In 1994, legendary comedian (arguably the emperor of comedy) Paul Mooney produced a comedic CD titled Race, considered a classic by many critics. The album was a bitter, unrelenting screed on America’s racial climate during the mid-1990s. One particular segment on the album was entitled “1-900-Blame A (N-word).” This was a response to several situations in which White people falsely accused Black people of committing crimes.
While ferociously funny and satirically amusing, it was a brutally honest take on the complexities, friction and fragmentation of the nation’s racial history. Almost a quarter of a century later, it seems that little has changed on this front. Last week, an 18-year-old White woman from Denison, Texas, Breana Talbott, was arrested and charged with a Class B misdemeanor for making a false report of being raped.
While lying about rape (a serious act of human violation) in and of itself is despicable, the fact is that Talbott did not stop there. Her lies got even more detailed. She brazenly stated that she was raped and assaulted by three Black men, and that was just the beginning.
The obviously disturbed teen inflicted wounds upon herself and had the audacity to run to a local church half-naked in a shirt, bra and underwear, screaming to the congregation that she had been raped and assaulted. Just think about it, running inside a church half-dressed and lying. This galling act of dishonesty prompted Black Twitter and various social media to call out Talbott and tell her about her dangerously wayward, sorry, racial-profiling self.
Interestingly, though not surprisingly, the amount of traffic on many right-wing websites as it relates to the real story has been notably muted. This was in stark contrast to the previous week when The Daily Stormer, Stormfront, and other alt-right and far-right blogs and websites engaged in all sort of standard racial invective in denouncing the supposed Black male perpetrators. The truth and reality of what actually transpired does not fit standard right-of-center or far-right narrative. The truth as they see it. The Denison Police Department posted a lengthy response to the unfortunate situation.
What was notable in the statement was the fact that police were apparently suspect of Talbott from the outset. Her story seemed to unravel rapidly day by day as the investigation progressed. The Denison Police Department is understandably furious that numerous resources were diverted and now, wasted, and other real criminal investigations were put on hold in an effort to solve supposed crime where there was, in fact, none.
The citizens of Denison, and in particular, communities of color, are enraged and rightly so. That being said, it is more important that some innocent Black men are not being unfairly prosecuted and imprisoned due to the fabricated story of some unhinged teenage White girl. Justice, despite the resentment that accompanied it, prevailed in this particular case.
