A Lot of People in Cleveland, Texas, Blame 11-Year-Old for Being Raped

[cali]

Apparently the nausea-inducing sympathy expressed by residents of Cleveland, Texas, for the large group of men accused of raping an 11-year-old girl — as reported in a controversial New York Times story — is fairly widespread in the town.

A meeting Thursday night that was billed as a way to discuss concerns some have about the investigation into a series of alleged sexual assaults on an 11-year-old girl turned into a forum that many used to blame the girl police contend is the victim of heinous attacks.

Many who attended the meeting said they supported the group of men and boys who have been charged in the case. Supporters didn't claim that the men and boys did not have sex with the young girl; instead they blamed the girl for the way she dressed or claimed she must have lied about her age.

It gets worse, though. The leader of the meeting, Quanell X, "an activist prominent in Houston's black community," questioned why an 11-year-old who had been raped by the entire town "didn't report the attack to authorities herself." Come on, little girl, don't be shy!

<snip>

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/a_lot_of_people_in_cleveland_t.html?imw=Y&f=most-viewed-24h5

[walldude]

1. Well it did fuck up their basketball team...

:eyes:

Lied about her age? Are they fucking serious? :mad:

[ejpoeta]

2. these people fucking disgust me.

[slackmaster]

3. The girl is 100% a victim in every conceivable way

:argh:

[LynneSin]

4. What a person wears makes no difference in whether or not one deserves to be raped

because there is absolutely NO reason to rape anyone. End of discussion.

18 boys and not one of them thought 'This probably isn't a good idea'?

[LiberalLoner]

5. This doesn't shock me one bit, unfortunately. It just confirms what

I've understood about life, about society, for a very very very long time. :( Sometimes I really hate this world.

[Kennah]

6. This is the Southern Aristocracy of which Mike Papantonio speaks

[hardcover]

8. Huh?

you are calling a group of black men Southern Aristocracy???

[Kennah]

15. My bad. I totally missed that part of the story.

It was my knee jerk reaction from having lived in the South.

[Common Sense Party]

12. Uh, no. It isn't. Don't be daft. n/t

[chill_wind]

7. WTF!

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. God damn, you! I'll tell you why she didn't report it.

Because there were so many involved she didn't know who she could trust! And it appears that her worries were well founded!

[angstlessk]

10. I was raped at age 11 and I can tell you ..... I had no IDEA what sex was before that.

I hung with an older girl...maybe 13? and we drank beer ( I always loved beer from age 4..used to sit behind my father's chair and sip when I could)...anyway...I passed out and was raped.... My mother blamed me...told me to 'wash that filth off your body' when I got home from the police station. Then when I went to school (Catholic) the nun talked about a little girl who, given a choice between being raped or being killed, chose being killed...I recall I wish I had been given that choice....IT RUINED MY LIFE...I cannot imagine what it is doing to this little girl, being so public!...


I FUCKING HATE THESE PEOPLE!

[LiberalEsto]

11. Sending you love & white light

:hug:

[angstlessk]

13. After all these years...I try to forget..but this burned my ass! Thanks...

you brought tears to my eyes...I am 61 now..so it was 50 years ago...still

[vercetti2021]

14. Are you shocked?

Its Texas after all. We got some of the biggest morons in the USA. And i apologize for these people saying this about the 11 year old girl that got raped. But not all of us Texans are idiots.

[buddysmellgood]

16. Always remember that people like this have the right to vote. This is what we're up against.

[Sonoman]

17. I must be the only person on DU who has been in The Quarters.

The Quarters is where this happened.

Cleveland is a sleepy little town in the Piney Woods of East Texas.

The Quarters, however, is a whole different world. I'll bet no one on this thread would have the nerve to even get out of the car.

I have felt less threatened while walking through Bed-Sty at night than in The Quarters during the day.

This is a terrible story, but it might just shine some light on one horrible place.

Sonoman

[seabeyond]

18. i hear what you were saying

the other thread. didnt have time to acknowledge it.

i didnt know this.

but, i get it.

[Sonoman]

19. Thank you.

Reality does affect perception.

Sonoman

[seabeyond]

20. absolutely

i think it would be healthier to get beyond perceptions and sit in reality a bet.

[devils chaplain]

23. When I first read this story...

I thought it sounded like one of those strange, backwards towns from a creepy movie. From what you say it sounds like the reality.

[Dash87]

21. First this makes me angry, then it makes me sad, then

I realize that this story is par for the course in a country that has such an unhealthy anger against anything female. :(

[LeftishBrit]

22. Sick.

[chill_wind]

24. A relative showed up and they didn't even stop, then

They dragged her out a back window, took her to a trailer and continued the assaults..

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/did_the_times_take_a_sympathet.html

And the woman-- blaming the child's mother

Words fail.

[niyad]

25. may each of those horrid people receive everything they deserve.