News
Amid Boston Overdose Crisis, a Pair of Harvard Students Are Bringing Narcan to the Red Line
News
At First Cambridge City Council Election Forum, Candidates Clash Over Building Emissions
News
Harvard’s Updated Sustainability Plan Garners Optimistic Responses from Student Climate Activists
News
‘Sunroof’ Singer Nicky Youre Lights Up Harvard Yard at Crimson Jam
News
‘The Architect of the Whole Plan’: Harvard Law Graduate Ken Chesebro’s Path to Jan. 6
To the editors:
In her column, “Stripper Ergo...Rape?” (Apr. 12), Ashton R. Lattimore makes a commendable effort to address the disturbing cultural tendency to “explain” the crime and blame the rape victim. But the Duke lacrosse situation is not, thus far, a Jane Doe case. Lattimore’s concern—that the media firestorm has played a major role in discrediting the alleged victim, an exotic dancer—has been substantially outweighed by the thorough vilification of the ostensibly rich, white, privileged team members and the elitist university they represent.
Never have I heard a Duke student utter, “Well, she is a stripper.” Blaming the victim and using her occupation to destroy her credibility cannot be condoned. But typecasting 46 individuals as unsurprisingly racist rapists and juxtaposing them with a diligent student, single mother of two? Not an unrelated evil.
JANE CHONG
Durham, N.C.
April 12, 2006
The writer is a freshman at Duke University.
Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.