But, when it came down to, this case was made into a racial issue, which it shouldn't have been. It should have been an issue about a woman who was raped by three men. Case closed.
The fact that she was black and they were white only plays into the fetishization of Black women and white men that has developed through years of inequal treatment. This also biased many people because it made this case into a national spectacle. It split people along racial lines instead of factual lines and investigating the story that the woman told instead of going on a witch hunt.
Additionally, this case was turned into an issue of class as well. The Black, poor woman was raped by the rich white kids. Many wanted to see these men be charged because they felt it would put them in their rightful place, strip them of the privilege that they had been so accustomed to all of their lives.
All of the things that this case stood for are all of the things that were wrong with the media's coverage of the case, the national obsession with the case, and the prosecution of the case. It became an issue of stripping privilege and proving that white people were not superior instead of ensuring that this woman was actually treated properly and had her CORRECT assailants brought to justice, not for political reasons but for criminal reasons.
Excuse me...
Mr. Holland, you have no right to lecture ANYONE on sensitivity. You voluntarily surrendered that right when you advocated the death of Elizabeth Edwards as an act of God so that Holy Hillary can be annointed Queen. How dare you lecture ANYONE on senistivity or appropriate speech. I can tell you from comments received by the editors here, YOU have offended far more people than Michael has. People find Pat Robertson style calling upon god to smite people more offensive than the use of the "F" word.
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. And you, my friend, built yourself one fragile glass house when you announced to the world your Jihadist views of Elizabeth Edwards' cancer. And now you are throwing stones.
You, sir, are one of the biggest hypocrites I know. Clean up your own method of dialogue before you presume to lecture people. Particularly since it really seems like we have a much larger and more diverse audience than you have, so I can only imagine we are doing something right. Perhaps some of our use of curse words may alienate some. But I think far more are alienated by the curses you call down upon those you see as standing in the way of Hillary's divine right to rule. That is why even your best posts get little positive attention around here. Some deserve more attention than they get...but your complete alienation of our entire readership means no one is going to view what you write positively. By contrast, some who have been the biggest targets of Michael's sharp tongue have become friends. So I think your lecture is pompous and hypocritical. But that is no surprise.