African American
Related: About this forumDaniel Holtzclaw Case & Black Womens Fight to be Victims
Atlanta Black Star article that touches on historical treatment of black women and standard stereotypes of black women in America and why Daniel Holtzclaw is probably going to get away with it.
*trigger warning - I didn't pull details of the assaults into this snippet but some of the description at the article could be hurtful - click link with care*
https://atlantablackstar.com/2015/11/19/the-daniel-holtzclaw-case-and-black-womens-fight-to-be-victims/
The women in this case are vulnerable all 13 of them and the repeated and systematic manipulation of that vulnerability, which in turn caused these women to be exposed to grotesque sexual violence in the first place, means that these women are victims and they should be understood to be victims irrespective of mistakes theyve made in the past. Indeed, these women have been subject to violence that is synonymous with the ugliness seen in nightmares. To then face degradation and humiliation in a court room only adds to the unbearable trauma and pain that theyve already endured, and continue to deal with.
Understanding that Black women are victims also means challenging stereotypes about their strength and resilience. It means accepting that they are inherently human and fragile. It means understanding that sexual violence leaves one traumatized, paralyzed and in need of long-term therapy and care. We cannot assume that Black women are immune to the tragic consequences of sexual violence. In making this assumption we undermine their humanity and dignity.
Black women are always fighting fighting for better pay, better housing, access to education, and employment. Black women are also fighting to keep their husbands out of jail and their children out of the school-to-prison pipeline
Earlier thread on this case by La Lioness Priyanka
The Rape Trial Everyone in America Should Be Watching (Cross posted in GD)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/118731966
brer cat
(24,576 posts)This case is all about the dehumanization of Black women, from Holtzclaw to the lawyers representing him, and probably the jury. The victim blaming and lack of empathy can only suggest that these women are considered insignificant. My heart bleeds, my soul shudders.
ismnotwasm
(41,989 posts)Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)Number23
(24,544 posts)Like the author of this piece, I didn't expect any justice for the women who suffered at the hands of this piece of "human" filth.
So glad that I was wrong.
JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)I'm still shocked!
Number23
(24,544 posts)I hope his assets are liquidated to pay for the counselling of the women he raped.
JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)She was 17. If she was indeed engaged in the wrong things . . . That tells me she had a rough life as a kid. His job was to help her - not rape her. He should have received 100 years for her assault alone.
Kind of Blue
(8,709 posts)as other human beings, while Abigail Fisher demands the right to be white and mediocre, totally bypassing her character? And these are the two things Holtzclaw relied on to commit his many crimes: lack of compassion for the women and his perceived whiteness, supremacy, and therefore his character being above reproach.
"TheGuardian.coms Hannah Giorgis writes that Black women are less likely to report their assaults to the police because 'often [the police] target Black women in particular, knowing our existence at the intersection of racism and misogyny make crimes against us far less likely to be investigated.' Despite the multiple accounts against him, Holtzclaw was still able to muster support and a fundraising page, while the Black women who accused him of assault have been subjected to a victim- blaming smear campaign.
As BYP100 New Orleans member A Scribe Called Quess? puts it, '[there are] links between Americas sordid socio-historical legacy of violence towards Black people, how that history is preserved and maintained through the symbolism that represents it, and how the preservation of such vitriolic racial consciousness helps sustain the conditions of white supremacist psychology that directly and/or indirectly sanction the devaluation of Black life.'" http://www.antigravitymagazine.com/2015/06/confronting-histories-old-and-new-with-blackspring/
Lord knows the fight against supremacy will not end here, I'm seeing the signs that we will not leave this legacy of brutality and deaths, without consequence, for the next generation to solve and Holtzclaw's case is an outstanding move in the right direction.