The Chronicle

Issue date: 11/3/06 Section: News
Last update: 11/3/06 at 5:49 AM EST

Media Credit: Jianghai Ho Many Walltown residents, like Abura Cain (above), say they are holding off judgment until the trial.

Media Credit: Jianghai Ho Walltown resident

Eight months after the lacrosse scandal first hit the Duke and Durham communities, many students on campus are rallying for the defeat of Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong in the Nov. 7 election.

Walltown, a predominantly black neighborhood that lies just out of earshot of chattering freshmen on East Campus, is steps away when walking but miles away when talking. The community became a focal point of Duke-Durham tensions after three lacrosse players allegedly raped an exotic dancer at a March 13 party.

Now, there is still no consensus among Walltown residents about the scandal.

"We don't know the truth," said Abura Cain, an eight-year resident who operates a day-care center in Walltown. "The truth is going to come out and that's what I'm looking for. Some people take it personal. Me, I'm just sitting back and watching things."

Many residents emphasized that community discourse regarding the case has died down since the initial uproar.

"Around here nobody really talks about it-it's like the past," said 17-year-old resident Tasha Campbell. "There's really no anger anymore. There was a lot-now you don't hear it unless it's in the news. It's brought up again and then they forget it."

Even as they stressed the declining animosity connected to the incident, some residents voiced their approval of Nifong's aggressive pursuit of the indicted Duke students.

"Everybody would be down his throat if he didn't [prosecute]," Trevell Green said. "They get judged, and if they're guilty, they're guilty."

Other residents, however, shared the anti-Nifong sentiment prevalent on campus and criticized the district attorney for his handling of the case.

"Nifong, he botched the lineup, so that affects the way I vote," said Peter Hausmann, who has lived in Walltown for six months. "I can't speak for why people will vote for him. I will vote against him. I don't know what his motives are."

Cain criticized the team's decision to host a party with alcohol and dancers, but she said the alleged victim-a student at North Carolina Central University-should not have placed herself in such an environment.

"The girl was a student and she didn't have to take her clothes off," she said. "The young lady made a choice. It's no different from prostitution. What part of it did she think she wasn't responsible for? You've got to put a price on your identity; you've got to put a price on you. You can't give yourself out to the highest bidder."

Some members of the Walltown community took a critical stance toward the students at the party but praised the University as an asset to the area.

"Somebody raped a girl and [the party is] where she was," said a Walltown resident who declined to offer his name. "Duke is not the problem-it's some of the damn kids at Duke. They could've been anywhere."

Jessica Anduiza, a program coordinator at the Duke Center for International Development, lives in the Walltown neighborhood but said she has yet to discuss the lacrosse scandal with her neighbors.

"I think this is a very diverse community, and I can't speak for the community," she said. "I don't talk about it with them."

Despite their varying opinions regarding the case, Walltown residents and Duke faculty and students have shared in the sadness and regret generated by the incident, said Melvin Henry, a former Walltown resident who still attends services at the neighborhood's Northside Baptist Church.

"It's a no-win situation for Duke and it's a no-win situation for the community," he said. "It's just a tragedy. Everybody's hurt. I wish I could have erased the whole thing. The rest of our lives, this is history."

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