Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition have announced that they will pay the tuition of the black woman who alleges members of the Duke University lacrosse team of raped her.
He said that the woman should be able to support her two children and pay her tuition without having “to sacrifice her body to make money.”
We don’t know what type of signal Jackson is trying to send with this gesture, but it’s not a good one.
More than likely, it’s just a publicity stunt, but just for fun, let’s imagine that he’s sincere about the gesture.
Is the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition going to be there when young men sacrifice their freedom by selling drugs to make money?
Is money supposed to make all the media blitz surrounding this case go away?
She could simply be stripping because she wants to. It all goes back to the issue of choices.
If you choose to be an exotic dancer, you assume some occupational risks associated with the job, and unwanted male attention may be one of them. In this particular case, it allegedly involved rape, and in no way does that mean that it is her fault.
We do, however, think that the victim’s support should not be limited to her financial situation only.
Right now she could use a lot more than her tuition being paid. It is probably difficult to attend school with the whole city of Durham, N.C., in an uproar.
Black leadership please dig deeper; there are much bigger issues here.
Samantha Long for the editorial board.