Another week has come and gone. And the investigation of the Duke lacrosse team has not yet yielded charges against those accused of the alleged sexual assault of an NCCU student and mother of two.
Despite the relative stagnation of the investigative proceedings, however, the "Duke Lacrosse Scandal" continues to steal national headlines and attention largely owing to the despicable and racist undertones of the crimes in question.
The national media have predictably sought University representatives to comment on the allegations.
True to form, President Richard Brodhead has been the epitome of dignity in the face of criticism and condemnation. His media releases have, time and again, reasserted the University's commitment to truth, justice and change.
In their own respective media interviews, seniors Seyward Darby, Russ Ferguson and Jesse Longoria also conducted themselves with the tact, rationality and composure that one should expect from members of the Duke community. Each provided a succinct and fair account of the broad range of campus sentiments and appeared not only informed, but also in-touch and responsive to the community's pressing concerns.
While these individuals have provided fair and constructive commentaries, one notable exception has done little else but increase the divisiveness of a community in crisis.
Adding his two cents to the matter is Professor Houston Baker, Jr. of the English department, who appeared on CNN with Nancy Grace and on MSNBC with Rita Cosby Wednesday evening. Dissatisfied with the University's perceived unresponsiveness, Baker began his crusade in an open letter to the Duke administration before moving his one-man circus sideshow onto primetime television.
In his scathing epistle and again in later media appearances, Baker condemned the "privileged, elite, white men on campus" and blamed them for creating the culture of violence, culture of sexism and culture of racism that manifests itself in dangerous, racist and misogynist behaviors in our community.
Admittedly, Duke isn't perfect, and there are undoubtedly racist and sexist behaviors that need to be addressed and amended. But Baker's blame of an entire class of individuals for creating exploitative campus cultures is a bigoted and reckless condemnation. Moreover, his blanket characterization automatically victimizes non-white, non-male, non-elite individuals and exonerates them of any active role in creating campus division.
On MSNBC, Rita Cosby pressed Baker for a practical solution in begging the question "what should be done?" Given his chance to finally say something constructive, Baker simply replied that we need "a restoration of confidence" in our institution.
I'm sorry, but that is not a practical solution. That's not even an appropriate response to the question at hand. A "restoration of confidence" is not an action that "should be done." A "restoration of confidence" is a consequence of what can be done. And unlike Brodhead, nowhere in his open letter or in his many media appearances did Baker offer a sensible proposal for how the University can help restore confidence in its intellectual or academic mission without resorting to the eradication of athletic programs.
Individuals and groups that feel slighted by the University's moderate response to the allegations ought to be more proactive in their criticisms. It is shamelessly insufficient to claim: "The University has not done enough! Enough steps have not been taken!" Protesters ought to be drafting recommendations-not asking pointless rhetorical questions and answering them with more pointless rhetorical questions. Because frankly: You. Aren't. Helping.
In his reply to Baker's preposterous letter to the University, Provost Peter Lange reasserted the University's dedication to promoting constructive dialogue and ensuring that the right actions be taken now and in the future:
"That our pace will still disappoint some is undoubted, but we will not rush to judgment nor will we take precipitous actions which, symbolically satisfying as they may be, assuage passions but do little to remedy the deeper problems. These problems will certainly be easier, but not easy, to understand than they will be to repair. The latter will take less rhetoric and more hard work, less quick judgment and more reasoned intervention, less playing to the crowd, than entering the hearts and lives of those whose education we are charged to promote and who we must treat as an integral part of the community we wish to restore and heal."
Provost Lange is absolutely correct.
What the Duke-Durham community needs most is the creation of a productive dialogue and a more unified body-not need a self-effacing and self-destructive peanut gallery.
Boston Cote is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every Friday.
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