(ThyBlackMan.com) This week, Serena Williams caught the ire of fans around the world by giving her honest opinions on the Steubenville rape case. The case received national media attention after the two teen boys videotaped themselves engaged in a great deal of highly inappropriate activity with a 16-year old girl who’d passed out drunk.
The young men were convicted and sent to prison for what they did. But the case fueled a broad debate on whether or not the boys should have been incarcerated for their unfortunate and highly problematic choices.
There are some who argue that no one has the right to victimize another 
person, no matter what their condition. There are others who’ve stated that it makes little sense to say that the girl has no responsibility for her actions while under the influence, but to simultaneously argue that the boys should be taking full responsibility for their actions, which were also committed while under the influence.
Serena Williams jumped into the debate by giving her unsolicited opinion about the situation, appearing to argue that the girl should never have put herself into that situation in the first place.
“Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don’t know. I’m not blaming the girl, but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you
— don’t take drinks from other people,” she told Rolling Stone.
“She’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky. Obviously I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t a virgin, but she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.”
When I read Serena’s remarks, they appear to be somewhat off-the-cuff and not entirely thought out. But Serena Williams is a free spirit, the kind of woman who says what’s on her mind and does what she wants. After all, she was the woman who chose to do the Crip Walk to celebrate her Olympic gold medal last year (the dance was either cool or tacky, depending on which “set you’re claiming”).
To see Serena’s remarks in white or black terms might not make much sense. That would effectively mean that you’re playing for a political football team that decided on the guilt or innocence of the boys before fully understanding the details of the situation. I’m not a fan of politicizing a situation that has affected a group of young people who didn’t know that their actions would put them in the middle of a political firestorm.
Unless we conclude that Serena Williams is completely stupid or misguided, we must confess that there could be some element of truth to at least some piece of Serena’s admittedly sloppy remarks.
Nomalanga Mhlauli-Moses, who writes for the site HealthyBlackWoman.com, says that Serena’s comments can actually be empowering for young women, instead of convincing them that they are meant to be victims:
In fact, I submit that Serena’s question is much more empowering than calling the girl who was r@aped a “victim”. When we teach young girls and women that they are “victims” we rob them of their power. Of course the boys who r@ped the girl committed a horrific act but it does not remove the questions that need to be asked of the 16 year old girl or any other teenager who thinks that getting so drunk that she doesn’t know what is going on is a way to conduct herself.
I appreciate Nomalanga’s perspective, since it communicates that by suggesting ways that the girl can keep herself from being victimized, we are not simultaneously exonerating predators of their guilt.
When I speak to my girls, all of whom are college age, I tell them, very clearly, to make sure that they don’t go out and drink to the point of losing control of their decisions. When I advise young college students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, I tell them the same thing. Over my 20 years of teaching on a college campus, I can’t tell you how many r@pes, assaults, drunk driving accidents and other poor decisions occur as a result of excessive alcohol consumption.
In fact, every time you open the newspaper and read about some rapper getting locked up or shot at the club, it’s usually because he was drunk. When you read about someone who did something crazy or horrible to a child, it’s usually because they were drunk or high. I had a friend who was a world class track athlete who did something so horrible while he was drunk that he was given a 40-year prison sentence with no chance for parole.
It is after witnessing the manner through which alcohol has served to destroy so many men in my own family that I made the decision to avoid the stuff at all costs. I’m sure there’s a reason that people love their liquor so much, but I don’t even want to know what I am missing. The dark side of excessive alcohol consumption is just too much to bear and more dangerous than we are willing to admit.
While we must certainly remember that the boys deserve the blame for what happened at the party that night, we cannot presume that they deserve 100% of the responsibility. A large percentage of the blame must be placed on the adults in our society who don’t warn young people about all the horrible things that can happen when you are under the influence.
Because this 16-year old girl may have made the decision to make herself vulnerable, she is going to have to spend the rest of her life dealing with the fact that she is the victim of s-exual assault. This holds true whether or not one believes that the boys deserved to be sent to prison. Even if the culprits are held accountable, I do not want my daughters to go through this, so I teach them how to protect themselves.
The point here is simple: Serena Williams was partially correct that we should warn our kids to avoid putting themselves into situations that will cause them to make bad decisions or lead to unfortunate outcomes. But judging and condemning the victim of s****l assault is a highly unacceptable tradition in American culture. This girl was a victim of both the boys who took advantage of her and the adults who chose not to take responsibility for her. As a result, several young lives have been ruined.
Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.
