A NC Central student says that she was raped, choked, and beaten in a bathroom at a party in a house owned by the three captains of the Duke Lacrosse team on March 13. The District Attorney of Durham has not yet filed charges because the DNA evidence was not conclusive. Lawyers representing the lacrosse players have asked for the case to be dropped.
When calling for the appointment with the dancers, one of the team members used a false name. The two women were under the impression that they would be performing at a bachelor party for about five men, but instead they arrived at the house filled with over 40 drunken lacrosse players.
When the players started yelling racial slurs at the women, who were black, they went back to their car. “We started to cry,” one of the women told The News & Observer. “We were so scared.”
Realizing she had forgotten her shoes, one of the women went back inside the house. She was then dragged into the bathroom and raped while the attackers robbed and beat her, and subjected her to racial slurs. She said that when she escaped half an hour later, the two women stopped at a grocery store where they called the police.
The team members are sticking together, and no one has come forward yet about the crime.
“I think a major problem is the whole ‘I’m going to watch out for my boys’ mentality,” said junior Tim Scales. “Even if you know one of your friends raped somebody.”
The only black player on the 47-member team was not DNA tested by investigators, because the woman said her attackers were white. It’s not hard to understand why there is only one black player on the team. After this incident, it is apparent that the other players created an extremely hostile environment for minorities.
According to The News & Observer, a neighbor said he heard one of the party-goers demand a refund and yell, “Thank your grandpa for my cotton shirt,” as the women left.
The national mainstream media has not effectively reported on the racism and sexism involved in this case. In fact, many have questioned the woman’s claims even, though she was examined at the hospital. The nurses who assisted her say that she was obviously sexually assaulted.
More DNA testing is being done, and the Durham District Attorney said, “My presence here means this case is not going away,” to a panel of NC Central students on Tuesday.
Police recovered from the crime scene fingernails the victim broke while trying to defend herself, as well as her makeup bag and cell phone. They also took a green bathmat and some towels from the house as evidence.
Rush Limbaugh called the victim a “ho” on air. This is man who calls himself a “compassionate conservative” and tells people he fights for moral values. Something is really, really wrong here.
Being an exotic dancer doesn’t make being raped OK. No one asks to be raped, hence the nature of the crime.
The woman is a full-time student and has two children. She worked as a dancer to pay for her college degree. Meanwhile, the cost of tuition at Duke is about $43,000 per year – $3,000 higher than the mean annual income in Durham, according to Pacifica Radio Network.
“From the dialogue that happened that night, it does appear that there was a significant amount of racial motivation behind the incident.,” said sophomore Andy Freedman. “It really does seem like they thought this is what she deserved.”
Paul Haagen, chairman of Duke’s Academic Council and specialist in sports law, told the News & Observer, “studies show that violence against women is more prevalent among male athletes than among male students in general – and higher still among such “helmet sports” as football, hockey and lacrosse.”
Duke had the second-highest ranking lacrosse team before the incident. The rest of this season’s games have been canceled, and the coach resigned. This is not enough of a response to the crime. Duke’s administration needs to start reacting to the issue of racism and sexism on campus because what happened last month was not only a rape – it was a hate crime, and should be treated as such.