't have a clue whether any of the three players charged in the case harbors a racist bone in their body. But after spending five years — wonderful years, actually — working in Charleston, S.C., I can tell you two things about race and deceit in the old South.

One, that racism is still very much alive, lurking where you don't expect it.

And two, nobody is ever honest about it.
He concludes,
And though it's impossible to know what happened in that house just off the Duke campus, this much is clearly true: Like much of the south and much of the country, Duke University and the city of Durham have a serious racial divide. And the resolution of this case won't solve it, no matter what Nancy Grace says.
See, there are still racial problems in this country so it really doesn't matter that three young men have maligned and persecuted by an out-of-control prosecutor.

I'd like to remind Mr. Mankiewicz that the plural of anecdote is not data. Perhaps he is just hanging out with a more racist crowd than I am. But I've lived in Raleigh, NC for 23 1/2 years and I can only think of one racist making comments about race that I've heard in that time. Can we generalize about racism from that? I doubt it. But I sure know that the Duke case doesn't explode some hidden truth that should enlighten us about white racism.

I prefer Mary Katharine Ham's discussion of the lessons she's learned from this whole sorry story.
Want to know the real "social disaster" at Duke? It's not that the "larger truths" this non-crime revealed trumped the presumption of innocence. It's not that a bunch of ostensibly intelligent, socially conscious grown-ups let their liberal guilt-fest overtake the facts of a case, convicting 46 innocent young men in the court of public opinion as a ticket to the hippest candlelight vigil of the decade.

It's that, even now, they're not ashamed of it. And, until they are, I'm afraid Durham, Duke, future athletes, future rape victims, the local justice system and race relations are all — what's the word? — "Nifonged."

posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 5:24 PM 0 comments

Comments:

Last week I had a column in The Examiner about the Duke rape story in which I predicted the following:

Those who were quick to say that this story was emblematic of racism at elite colleges will say that the lesson is still true, even though this one specific story was a hoax. Wahneema Lubiano, the Duke professor of African and American Studies who led the group of 88 who published that ad, wrote back in May that, no matter the outcome, the whole story exposed deeper truths about racism on Duke’s campus. Expect that storyline to be repeated if the charges are all dropped. The song of “fake but accurate” will be sung again.

And today, ABC News publishes a column by Ben Mankiewicz, who hosts a show on Air America, to argue exactly that. He starts off by saying that no one knows what happened in Durham and that people should stop acting as if they did. I hope this guy is never on a jury, because, apparently, he can't make up his mind about evidence unless he himself was a witness to the event. But, grant him his uncertainty about what happened in that house in Durham. What else does he know. Well, he knows that racism exists because he used to live in South Carolina and witnessed five separate incidents when people said racist things.

Honestly, I don't have a clue whether any of the three players charged in the case harbors a racist bone in their body. But after spending five years — wonderful years, actually — working in Charleston, S.C., I can tell you two things about race and deceit in the old South.

One, that racism is still very much alive, lurking where you don't expect it.

And two, nobody is ever honest about it.

He concludes,

And though it's impossible to know what happened in that house just off the Duke campus, this much is clearly true: Like much of the south and much of the country, Duke University and the city of Durham have a serious racial divide. And the resolution of this case won't solve it, no matter what Nancy Grace says.

See, there are still racial problems in this country so it really doesn't matter that three young men have maligned and persecuted by an out-of-control prosecutor.

I'd like to remind Mr. Mankiewicz that the plural of anecdote is not data. Perhaps he is just hanging out with a more racist crowd than I am. But I've lived in Raleigh, NC for 23 1/2 years and I can only think of one racist making comments about race that I've heard in that time. Can we generalize about racism from that? I doubt it. But I sure know that the Duke case doesn't explode some hidden truth that should enlighten us about white racism.

I prefer Mary Katharine Ham's discussion of the lessons she's learned from this whole sorry story.

Want to know the real "social disaster" at Duke? It's not that the "larger truths" this non-crime revealed trumped the presumption of innocence. It's not that a bunch of ostensibly intelligent, socially conscious grown-ups let their liberal guilt-fest overtake the facts of a case, convicting 46 innocent young men in the court of public opinion as a ticket to the hippest candlelight vigil of the decade.

It's that, even now, they're not ashamed of it. And, until they are, I'm afraid Durham, Duke, future athletes, future rape victims, the local justice system and race relations are all — what's the word? — "Nifonged."

posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 5:24 PM 0 comments

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Monday, January 08, 2007

One prediction come true

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HOME Betsy neither necessarily uses, nor endorses, the products advertised on this site. The truth about Avesil Cheap Hosting Atlanta Bankruptcy Attorney Dallas Bankruptcy Attorney Wikio Get exclusive travel deals and book discount cheap flights Online Bachelors Degree Comments from an AP history and government teacher in Raleigh, NC. e-mail betsynewmark AT gmail.com Commissions earned from selling items through Amazon will go towards buying materials for my classes. Thank you. Site Feed		Monday, January 08, 2007 One prediction come true Last week I had a column in The Examiner about the Duke rape story in which I predicted the following: Those who were quick to say that this story was emblematic of racism at elite colleges will say that the lesson is still true, even though this one specific story was a hoax. Wahneema Lubiano, the Duke professor of African and American Studies who led the group of 88 who published that ad, wrote back in May that, no matter the outcome, the whole story exposed deeper truths about racism on Duke’s campus. Expect that storyline to be repeated if the charges are all dropped. The song of “fake but accurate” will be sung again. And today, ABC News publishes a column by Ben Mankiewicz, who hosts a show on Air America, to argue exactly that. He starts off by saying that no one knows what happened in Durham and that people should stop acting as if they did. I hope this guy is never on a jury, because, apparently, he can't make up his mind about evidence unless he himself was a witness to the event. But, grant him his uncertainty about what happened in that house in Durham. What else does he know. Well, he knows that racism exists because he used to live in South Carolina and witnessed five separate incidents when people said racist things. Honestly, I don't have a clue whether any of the three players charged in the case harbors a racist bone in their body. But after spending five years — wonderful years, actually — working in Charleston, S.C., I can tell you two things about race and deceit in the old South. One, that racism is still very much alive, lurking where you don't expect it. And two, nobody is ever honest about it. He concludes, And though it's impossible to know what happened in that house just off the Duke campus, this much is clearly true: Like much of the south and much of the country, Duke University and the city of Durham have a serious racial divide. And the resolution of this case won't solve it, no matter what Nancy Grace says. See, there are still racial problems in this country so it really doesn't matter that three young men have maligned and persecuted by an out-of-control prosecutor. I'd like to remind Mr. Mankiewicz that the plural of anecdote is not data. Perhaps he is just hanging out with a more racist crowd than I am. But I've lived in Raleigh, NC for 23 1/2 years and I can only think of one racist making comments about race that I've heard in that time. Can we generalize about racism from that? I doubt it. But I sure know that the Duke case doesn't explode some hidden truth that should enlighten us about white racism. I prefer Mary Katharine Ham's discussion of the lessons she's learned from this whole sorry story. Want to know the real "social disaster" at Duke? It's not that the "larger truths" this non-crime revealed trumped the presumption of innocence. It's not that a bunch of ostensibly intelligent, socially conscious grown-ups let their liberal guilt-fest overtake the facts of a case, convicting 46 innocent young men in the court of public opinion as a ticket to the hippest candlelight vigil of the decade. It's that, even now, they're not ashamed of it. And, until they are, I'm afraid Durham, Duke, future athletes, future rape victims, the local justice system and race relations are all — what's the word? — "Nifonged." posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 5:24 PM 0 comments Comments: Last week I had a column in The Examiner about the Duke rape story in which I predicted the following: Those who were quick to say that this story was emblematic of racism at elite colleges will say that the lesson is still true, even though this one specific story was a hoax. Wahneema Lubiano, the Duke professor of African and American Studies who led the group of 88 who published that ad, wrote back in May that, no matter the outcome, the whole story exposed deeper truths about racism on Duke’s campus. Expect that storyline to be repeated if the charges are all dropped. The song of “fake but accurate” will be sung again. And today, ABC News publishes a column by Ben Mankiewicz, who hosts a show on Air America, to argue exactly that. He starts off by saying that no one knows what happened in Durham and that people should stop acting as if they did. I hope this guy is never on a jury, because, apparently, he can't make up his mind about evidence unless he himself was a witness to the event. But, grant him his uncertainty about what happened in that house in Durham. What else does he know. Well, he knows that racism exists because he used to live in South Carolina and witnessed five separate incidents when people said racist things. Honestly, I don't have a clue whether any of the three players charged in the case harbors a racist bone in their body. But after spending five years — wonderful years, actually — working in Charleston, S.C., I can tell you two things about race and deceit in the old South. One, that racism is still very much alive, lurking where you don't expect it. And two, nobody is ever honest about it. He concludes, And though it's impossible to know what happened in that house just off the Duke campus, this much is clearly true: Like much of the south and much of the country, Duke University and the city of Durham have a serious racial divide. And the resolution of this case won't solve it, no matter what Nancy Grace says. See, there are still racial problems in this country so it really doesn't matter that three young men have maligned and persecuted by an out-of-control prosecutor. I'd like to remind Mr. Mankiewicz that the plural of anecdote is not data. Perhaps he is just hanging out with a more racist crowd than I am. But I've lived in Raleigh, NC for 23 1/2 years and I can only think of one racist making comments about race that I've heard in that time. Can we generalize about racism from that? I doubt it. But I sure know that the Duke case doesn't explode some hidden truth that should enlighten us about white racism. I prefer Mary Katharine Ham's discussion of the lessons she's learned from this whole sorry story. Want to know the real "social disaster" at Duke? It's not that the "larger truths" this non-crime revealed trumped the presumption of innocence. It's not that a bunch of ostensibly intelligent, socially conscious grown-ups let their liberal guilt-fest overtake the facts of a case, convicting 46 innocent young men in the court of public opinion as a ticket to the hippest candlelight vigil of the decade. It's that, even now, they're not ashamed of it. And, until they are, I'm afraid Durham, Duke, future athletes, future rape victims, the local justice system and race relations are all — what's the word? — "Nifonged." posted by Betsy Newmark permalink 5:24 PM 0 comments Comments: Post a Comment