I have a hard time accepting the fact that Duke University will not, in some way, shape or form, suffer some brand (read: prestige-school cachet) hit in the wake of the infamous "lacrosse rape" case. The rape that wasn't, as it turned out, and the hoax that was. The hoax into which school brass seemed quite willing to buy when the buying-into was easy. The hoax perpetrated, and almost pulled off, by forces beyond everyone's control. The forces that can, in a perfect storm, bring down innocent people simply because of what they represent in a society where Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson chase ambulances off cliffs. Duke should be made to suffer something here. Something significant. Justice has prevailed in the legal system. Now, true "social" justice should be meted out as well. For some, the "Blue Devil" will forever sport a blackeye.
One year ago, I posted this: Duke, DNA, and the D.A.: a miserable month in Durham. Today, marks the first day of the rest the lives of three horrendously fated young men: the falsely accused student-athletes late of Duke U. Like many others, I was riveted by this story. I have a son of the same generation as these young men, as noted in last year's post. Everything about this case is a parent's nightmare, particularly any parent who sends a son off to college, to a dorm room, a fraternity house, and/or a sports team.
Corrupt, southern lawmen are corrupt whether they're railroading the proverbial sharecropper's son -- or the sons of wealthy whites. Injustice is an equal-opportunity evil. And it is now part of Duke lore, forever.
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