Duke’s Devil of a Mess
With the rape case against three Duke lacrosse players unraveling, a group of Black faculty are now accused of rushing to judgment.
By Christina Asquith
Durham, N.C.
Last spring, at the height of the frenzy over accusations that three Duke University men’s lacrosse players had gang raped a Black exotic dancer during a party, faculty from Duke’s African and African American studies department chose to take a stand.
With emotions running high, the faculty decided to take out a full-page advertisement in student newspaper, the Duke Chronicle, quoting the fears that minority students had expressed in a recent campus forum.
“I wonder now about everything … if something like this happens to me, what would be used against me? My clothing?” one student had asked.
“This is not a different experience for us here at Duke University,” another student said. “We go to class with racist classmates, we go to the gym with people who are racists … It’s part of the experience.”
While almost no criminal evidence had been made public at that early stage as to whether a rape had actually occurred, professors felt that the Black students’ broader complaints over racism and sexism on campus should be aired.
