The more you know...

One of the great mysteries of the whole Duke debacle is why people chose to be racist and not use this as a teaching moment?

Many people do not believe an eye for an eye works.

However, just look at these responses by Durham residents.

"The defendants should be prosecuted] whether it happened or not. It would be justice for things that happened in the past." Chan Hall, Chairman of Legislative Affairs Committee, Student Government of NCCU quoted in Newsweek May 1, 2006.

"Hopefully, justice is blind when it is time to carry out the proper punishment for what has been committed, and perhaps what has not been committed." PASTOR John Bennett quoted in the Herald-Sun October 16, 2006.

Any mention that these feelings are wrong? Apparently no one in the media thought or Duke academia thought so.

The New Black Panthers threatened Colin Finnerty as he walked in the courthouse for an early trial hearing. Not only was nothing done, the NBP were allowed in the courtroom. Does anyone else find this crazy? Apparently, nobody in the media or Duke acadamia thought so.

Martin Luther King Jr. said "An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere." Instead of the NAACP and academia use this as a "See, this is what we mean about racism. Now you know how we feel and how critical it is to fight against this corrupt system." No, the acadamia released a listening ad which can be interpreted as not endorsing due process. No, we see the North Carolina NAACP go against tradition of supporting change of venue motions for cases full of race hatred. No, the North Carolina NAACP had a wild manifesto making wild charges against the accused which was still up EVEN AFTER the lacrosse players were declared innocent.

And the mainstream media immediately put the accused and the people who wanted due process to play out on the defensive. Of course the fall out would be racist letters and threats made against African-Americans.

Let me make this perfectly clear: this is a horrible tactic and I never would do such a thing nor encourage individuals to do this. However, how can anyone think individuals would not resort to this emotional-filled tactic when the defenders of this false-accuser resorted to threats and emotion-filled protests?

It is just like the news commentators who blasted the defense attorneys for some of their public relations tactics of releasing (factual) information to try to win public opinion when the DA went public with very charged (and false) rhetoric.

There are many of us who wonder why few in the federal government have pushed for a federal investigation; yet, there were federal, state, and local lawmakers screaming at the top of their lungs for "justice to be done."

And for those who believe these guys were saved by a high-priced team of lawyers, I would like to point out public perception largely favored the (false) accuser until Christmas-time last year when we found out Meehan and Nifong conspired to cover-up evidence. Only when we learned a lawyer locked himself into a room and taught himself about DNA and went through the discovery with a fine-tooth comb did the case start to unravel.

This hypocrisy is not going to lead to a better society were people are going to get along with one another. If the African-American and the academic community want to sit (for the most part) idly by why all this takes place, why do you think we should care about other injustices?