Reality, Experimentation, and Consequences

Addressing recent allegations that a Duke student was raped at an off-campus party last Sunday, Duke VP for Student Affairs, Larry Moneta appears to downplay the alleged crime as not being indicative of the atmosphere at Duke, but rather symptomatic of the realities of life and a normal result of experimentation. In an interview with Carolyn Costello of NBC-17, Moneta, incredibly, also appears to shift blame to the alleged victim for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"It's part of the reality of collegiate life and of experimentation and some of the consequences of students not necessarily always being in the right place at the right time."

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“This happens around the country. Duke is no different in that respect.”

Moneta’s latest comments appear to echo, in part, the sentiments he expressed when addressing the issues of acquaintance rape in a 2005 interview with Duke Magazine’s Bridget Booher for her article entitled “Hooking Up”, a supplement to her feature, “The Silent Epidemic, Sexual Assault on Campus”.

"Part of the problem is who is defining social norms," says Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. "TV shows and popular music celebrate drugs, drinking, and casual sex. Students seem to want an accelerated approach to relationships so that it becomes almost utilitarian."

While many details remain unclear on the circumstances of the latest allegations, Moneta’s comments do appear to indicate that the priority for Duke’s administration may again be public relations when addressing the latest scandal. In his interview with Costello, Moneta seems to affirm that supposition by making efforts to distance the current accusations from those that fueled the Hoax.

"People of intelligence, thoughtful people, will understand the dramatic difference here, but will hold us accountable and look to our response."

While Moneta does not clarify, for those of us lacking the required intelligence, what the apparently self-evident "dramatic difference" is, it is likely that the second half of his statement will prove true. We strongly suspect, or at least hope, that he will be held accountable for his response blaming reality, experimentation, and consequences of poor decisions.

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Although Moneta did not note the differences for NBC-17’s viewers, Durham City Councilman Eugene Brown was more helpful. “It’s a different case and a different neighborhood,” he told Costello. A review of Brown’s initial take on the Hoax may help to decipher his comments:

"It's this preppy arrogance that they will never be held accountable for what they've done -- that their daddies will get them out of it," said Eugene Brown, a Durham city councilman who lives on Buchanan Boulevard, a block from the rental house.

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"To use an old phrase, they saw themselves as being cool cats, and they used my neighborhood as their sandbox."

In an article in yesterday’s News & Observer , Anne Blythe points out another dramatic difference between the two cases: District Attorney Mike Nifong has not usurped the case from the Durham Police Department, despite the steady flow of news coverage it has seen over past few days.

“As news of the reported rape spread through the blogosphere Monday, many people questioned whether District Attorney Mike Nifong would show the same interest in the investigation as he did the Duke lacrosse case.”

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"We haven't made any arrests or anything yet," said Maj. L.A. Russ of the Durham Police Department. "He would not get involved this early."

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“But in the lacrosse case, Nifong assumed control of the investigation, according to police reports, before any charges were filed.”

DA Nifong, whose taking over the investigation coincided with the News & Observer’s infamous “Dancer gives details of ordeal” article, which was the first major media report to hype the race of the Hoax accuser and accused, explained his pre-arrest intervention at the time by pointing to the importance of the case to the community. On the day of his initial briefing on the case by police, Nifong made his first of many public comments:

“Every rape is a serious case,” Nifong told the Herald Sun. “But some speak to the community in a different manner. This is one of them.”

"The information that I have does lead me to conclude that a rape did occur," Nifong said. "I'm making a statement to the Durham community and, as a citizen of Durham, I am making a statement for the Durham community. This is not the kind of activity we condone, and it must be dealt with quickly and harshly."

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"This is a case we felt we needed a quick turnaround," Nifong said. "There's a lot up in the air, and 40-some people waiting on this."

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"Nifong, who said Monday that he himself will prosecute the case, said authorities may apply for more search warrants in the case and that more charges for aiding and abetting may be possible against partygoers.

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"There's a good chance if someone had spoken up and said, 'You can't do this,' it might not have happened," Nifong said. March 27, 2006 WRAL

While the differences in neighborhood and Nifong’s interest noted by Brown and Blythe are telling, Moneta’s seeming attempt to downplay the accusation is relatively similar in that regard to his initial reaction to the Hoax accusation.

“Brodhead found out March 20, when Vice President Larry Moneta told him "the
accusations were not credible and were unlikely to amount to anything."

The News & Observer, while apparently this time finding the race of the alleged victim and wanted suspect not newsworthy, also appears to find the two cases quite similar. So similar, in fact, that, they have chosen to list their stories on the new accusations under their Duke Lacrosse index. It’s impossible to imagine that listing subsequent accusations of unrelated sexual assaults alongside the exhaustive saga of the Hoax will not result in additional unwarranted smearing of the Hoax victims by further painting their names and faces with the stigma of accusations of sexual assault. It is our hope that the N&O will reconsider their decision to attach the latest accusations to the Hoax defendants in this manner, as they subsequently regretted their decision to print the names and faces of 46 Duke lacrosse players in the front section of their Sunday, April 2, edition.

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The parallels and contradictions to be found in the two cases are, indeed, striking. Perhaps it is inevitable that comparisons will be made. Certainly, the most obvious contradiction in the cases is that the race of the accuser and the accused in the new accusation is the reverse of the Hoax. One can only hope, however, that this is not the difference described as "dramatic" by Moneta and implied as an issue of "neighborhood" by Brown.

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Sadly, it seems that Moneta and Brown will not be the only commentators to appear to make these comparisons based, not on an objective view of the circumstances or with a hope that some of the differences are the result of lessons learned over the past eleven months, but rather with the same tainted views with which they have measured the Hoax. Some, who were so quick to pronounce the lacrosse players guilty, will undoubtedly now point to the difference in response time by the media and the police, as an indication that news organizations and the justice system works faster when the victim is white and the suspect black. Signs of this inevitability are already evident in comments posted on this blog and on other forums.

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A commentator at Court TV suggested:

“…by the alacrity of the police intervention in the case and promised arrest in a matter of less than a day, you can tell that there is a DIFFERENCE being made when the accused is a black male compared to how long it took the DPD to mosey over to the LAX house in the prior case....48 hours! They were on the scene at THIS house in under 3-4 hours,tops! As I predicted, the race of the victim determined the swiftness of the police response! Also,the race of the suspect is influencing the prediction of an arrest in 24-48 hours.....quite a difference from how long it took the LAX players to be charged and arrested as we all know!”

A regular reader here added:

“a white girl was raped at a duke party this weekend and the police were there in minutes of being called and they are going to arrest the suspect in the next 24 hours and he is black; that is totally different from the way the lax team was treated. they were not interviewed about a rape/sexual assault until 48 hours later despite the victim being in police custody immediately after the party and the police could have come back that night and investigated the scene but no, the victim was poor and black and they did not care about investigating. The white girl charged rape and the police were there within seconds and taking people in for questioning.”

Those of us who have become disenchanted with the media and the unique system of Durham justice, will likewise note the disparate treatment of the lacrosse team and the members of the self-proclaimed “Infamous” Alpha Alpha Chi Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, who reportedly hosted the party where the latest alleged assault is claimed to have occurred. When Duke University President Dick Brodhead fails to issue a statement along the lines of “whatever they’ve done is bad enough” or decrying the “highly unacceptable behavior” (or "experimentation" as Moneta prefers) of the party goers, some may not see this as a sign of lessons learned, but rather a clear double standard.

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When Sam Hummell, or the like, fails to produce false facts sheets or a vigilante wanted poster, will we quietly take notice of his new found reluctance to smear individuals in order to advance his agenda, or will we point out the hypocrisy of his eagerness then versus his hesitation now?

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When the News & Observer fails to hype the “dramatic” and “neighborhood” differences, will we note it as an indication that there’s no profit in selling a story devoid of salacious racial details if the involved races are reversed, or will we believe that they have learned from their mistakes of last spring?

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When no Group of 88 labels this instance a Social Disaster and no Castrate! banner appears in front of this party house, will we recognize this as a sign of progress made, or as an indication that, absent rich white young men as the accused, such actions hold no appeal for the Holloways and the potbangers?

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When District Attorney Nifong fails to hijack the case and say, “I’m not going to allow the world’s view of Durham to be a place where a black student from another school can rape a white Duke student,” will we be thankful that neither the alleged victim nor the suspect will be Nifonged? Will we breathe a sigh of relief that the Durham police will be allowed to conduct a full and thorough investigation devoid of manipulation? Or, will we note that it must mean there is no election looming and political danger, rather than benefit, lies in race baiting in the opposite direction?

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While we have no answers to these questions, we will continue to hope that any differences in response or reaction by the University, the media, Durham police investigators, commentators, and even Defendant Nifong are, at least in part, the result of lessons learned, rather than pervasive double standards.