Do they all look alike?

April 27, 2006

Since we are now talking about Duke, we should talk about it one many levels (this is The SuperSpade, right?). So, building on Sakara R.’s excellent piece, I’d like to look at another aspect of this situation.

In the Duke case, we have another instance of one race accusing another race of a crime. Most people know that this usually leads to complex emotional reactions from the accuser, the accusee, and fellow members of the respective races of both parties. I had a whole piece in my head about this, but I read Malcolm Gladwell’s (author of Blink and The Tipping Point) thoughts on the subject and the broader issue of eyewitness testimony.

I know that I am guilty of saying things like “There are only 5 categories of white people,” and other statements (I know how ignorant that is, but I have said it. Pray for me.). Gladwell says that many innocent people may be locked up because of this mentality. As a Black man, I know that to be the case. The question that must be asked, if we are going to be intellectually responsible, is why do we often reject that this same phenomenon occurs in the opposite direction?

Posted by Garlin II
Filed Under Issues and Politics
Tags: ,

Comments

5 Responses to “Do they all look alike?”

  1. Hummingbyrd on April 28th, 2006 12:28 pm

    G.

    What are the five categories if whitenecks?

  2. Garlin II on April 28th, 2006 1:48 pm

    Well, since you wanted to go there, let me be more specific. Actually the comment was made in jest during a conversation about whether we (me and others in the conversation) thought that all white women looked the same.

    The reason I refer to that here is because there are many people who joke about things like this, and many others who genuinely feel this way. These dispositions, whether playful or real, lead to discrimination, prejudice, racial profiling, etc. These dispositions are the reason why people have made assumptions about the Black woman who is the victime of the alleged sexual assault in this Duke case. It could also be the reason why it has been difficult to identify the specific perpetrators of the alleged assault: maybe she thought “they all looked the same.”

  3. The Blog on May 1st, 2006 8:27 pm

    I think they raped that girl. REgardless if she is a stripper or not something does not seem right with the lacrosse team story. Yes, race has played a major factor in the handling of this case.

  4. field negro on May 2nd, 2006 4:55 pm

    Good insights Superspade, and in my opinion a farly accurate take on the situation.

    Keep doing what you do fam and stay up!

    FN

  5. field negro on May 2nd, 2006 4:56 pm

    BTW, what happend to my man Brandon Q ?

    FN

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