Letters to the Editor
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Plenty of Blame to Go Around
This whole case, very upsetting. By all accounts, Durham County DA Mike Nifong should probably be disbarred. He definitely deserves a big, heaping portion of the blame for this whole mess.
The woman who made the allegations told conflicting stories but (as yet, I believe) has not been charged with hindering prosecution, lying, etc. Regardless, there's some blame for her.
The Duke athletes, even though not guilty of rape, are no altar boys. Between them, there was a history of arrests for drunken and disruptive behavior, emailed racial slurs after the alleged event, and also just regularly hiring strippers for college events. There's some more blame. That being said, these boys deserved some stern talking-tos and possibly some campus-related suspensions, not the media circus that tarnished their futures.
Which leads me to the last group of people to blame--all of us. So many of us rushed to judgment, unaware of the facts, our passions inflamed by issues of race, class and power. I know I thought, "damn those privileged, white athletes." I'm not proud of it. We should all try to be more level-headed in the future.
I just hope this doesn't too badly damage the efforts of legitimate rape victims trying to seek justice.
Mea culpa.