Why the Steubenville rape case should be a wake-up call for young black men

Share

Explore Our Galleries

A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali. 
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC
African Peoples Before Captivity
Shackles from Slave Ship Henrietta Marie
Kidnapped: The Middle Passage
Enslaved family picking cotton
Nearly Three Centuries Of Enslavement
Image of the first black members of Congress
Reconstruction: A Brief Glimpse of Freedom
The Lynching of Laura Nelson_May_1911 200x200
One Hundred Years of Jim Crow
Civil Rights protest in Alabama
I Am Somebody! The Struggle for Justice
Black Lives Matter movement
NOW: Free At Last?
#15-Beitler photo best TF reduced size
Memorial to the Victims of Lynching
hands raised black background
The Freedom-Lovers’ Roll Call Wall
Frozen custard in Milwaukee's Bronzeville
Special Exhibits
Dr. James Cameron
Portraiture of Resistance

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Ways to Support ABHM?

By Mychal Denzel Smith, TheGrio

Ma'lik Richmond, 16, top, hugs his mother Daphne Birden, after closing arguments were made on the fourth day of the juvenile trial he and co-defendant Trent Mays, 17, on rape charges in juvenile court on Saturday, March 16, 2013 in Steubenville, Ohio. Mays and Richmond are accused of raping a 16-year-old West Virginia girl in August, 2012. Judge Thomas Lipps said he would render a decision on Sunday morning, March 17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, Pool)
Ma’lik Richmond, 16, top, hugs his mother Daphne Birden, after closing arguments were made on the fourth day of the juvenile trial he and co-defendant Trent Mays, 17, on rape charges in juvenile court on Saturday, March 16, 2013 in Steubenville, Ohio. Mays and Richmond are accused of raping a 16-year-old West Virginia girl in August, 2012. Judge Thomas Lipps said he would render a decision on Sunday morning, March 17. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, Pool)

There was video evidence of the assault that took place in Steubenville, Ohio last August, yet observers of the case from near and far were still surprised yesterday when Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond were found guilty of rape by a judge in the rape a 16-year-old girl.

The two high school football players sobbed uncontrollably as Judge Thomas Lipps told them his verdicts, and while they’ll always have their defenders, a great many people were relieved that the courts ruled the way they did. Still, that there was ever any doubt speaks to the sad of state of affairs when it comes to handling rape in this society.

The details of the assault are disturbing to anyone with a half a conscience.

[…]

It would seem a clear-cut case, as she was at no point in a position to consent to any activity, let alone sexual activity, and Mays and Richmond clearly violated her. Yet the defense attorneys still argued that because she made the decision to drink heavily and never “affirmatively” said no, she consented to sex. Also consider that high school football is king in the economically-depressed town of Steubenville and the players are generally treated as royalty. In a text message, Mays says head coach Reno Saccoccia was joking about the incident and that the coach “took care of it for us.”

What’s most disturbing about this whole case is just how ordinary it is. This wasn’t an aberration, the result of some particularly vile and demented boys deciding to rape a young girl.

Trent Mays, 17, left, and co-defendant Malik Richmond, 16, sit in court before the start of the third day of their trial on rape charges at the Jefferson County Justice Center in Steubenville, Ohio, on Friday. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trent Mays, 17, left, and co-defendant Malik Richmond, 16, sit in court before the start of the third day of their trial on rape charges at the Jefferson County Justice Center in Steubenville, Ohio, on Friday. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rape like this is far more common than we care to admit. This is what a culture of toxic masculinity, as Jaclyn Friedman described it in The American Prospect, produces. From an early age, we teach young boys that girls/women are prizes, trophies to be obtained as the result of some kind of heroism or achievement. They learn they’re owed the sexual attention of girls by virtue of their being born male.

[…]

As punishment, Mays and Richmond will go away to a juvenile detention center for at least a year. When they’re released, they may have to register as sex offenders. The lives they previously envisioned for themselves no longer exist. In a perfect world, this would send a message to other boys that rape is unacceptable, that only yes means yes, and women’s bodies are their own.

[…]

Because it’s easy to write this off as an isolated incident, the result of the actions of a few savage adolescents. But to do so is to deny that these boys are products of a culture that in myriad ways has told them this was not only acceptable but expected of them. While Mays and Richmond are locked away trying to learn their lesson, the rest of us would be prudent to do the same.

Read the Original Article Here

, unfortunately, Black women are all too often victims of sexual assault, including by law enforcement.

Read more Breaking News Here

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.

Leave a Comment