 Rape is a unique crime.
Unlike other offenses, it is difficult to see any mitigating circumstances that would result in someone taking another person’s humanity. There is nothing in our legal system that falls into the murky category of “justifiable rape”. I’m certain someone will valiantly, or should I say ignorantly, send me an e-mail explaining how they were in a situation where mitigating circumstances did apply. But rape can never be about mitigating circumstances; it is about someone exerting their power over someone else. The power/powerless dynamic is never a good one, especially when one finds themselves on the powerless end of that continuum. Simply stated, rape is one of the most vile acts in our society. There is a Cro-Magnon characteristic that is beneath our post-modern culture.But the events last Saturday night at Richmond High School is a painful reminder that rape is not something exclusive to the days when Cro-Magnon walked the earth some 30,000 years ago. Richmond police believe as many as 20 people watched and reportedly cheered as a 15-year-old girl was robbed, beaten and gang-raped outside her high school homecoming dance. What’s most tragic and leaves the community and the nation in disbelief is that none of the onlookers felt compelled to do anything to stop the barbarism. The onlookers used their cell phones to take photos of the spectacle rather than call police. When did rape become a spectator sport? The imagery conjures memories of the gruesome photos of whites gleefully posing in front of black lynched bodies. It is the sense of elation rooted in profound hatred that is beyond the skill sets of most to comprehend.
The repeated assaults lasted more than two hours, until news of the rape reached someone’s home several blocks from school, and they made the call to police.
What do we do this? It was not until someone at the scene had their fill of this uncivilized display, and decided to share the news with others before it appeared to be something that warranted police involvement.
One local news broadcast suggested the crime was beyond the realm of the victim’s faith community to provide an answer—it should be. The faith community cannot, nor any other, offer a definitive answer that unlocks the mystery of such tragedy. All faith can do is assist the community to navigate through this obvious absurdity of the human condition.
As of this writing, the victim remained hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Five individuals have been arrested and charged on suspicion of sexual assault and robbery—two adults and three juveniles. Given the attack occurred on school grounds, questions remain whether Richmond High bears some responsibility. For its part, the school disgracefully released a statement suggesting it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure their children return home safely. This pathetic attempt at damage control indicates Richmond High may be more concerned about its own vulnerability, rendering themselves insensitive to its poor utilization of timing. Moreover, it is doubtful there will be the type of protests demanding justice, like those for Oscar Grant III, who was shot in the early morning hours of New Years Day by a BART police officer. There is no need to replicate the worst examples by some protesters, who used the Oscar Grant death as a justification for mayhem, but doesn’t this case warrant similar demands for justice? It’s unfortunate, but our justice/injustice sensibilities seem to work best when the color lines are delineated by black and white. We are not nearly as impassioned when that line is blurred by gender, sexual orientation or when the assailant and victim are of the same race. If we are not careful, we can find ourselves siding with perpetrators by suggesting had the victim not drank to excess, as it has been reported, none of this would have happened. That may be true on the surface, but when does drinking too much justify taking someone’s humanity? This case is reflective of a societal breakdown that is not limited to the Richmond city limits. No community is immune regardless of what its demographics indicate. Those arrested live in various communities, and only one thus far attended Richmond High. But I did hear something that I must take issue. Someone referred to the perpetrators as animals. They are not animals. I’m confident the uncivilized act committed at Richmond High is beneath any behavior exhibited by my dog Zeus.
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