Time to Stand Up!

Alright, enough!!  I've had it with Dominique Strauss Khan and the way the media has treated him and the rape victim in the Sofitel Hotel case.  I'm sick of how she's been vilified and treated as a salacious liar who had consensual sex with his old pasty ass.  As if any woman would want to see DSK's, d-i-c-k.  When are black organizations and national women's groups going to stand up loudly and demand that the justice system be given a chance to operate.  Let's look at the character assasinations on her and how he's been treated as a hapless victim of some third world woman's plot to get some coin. 


First, the prosecutor hints and suggests that they'll probably drop the case against one of the world's most powerful men in a sexual assault case.  Since when does the DA's office start talking to the media about their cases?  Then, they say they have a taped phone call she made to her "weed selling boyfriend" the day after the incident and that she told him they could get paid.  Now this woman spoke in Fulani, with a regional dialect no less, so this call was translated by whom? And who the hell taped her conversation anyway?  And why hasn't the DA turned this tape over to the defense attorney. Then there's the shocking revelation that she lied on her income taxes and on her assylum papers to get out of a war torn nation. Oh Egads!!  Let's get this straight, you can lie on your taxes and still be sodomized.  But then the NY Post gets real grimy and had the temerity to print that she was a prostitute knowing that she has no record of being a sex worker, but still felt the need smear her name and protect the rich Frenchman who would likely become the first Jewish president of France.


I'm so sick of it all.  Her lawyer was on Tom Joyner this morning and gave in gross, painful, detail her consistent account of what happened to her in that hotel room and it was so disturbing.  We need to mobilize and prevent this sick bastard from getting off. Her attorney made a great point when he reminded us that Abner Louima lied when he spoke to prosecutors about what the abusive cops said to him, remember "It's Guiliani time", but the DA didn't drop the case and those cops were convicted and sentenced to significant time.  The same needs to happen here.  In fact, a special prosecutor taking over altogether is the better thing.  Everyone conveniently forgets the news that his people were in her home town in Guinea pressuring her family to drop the charges. (Isn't this witness tampering?)  Then there's the attitude in France that he is being done wrong by our Draconian justice system.  How could he be in handcuffs and put on display, they ask.  Why the hell not?  I have to say I love One Hundred Blacks in Law Enforcement for taking a stand in this case and the few women's groups who are standing up and demanding the DA's office not to let this go.  But I'm like, where's the NAACP, NOW, 100 Black Women, The Urban League, hell, The Black Panthers?  And why haven't I read a whole lot about it on the black blogosphere?  Like where the fuck are we at? Have we become so desensitized that we're not outraged or moved enough to act on this sister's behalf?  But then I think about our sick history and the history of white men sexually violating black women.  Painful history we're not comfortable talking about, none of us.  We look at the sea of black skin tones and all know how it got this way.  We don't want to discuss the British soldiers who are raping Kenyan tribeswomen who go into the bush to gather water and get gang raped by British soldiers only to be kicked out by their tribe for bringing shame and the innocent victims (biracial babies) home. We don't want to talk about our country's old "miscegenation" laws that basically outlawed black men from having sex with white women, because white men were already doing whatever they wanted with, and to, black women and girls. (Yes, Sally Hemming was 14 when she was with her brother-in-law, Thomas Jefferson) 


But the imperial attitude of this low degenirate and his countrymen towards this hardworking single mother who emigrated from her home nation, that France had it's greasy hands on, just never ends.  The attitude of the French towards West Africans is disgusting.  After centuries of colonialism in Africa, they treat their pets better than African immigrants who bake their baguettes, nurse their babies and clean their streets.  No opportunities, equalite, fraternite and moreover, no entry.  But then to add insult to injury I see a news report last nite on MSNBC that an American-owned deli in Paris, "Rotz's" has named a large hot dog the "DSK", distributing flyers of a beautiful African woman holding it with a sly grin on her face.  The disrespect towards this sister and the attitude towards rape in general is staggering.  But I believe this behavior reveals an uncomfortable, uneasy and furtive attitude of European/white men towards black women around sexuality. 


But where are we at? KISS FM, a local NYC radio station's "Open Line" talk show preempted their scheduled show 2 weeks ago,  where they would've addressed the specifics in this case but rather did a show on the question:  Are black women to blame for some of the crime in the streets because of the poor choices in who they choose to father their children? As if they make babies alone.  Hmmmm.  I didn't attend the Essence Music Festival, but was their any public conversation or mobilization around this case?  Or were sister's taking wise advice from Evelyn Lozada. Our media that should be asking critical questions and bringing our issues to the fore aren't doing their due diligence on this case either. 


I feel so angry about this I don't know where to start, but I'm ready to lend my support to any organization that is strongly addressing this situation and is willing to stand up for this woman and all women, regardless of race or station.