People love to feel like they are important and will use any venue possible to let people know they are important. The Reverend Jesse Jackson immediately comes to mind when I think of people who are, or should be, on this list. At least Al Gore had the decency to leave the public eye after losing a presidential bid, same with Michael Dukakis. But no, not Jackson-he carries on strong, and it appears that people are lining up to follow in the footsteps of his brilliance.
My favorite poet, T. S. Eliot, once said, “Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.” Unfortunately, Eliot is correct, and we see this currently on the campus of a prestigious university in Durham, N.C., where the men of the Duke University lacrosse team are being victimized by activists trying to make themselves appear to be important. The team has been jumped on, and, granted, they put themselves in this precarious situation, but nonetheless, my 21 years of existence have taught me that knee-jerk reactions are usually regretted later on.
Accusations of sexual assault are not to be taken lightly. I wholeheartedly sympathize with any woman or man who is the victim of a sexual assault case, and I chastise the pathetic culprit. However, by the same token, those allegations should not be thrown around carelessly.
The actions of these men are deplorable, and I mean the known actions. Athletes are a full-time representation of a school’s campus, and these men, by hiring strippers and putting themselves in this situation, have put a black mark on their school. However, their school owed them a little bit of trust in waiting to cancel the season of their players who have worked so hard to build a team considered a national title contender.
I know if I were in that situation and my university abandoned me like that, I would have a difficult time wearing the school’s colors again. But, if I were a member of the Blue Devils, I would be more scared of the ramifications of my mother finding out, forget about the police.
This country was founded on numerous core principles, one of them being “innocent until proven guilty.” I commend Duke for their sanctions against Ryan McFadyen, the player who sent a putrid e-mail, detailing grotesque actions he would do to another human being. But the rest of team did not deserve to have their season ripped away. Students and athletes alike make poor decisions involving alcohol and sex, on a daily basis.
These men were immediately cast as guilty and have been subjected to numerous protests by the citizens of Durham and students of Duke. They have the right to protest, but the egg that is going to be on their faces is going to be tough to rub off, now that the DNA results have come back negative.
The supposed victim and these protestors and Duke University owe these young men, sans McFadyen, an apology for costing them their season. I do not condone the hiring of the stripper, but the fact that these young men committed no ill act is tough to swallow for all the naysayers.
I am sure they will not get the apology they deserve, and the seniors on this team now have to deal with their last chance at a national championship being ripped away by lies and overzealous liberal activists.
They have cost a respectable coach his job and cast asunder the reputations of these 46 players, with little or no regard for the ramifications of their actions. These activists will simply return to their lives as normal, without a second thought of the ramifications.
Meanwhile, these men have to face a scrutinizing public, which is partially deserved, but not to the extent to which they will undoubtedly be subjected. It is a shame that these men’s lives have been tarnished; it’s not as if they are O.J. and had tons of evidence against them.
In the end, they should have to face their mothers’ scrutiny and no one else’s, but alas, in our country of excessive activism and reactionary self-serving citizens, that just is not possible anymore.
