Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Some Rapes aren't as Important as Others

When Tawana Brawley reported that she had been raped, it was a media firestorm in 1987.  It was headline news and was the crime that launched Reverend Al Sharpton onto the national stage.  It later turned out she lied about the incident to avoid punishment from her mother for staying out.  Of note, Brawley is black and she accused white men of raping her.

When a stripper claimed that the Duke lacrosse team had raped her, it became a media firestorm that saw lacrosse canceled for the season and the coach forced to resign.  A year later, the charges were dropped when the stripper was shown to have lied.  Of note, the stripper was black and she accused white college students of raping her.

When Rolling Stone published a story about a fraternity raping a girl as part of initiation at UVA, a media firestorm followed in which rape culture was denounced, especially the members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.  Unlike the other two instances, this one flamed out quickly since the story was appallingly sourced and easily disproven.  Of note, the accused rapists were white college students.
 
Late last year in Kansas, a 13 year old girl was raped.  No firestorm of media attention followed.  Of note, the accused rapist was an illegal alien who had repeatedly been deported.
 
Last week in Maryland, a high school girl - 14 years old - was raped.  There has been no media firestorm.  Yes, it has been reported and then mostly forgotten.  Of note, the accused rapist is an illegal immigrant.
 
There is a pattern here.  If the rape confirms the narrative of racism or campus rape culture, the firestorm follows even though it is almost always a hoax.  If the rape would confirm Trump's claim that rapists are illegally crossing the border, crickets.  The media will obsess on stories that confirm its biases and overlook those that challenge them.

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