Feminist Law Professors won't tolerate dissent

I mentioned here in my earlier blog, "Metanarratives and justice that an essay by a Professor Kathleen A. Bergin presumed a number of things about the Duke case that just weren't true was posted at Feminist Law Blog. I wrote a comment regarding some misstatements that the Professor made about the facts of the case.

There was a stern warning about my post, saying that I hadn't documented my comment. Never mind that people don't generally document statements to blogs, or that Bergin hadn't documented her blog. I wrote this back to them:

I have followed the case over the last ten months. I don't have footnotes for everything I've said, but if anyone wants to challenge anything in particular I will be glad to look it up and give a link. There are any number places on the web that contain links to documents in the case including the TalkLeft discussion board. In addition, many of the stories published in the News & Observer have reported much of the above. Taking the time to go through their stories would be enlightening.

I will also note that the original post does not contain any sources documenting presumptions about the lacrosse players that the Professor makes.

I do not know any of the people on the Duke lacrosse team and for all I know they may be the most despicable people in the world when no one is looking. But the initial reports of the brutal, racist gang rape were based largely on the accuser's version of events as amplified by the DA, Mike Nifong. There are very serious questions (to say the least!) about the accuser's story, and it is clear that Nifong, who violated North Carolina ethics guidelines in publicly asserting the guilt of the defendants in public, helped to propel the story into national attention with the fifty-plus interviews he gave to the media. The fact that he indicted the three when he not only knew that there was no DNA from any of the lacrosse players recovered from the accuser but DNA (from sperm fragments) from four to five other men, and then hid that evidence, shows how criminally Nifong behaved.

Bergin says: "These facts are undisputed and highlight the sick and wretched depravity of this racialized episode. The parallels between present and past are simply too numerous to ignore in the perverted claim these pampered and privileged White elites laid to the body of a Black female sex-worker."

But the facts are disputed. There is no evidence of any "sick and wretched depravity" by the players at that party. The episode was "racialized," but not by the players but the uninformed commentators. Whatever was "laid to the body of a Black female sex-worker" that night, it wasn't done by any of the lacrosse players but the unidentified males whose DNA was recovered from the accuser.

The reason that there are so many parallels between how this case is perceived by Professor Bergin and stories of the Antebellum South may just be because all the troublesome facts that interfere with her comparison have been left out. How does Kim Roberts' racist and sexist taunt against the players fit into the metanarrative? I actually see Mike Nifong's racist manipulation of the African American voters in Durham as a remarkable parallel to how segregationists used racial hate and fear to manipulate white voters. Unfortunately, Nifong was supposed to be one of the good guys.

The struggle against sexism and racism is hard enough, but using this particular case is not going to advance any goal. Better to pick out another example for a metanarrative.

So what have the good folks over at Feminist Law Blog done?

Well, either they never printed the above or very soon thereafter took it down. This is what was written by Ann Bartow:

[…] Based on the comments elicited by this post and some conversations with other bloggers, it appears that an orchestrated “opinion shaping” astroturfing campaign is underway on behalf of the defendants in the “Duke Lacrosse Players” sexual assault case. The norms and mores of the Internet give blog commenters the practical ability to do this, but there is nothing that requires this blog to participate. In consequence, with apologies to Kathleen Bergin, no futher anonymous comments will be allowed with respect to this post. I realize that means that people who simply want to offer an opinion will be shut out, and for that I apologize, but I do not have the time or ability to effectively sort astroturf from legitimate “pro-defendant” commentary. The defendants’ defense lawyers are doing a very zealous and thorough job on behalf of the accused lacrosse players, and that is exactly what they are supposed to do. I need to make it very clear that I have no evidence that they are behind the blog astroturfing campaign that seems to be going on. –Ann Bartow […]

Well, no one is behind me posting. If there are others, they didn't get posted. Apparently, I'm not a legitimate "pro-defendant" commentator. I haven't been told where I am supposed to get my papers.

The sad part is that beyond all the rhetoric this is a case where three men were accused of rape. There is no evidence that any rape took place, but plenty of evidence that the alleged victim lied and that the DA acted in a criminal fashion to use this case to prosecute these men to get himself reelected. And people who should know better have to censor their blogs in order to persist in their beliefs.

That should tell you the strength of their arguments.

Comments

[MarkRougemont]

Nice post, you are as legit in the defense of the Duke Lacrosse players as anyone I have seen. The last part of your post nails it: "The struggle against sexism and racism is hard enough, but using this particular case is not going to advance any goal. Better to pick out another example for a metanarrative."
I have seen this case used as an example of racism and sexism and it allways seems to backfire. The cause may be a good one but this case is a poor example to use for their cause. The early rush to judgement and presumption of guilt, the priveledged white-male athelete stigma, and the sex-workers are liars stigma would be much better used in a discussion of metanarratives in relation to this case.
As far as the quote: "orchestrated “opinion shaping” astroturfing campaign is underway on behalf of the defendants in the “Duke Lacrosse Players” sexual assault case.", I think it is not fair to dismiss this as an actual possibility, although my personal opinion is that it is not so much "orchestrated" by the Duke 3 supporters as much as "encouraged". The fact that you didn't witness it (nor I for that matter) doesn't mean that it didn't happen.

[andy]

The only astro-turfing is being done by Bartow. She is the one shutting off discussion of Bergin's essay.
A group metanarrative is also opinion shaping, no?

[Jabba the Tutt]

The Left has sunk to a low common denominator: It's a conspiracy.

They can't lose the argument, the dark forces of the right wing use their power to defeat the good and progressive. Isn't this what Anne Bartow is saying by accusing the Duke Lax player lawyers of orchestrating an "astroturfing" campaign. The rich, white, privileged powerful are just manipulating the system to defeat the poor, black, female victim.

This is so old. This is so pathetic. This is an example of a religion, not reality. The demons are about! The dark forces are destroying our world. Morality tells us that rich and white and male is GUILT. Ignore your lying eyes and believe. BELIEVE!

The Left has become everything they hated about 1920's America. The Left today is the KKK of 1924. How is what they've done today, different from how the white mobs treated the Scottsboro Boys? Will the Duke Lax case make it into the history books of the future?

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