Guilty?

Are the Duke Lacrosse players guilty? Absolutely. They're guilty of behaving badly. They're guilty of underage drinking. They're guilty of being white. This is apparently enough evidence for Durham DA Mike Nifong to base his entire re-eclection campaign. 3 white students, nay athletes, took part in a fairly raucous party at an off campus house, where 2 strippers were slated to perform. I hate to blow the lid off of the dark underside of college, but this sort of thing probably happened at at least 40-50 other schools during the past school year. Unfortunately, only one has garnered national press attention because Tawana Brawley wasn't available at the time. At first, it didn't look good for the Duke lacrosse team, much less the university. Yes, the lacrosse team has been involved in prior incidences of bad behavior, but nothing on this scale. As time goes by, however, more evidence points to a very bad conspiracy to re-elect the Durham county DA, take down Duke and put 3 young white men in a position where they are marked for life. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the New Black Panther Party have all been quick to presume guilt based on race. And when these 3 young men are cleared, the gruesome threesome or race baiting will, of course, claim that racial differences are at fault for the outcome, rather than the ovewhelming evidence and lack of character on the part of the accuser. It's a shame that these young men are having their lives upended for at least a year because they went to a team party. If that were a crime, our prison system would be overloaded with college students from all walks of life. Lashawn Barber has a much more eloquent take on this case.