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One of Amanda's tasteless and offensive comments was about the Duke Lacrosse case. It was very interesting to me because there were, all of a sudden, millions of activists against railroading white boys, and thoroughly dismissive and of one accord about that the Duke boys were upstanding Christians who had just had a little fun with a black whore, so why get all in a snit about it, because black whores are liars, all right? It seemed to her, and to me at that point, that we should let the evidence collect. The assumption of this cause celebre seemed to be, the black whore did it, and these are rich white boys, so they must be innocent.
It seemed to me like the Free Mumia crowd for whites; no gossipy piece that dissed the presumed victim was out of bounds; no questioning of our unjustly accused heroes was permitted. Any community closes around defending its own, sometimes even to the expense of the facts. As it turns out, the legal system has decided the boys should be let off. Fair enough. But there definitely was something tribal and male chauvinist about the response of our media, including a complete and stark refusal to believe that the black whore might be telling the truth. I take it that that's the larger point Amanda was making. Sorry to offend you, but I suggest you also be offended by the predominance of black men on Death Row, and the obvious fact that a high percentage of the people exonerated by the Innocence Project are in fact, more darkly-hued than the Duke lacrosse team. A lot of black men sit in prison to this day on less evidence than there was about the Dukesters.
As for the Holy Ghost, aside from the obviously yucky picture it describes, there is a serious religious point being made there.
But the main thing about the Donohue scam is this: it pretends to be a civil-rights organization for Catholics. Bull. It's just a repackaging of the Legion of Decency, and of the various ways the Church used to exert undue control on what all of us could see and read and say. People have a right to offend the Catholics, and the Jews, and the Muslims if they want to. If I call for an end to burkas, I'd offend some Muslims; if I call for justice for the Palestinians, I've offended some Jews; if I say that the Church's opinions on birth control and abortion are offensive to me, does that carry any weight with you? I'd guess not. There's an argument going on about whether abortion should remain free, legal and safe in a country that has freedom of religion, if you haven't noticed. I have the right to offend you, and you have the right to offend me. Discrimination means, do I have the right to deprive you of a job based on your beliefs? I don't, and neither do you of Amanda.
Oh, and obviously this post has triggered the right-wing brigades to continue harassing Amanda. It's exceptionally ugly to watch. What do you bet, none of you read Salon regularly?
