I'm definitely no religious freak, but I've always felt weird about universities who use words like devils and demons in their team names. It always seemed odd and inappropriate to me. What are they really trying to say? Is this some kind of not so subliminal, subliminal message? Should we write it off as nothing, or take it as a compelling statement about that university? Well, how's this for irony, it seems the blue devils, who are actually young white men, have indeed been up to some devilish activities. Not only are there allegations of a rape and sodomy, but now there's an email that graphically discusses torture and murder fantasy. All this from a lacrosse team, at one of the nation's most prestigious, widely celebrated universities.
If FORTY supervised college-aged men, wearing uniforms, working together to win a game, is a TEAM. Then FORTY unsupervised college-aged men, out of uniform, in concert during a criminal activity, is nothing more than a STREET GANG. Make no mistake about it, that many unsupervised college aged men, plus three naked women, is a recipe for disaster. Even if the women in question had been white, from privleged backgrounds, and were also students of Duke University. So one can only imagine how this scenario plays out when the victim in question is black, and alcohol, racism, and white privilege are present. As of now "mums" the word from the lacrosse team. But already many of the seniors from the team, who had accepted jobs, are having those jobs renig on their offers. See, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And I'm sure, it's only a matter of time before members of that team begin to come forward and tell all. But the question still remains, why did "it" happen in the first place?
The alleged victim was black, and also a non-Duke University student, which is very telling. As a black man who attended a university where blacks were less than 2% of the population, I understand that blacks, ON CAMPUS, despite all the drama, stick together. When I was in school, if a sista who attended the university, was raped by a gang of white dudes, in say, a nearby frat house, there would have been hell to pay. The night it happened, there probably would have been a black contingent at that house, looking to take names and ask questions never. The culprits would've had to deal with every black person on campus who knew the victim, or who heard of the racial implications of the event. Because blacks on white university campuses have no one to rely on accept themselves, they self-police. And a lot of this 'self-policing" prevents certain racial situations from happening. But the girl in the Duke scenario was a local, an outsider to the Duke world. She was also a stripper, who probably hadn't made her occupation public knowledge to all of her friends. And she attended an entirely different school. For those guys on that lacrosse team, she didn't represent someone they had to see one a daily basis. Or someone who's boyfriend they might bump into on campus. To them, they were white, powerful Dukies, and she was simply, black and disposable. And that's, why "it" happened.
If this were just about a rape, it'd be disgusting enough. But it's not. It's about the clash of out of towners and locals. White privilege vs. black working class. And university athletics vs. society at large. And the saddest part of all is, it unveils the progressive mask this country hides behind, to reveal the ugly racist face of past generations. If it's possible that "Duke's finest", educated children of privilege, who many would consider the future leaders of this country, are guilty of what they've been accused of, then what does that say for this country's future? May the truth come to light. One.
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