(Giving this its own post since people have been discussing in other threads.)
A young black woman was held for over a week by six people, raped, stabbed, and tortured, police say. What they did to her is horrific.
The six people, all white,
choked her with a cable cord and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, poured hot water over her, made her drink from a toilet and made her eat dog feces and rat droppings. She was also beaten and sexually assaulted during a span of about a week, according to the complaints.At one point, an assailant cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, according to the criminal complaints.
I have issues with this article listing the 20 year-old's name, but her mother said she wants people to know what her daughter went through, which I respect. You can also see an interview with her mother here.
Police got a tip and went to the residence, where a woman claimed no one else was home. While they talked the victim managed to walk out and beg for help.She was forced to lick up blood, eat animal feces and drink water from a toilet, the documents said, and she was also stabbed repeatedly in the leg and was told that if she tried to leave, she would be killed.
According to the New York Times, the owner of the house, who answered the door, admitted to holding the young woman, and the family has a rather violent history.
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I feel absolutely sick. (Jen, btw, the AP google links are coming up as not available).
I read about this on The Smoking Gun, and they went out of their way to clarify that this woman wants her name released, so I don't have any problem with that. It's entirely her choice. In fact, I have issue with the way we treat victims of horrible crimes as if they had something to be ashamed of. (I know not releasing their names has other, beneficial merits, like protecting them from further threat, but I still think shame is part of it, and I don't like it.)
What the hell is wrong with people? Hearing about things like this makes me want to go live in a cave with a bunch of animals and never have contact with another human being.
"A young black woman was held for over a week by six people, raped, stabbed, and tortured, police say. What they did to her is horrific."
Excuse me? I don't have trouble realizing rape, assault, and torture are all horrific.
That trailer is the gate way to hell evidently. So much evil (per the nytimes article). How can people do this to each other?
Thanks, Azila. Link should work now.
And Joe, thanks for being an ass.
I need to stop reading Feministing on my lunch break. I just lost my appetite.
That's insane. Both of them had already killed people in the past? wtf? How do you get out of jail after only 6 years after being found guilty of 1st degree murder!
What I don't get about this story is that law enforcement appears not to have decided whether or not this was a hate crime. What the fuck? How is this not a hate crime? What more would they need to have done to manifest their intent to torture this woman because of her race? Possibly even her sex? The evidence on the latter isn't entirely clear form the article, but the multiple rape descriptions indicate that her womanhood may have played a part in why they targeted her.
A story like this makes me want to get all in the faces of the bigots and idiots who oppose hate crime legislation for bullshit reasons, like that such legislation would preclude their ability to preach their bigotry. Their claims of worry enrage me when I think that this woman, whose ordeal so cries out for the justice of a hate crime charge, may not get that justice, because law enforcement has to, yanno, think real hard-like about whether or not to make such a charge.
It also enrages me that the right wing throws around "hate crime" as a phrase for their own unjustified sense of persecution. Only yesterday, that professional blowhard from the "Catholic League" made a huge deal about Kathy Griffin's acceptance speech at the technical Emmys (in which she, the lapsed Catholic, said, "Suck it, Jesus!" and talked about how Jesus had nothing to do with the award as a riff on how recipients often thank Jesus). He referred to her comments as a "hate crime." No, asshole -- that's not a hate crime, that's (obnoxious and offensive...but funny) free speech. This woman's case is a hate crime...and she may not even get the benefit of legislation establishing it as one! Rage. Rage. Rage.
How can people do this to each other?
Because they don't see her as a human being. It's a very powerful thing when you don't view your "enemy" as human and it allows you to do horrible things, like the genocide in Darfur, or during war time. As racists they probably think of her as subhuman and thus feel justified. It's sad, it really is that people still live with that mentality.
I feel absolutely sick. My mind keeps shying away from acknowledging the true terror of what that poor woman went through. I don't normally advocate violence, but people like this... *shudder*
I have heard (although not read)that the victim is mentally impaired
These people were clearly insane though. I don't think their line of thinking was "I hate black people so lets torture this girl". I imagine it was more along the lines of "I want to torture someone, lets pick a black girl."
It's a fine line, but if they're going to argue hate crime I think they are going to have to prove that race was the primary factor here, not just the fact that they were warped.
I wish I could erase this from the world... God, stuff like this makes me not want kids.
Roxie, the NY Times story says relatives told them she has a minor learning disability.
Lucretia, the WVa statute reads, in relevant part, as follows:
There is no requirement that race be the primary factor, merely that such actions were taken "because of" the victim's race -- i.e., it need only be a reason.
It would seem like too neat of an end-run to say, "Well, judge, I started out just wanting to beat the shit out of someone, and then I decided that I wanted to beat the shit out of a black person, so really my primary motivation was some ass-kicking, with the racism taking a back seat -- no hate crime here, your honor!" At least, no judge who wanted to actually uphold a hate crimes statute would want to read such a statute in such a limiting way, because all defendants would use such reasoning to evade prosecution.
It's possible that WVa has case law that clarifies the landscape, but I should hope that such a narrow reading of the hate crimes statute isn't the situation.
Don't you wish the human race would grow up already?
Aren't we old enough, yet?
That and they explicitly told her they were doing this because she was a n---. That's textbook clear.
Considering the severity of the situation and the histories of murder, I hope none of those people ever get out. Nothing in this world will make me think you rehabilitate that kind of sadism.
Thank you, Feministing, for covering this story. It seems very relevant to previous stories on Feministing about the MSM not covering, or only giving minimal attention to, cases of victimized black women. I think that by drawing attention to this story, both the MSM and Feministing are helping to reverse that unfortunate trend.
Reading an article about this earlier today all I could do was cry, then I threw up. I pray to God that the young lady is able to somehow be OK someday, but I seriously doubt she ever will.
About the 'minor learning disability' thing, I think in this case (and I could be totally wrong here) what she has probably includes some sort of minor (?) social impairment as well. Frankly, the 'minor learning disability' label could be used on me and my ADHD - it's very broad. But more likely it's mentioned here because she's somewhat naive, doesn't pick up on social cues the way that most people do . . . and therefore she'd be more vulnerable, an easier target for these people. But like I said, we don't really know at this point.
Emily,
Have your kids, teach them well, talk to your friends and neighbors and encourage them do to the same for their kids. Let it be known that violence, racism, sexism and hate won't be tolerated in your house, in your neighborhood, by your generation and by future generations. And *then* it will start being erased from the world.
Every day I wake up and think that I can't dislike the human race any more. Then something like this comes up.
And I second what UltraMagnus said. I've been reading The Lucifer Effect by Phillip Zimbardo (Of the Stanford Prison Experiment fame). It discusses pretty extensively the process that must occur for people to commit atrocities, and the main ingredients are viewing your victim as less than human and either anonymity or the belief that you won't be caught.
I am so sick and angry over this! I have never been one to believe that racism is over, but I hadn't imagined something like this happening!
I was just having a discussion with my wgs prof about racism and I am so ticked with people who think that it is over, blown out of proportion or is something that they don't need to talk about. It isn't over and it does need to be talked about, the longer people bury their heads in the sand and pretend that this is a free and just country, the worse the problem is going to get.
I am so glad that the woman did survive. I hope that one day she live a life where she doesn't have to be scared, wondering if this will happen again. I hope that the assholes who did this are thrown in prison, never to be released. Most of all, I hope that she finds some sort of peace.
And I second what UltraMagnus said. I've been reading The Lucifer Effect by Phillip Zimbardo (Of the Stanford Prison Experiment fame). It discusses pretty extensively the process that must occur for people to commit atrocities, and the main ingredients are viewing your victim as less than human and either anonymity or the belief that you won't be caught.
Moxie, that's the exact same book I read and it's a great insight into anyone who wants to even try and understand crimes like this. It's a thick and sometimes tough read but I feel better for having gotten through it.
I am sorry to admit that one of the things I looked for was to see if any women were involved. I was hoping the answer was "no," but the fact that there were just underscores how much more work we have ahead of us.
I agree, MsPitt. There's about a million things I'll never understand about this disgusting event, but when something like this happens, one thing I wonder about is how a woman can be compliant in another woman's rape.
Moxie, that's the exact same book I read and it's a great insight into anyone who wants to even try and understand crimes like this. It's a thick and sometimes tough read but I feel better for having gotten through it.
It is really tough but I think I'm learning a lot from it. I'm only within the first week of the prison experiment, I just finished Wednesday or Thursday, and it's just blowing my mind how average college students can be so brutal.
I think every progressive should read this book, so we can better understand how to fight the potential for badness that resides in every human.
MsPitt and ccchild:
It's more than just being compliant. If I may move my comment on the previous thread where this was discussed here:
(Quoting myself)
Does anyone else have any thoughts on something I found especially disturbing in the article (first comment) about the black woman who was held captive and tortured - that three of the six people arrested and charged in this despicable act are women? One of them, Frankie, seems to have been the leader, and MOTHER of two of the male rapists, and the other older torturer was also a woman, and mother to the last female rapist, a young woman?
Because man, that really freaked me out. The whole story is awful, terrifying and revolting - but what does it say about this as a sex crime, a hate crime, and a racist act, that this woman was raped and tortured by a group led by other women?
(Note - I don't mean to imply that I ever thought women were incapable of the vilest types of racism, or of violence - I just think that the situation here seems to offer a vision of one of the ways racism ties into sexism - these women are willing to rape and abuse another woman of a different race - because sexual abuse of a woman is not okay for white women, but deserved for black women? Racism bolsters sexism?)
Bravo for your comments, iscah. I am literally crying over this shit. Especially the fact that a mother could stand there and not only watch her two boys rape another woman, which is so sickening words escape me, but then to participate in the atrocity!
"What more would they need to have done to manifest their intent to torture this woman because of her race? POSSIBLY even her sex? ...the multiple rape descriptions indicate that her womanhood MAY have played a part in why they targeted her."
The self is indivisible. I don't pick times in my life to be a woman and other times to be Black. It is a both/and, intersecting, overlapping, cross-edifying existence. Because of the white race essentialism of the western feminist movement and the male essentialism of the struggles for racial justice, the experiences of Black women are consistently ignored or misunderstood. There is no question that a woman, raped by six men, multiple times, for over a week is being targeted b/c of her sex. The nature of the sex crime against her was informed by her race. Our hate crime legislation with its "sex or race" designations and language like "women and minorities" suggest to me an inability or an unwillingness to appreciate the dimensions of a hate crime against me. And so, while I respect the intentions of the person who posted the quote I referenced, I must say that it further added to my sense of invisibility.
iscah, I wondered, upon hearing that three of the torturers were women, whether or not they'd been victims of rape, incest or domestic violence in the past. Hearing that the people who lived in that trailer had a history of violence made me wonder if the women had been numbed to violence as perpetrated against others and/or numbed themselves, having been previously victimized. In the same way that some battered women abuse their children and/or pets, it's possible that they felt entitled to take out the violent rage they possessed from violence perpetrated against them and redirect it towards someone they considered lesser, more helpless than they, etc. and decided that a black woman fit the bill.
It would not excuse anything that was done, and I don't mean to at all indicate that the female torturers should be punished any less or seen as any less culpable for their heinous crimes. Their behavior "shocks the conscience" regardless of their sex, and the court should throw the book at them all.
But to the extent people seek answers about what could account for women wanting to participate in the torture of some other random woman, it occurred to me that they may have had violent events in their pasts that may have contributed to their utter lack of empathy. Same may be true for the men involved, actually, since one woman was the mother to two of the men -- they may all be part of a cycle of abuse that has finally escalated to an extent to which the CJ system can no longer turn a blind eye (as it seems to have in the past, given the violence perpetrated in that trailer and the relatively light sentences given for the crimes committed there). If any good is to come from this event, at least I hope that all of the people involved in torturing this woman can be put away and prevented from perpetrating these sorts of acts against anyone else.
Did anyone else think that
this quote from the NY Times article was irrelevant?
"The relatives would not comment on whether the victim was living at home or had a job."
I don't see how her employment and housing statuses have anything to do with what she went through.
raven, I apologize if my phrasing above was clumsy. My intention when I made that post was to think through the hate crimes law, which does have a race OR sex approach. That said, it's very much the case -- and regrettably so -- that rape is rarely seen as a hate crime, and so in thinking about the law, it seemed to make sense to initially think about it through the racial lens (as that's where there was more hate-crime evidence, i.e., the actual comments of the torturers to the effect of her being targeted b/c of her race), and then to think about what ought to be considered in tandem (but rarely is in hate crime analyses), i.e., the role her sex played in their acts towards her.
I wasn't clear that I was posting from the frame of reference of the hate crimes law, and I apologize that my doing so contributed to a sense of invisibility that was completely unintended.
I was just thinking that there ought to be ample grounds for the prosecutor to make a hate crimes charge on the basis of the evidence for race, but, because of the law's less than developed treatment of rape as a hate crime, I couldn't be as certain about the way in which their having targeted this woman because of her sex would qualify for a hate crimes charge on that basis (hence my use of "may"). I wasn't trying to make a broader comment and only was trying to parse what are admittedly inadequate hate crime laws. Not sure if that helps -- road to hell paved with good intentions on my part -- but I am sorry.
People don't just up and decide to commit this kind of atrocity. I predict that we'll find a pattern of abuse within the families involved that goes far beyond the crimes they are already known to have committed. That doesn't excuse their behavior any more than this crime would excuse an offense committed by the survivor against some other person. What it does mean is that humans have a capacity for evil but that it must be nurtured like some malign plant in order to be as fully expressed as it was in this case. It also means that all of us have a moral obligation to do what we can to intervene when we see abuse - the victimization often extends beyond the immediate offense by greasing the slippery slope for the victim to become a victimizer. Not all survivors of abuse will become abusers, but it doesn't take many in order to perpetuate the cycle.
There is no question that a woman, raped by six men, multiple times, for over a week is being targeted b/c of her sex.
See, this (entirely understandable) assumption is part and parcel of what bothered me so much about this situation (and thanks, ekf, for your thoughts) - it was NOT six men, it was three women and three men. The men were NOT the leaders here - the two older women, both mothers of other participants seem to have been the leaders (definitely Frankie was, anyway). These women didn't stand by and condone, they didn't participate after the fact. They led, they chose, they initiated. This is sexism ingrained in racism, self-hatred mixed with race hatred in such a vile combination that it's hard to conceive of. How is this wrought in society? How should our reaction (not our horror, but our proactive, fix this! reaction) change because of it?
Raven, does this change your reaction at all, given your excellent commentary on the invisibilty and bottom of the pecking order status of black women?
deweyeyed,
So true. Thank you.
:)
emily
There was an AP article released earlier today that explains why they're not going after this as a hate crime. Apparently, they can actually get stiffer penalties if they charge this as a kidnapping crime.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_re_us/woman_tortured
I eagerly await the shockingly light sentences these thugs will inevitably face.
It's about time that we see pieces of shit like these 'good ol' boys' hang by their nuts.
With all these circus court sentences that are happening when it comes to women and girls who have been raped and tortured, I wonder if the only cure is vigilante justice.
Of course when a woman kills in self-defense, she will certainly be facing harsh penalties. Gotta love the system, eh?
I don't know, Sarah. The state is neglecting to press hate crime charges (which carries 10 years) because they want to try them on a charge that carries a higher penalty. If the state was going to let them off easy, they would've been handed a hate crime. The AP article also mentioned how, after this trial is over, they may try them for hate crimes in the future.
These people aren't going to be getting off light, trust me.
The state is going to eschew hate crime charges for stiffer federal (or was it state?) kidnapping penalties, which will carry life in prison.
And for those who mentioned it, these people seem to fulfill the awful caricature of Texas Chainsaw Massacre type of white trash family (not that white people exclusively have the claim on sadism, but anyway)-- lots of abusive relationships and a lengthy criminal background, as others have mentioned.
I will not call "bullshit" on WV authorities yet. They seem MAD. As they should be. These wild animals represent the nadir of human interaction.
You don't have to look far and work hard to find sadism and brutality we should find stunning if we're a civilized country (f*ck, compare how women and children U.S. live compared to someplace as close as Mexico or El Salvaldor)...what can you do?
If you don't like sharks, stay out of the water. What about sh*t like this-- never leave your house?