(ThyBlackMan.com) Violating a human beings is one of the worst things a person can do. In today’s climate we see a push to bring awareness to rape, sexual assault and sexual misconduct. This is long overdue, and those that commit these acts should be prosecuted. It is important for our women to know we stand with them against this behavior, and we are standing with brothers that have the courage to admit they have also been violated. Sexual assault is not a woman’s issue it’s a human issue, and we all should be fighting against it, and working to make a safe space for those that are violated. As strongly as I feel about the previous statements…I also feel we must not hang men in the court of public opinion if we don’t have facts. Destroying innocent people doesn’t help the fight against sexual abuse. We ought to take this more seriously, and we need more than just allegations to confirm wrong doing.
We must think back to the civil rights era. If a white woman screamed rape at the hands of a black man he didn’t have to touch her, and in many cases he never made it to trial. He was met by the mob that brutally murdered him. Many woman lost their husbands, and fathers lost their children because a white woman saw fit to lie. We must remember this because yes, there are women (and men) that have been violated, and they must speak up.
However, once a witch hunt begins its no longer about getting justice for victims. Anger, revenge and other ill motives causes people to allege sexual misconduct in spaces whereby it didn’t happen. Because so much is happening at the will of public opinion, a man could lose his reputation and career behind a lie. This is not okay. We need to require evidence of some sort, and this needs to play out in court least we become the mob of old.
If a person is accused of sexual misconduct falsely they have every right to take a stance, and tactfully speak out against false accusations. Sisters, its important to understand every man is not a predator, just as men that are victims must remind themselves that every woman is not a predator in a society that doesn’t allow male victims to have a voice without questioning manhood. When one is violated it leaves scars, trauma, and nightmares that for some last a lifetime. It even triggers PTSD for many survivors just hearing that another person has been violates. It is very important that we don’t apply ones experience to every person that is accused. Every victim deserves real justice not a false sense of such. Some of us, women and men, have been so scarred that even if we find out the accused did not violate anyone its hard to see them as innocent because our mind reflects on the pain of the victim.
Just as black men and women have lived with the threat of false accusations that have led to death, one would think we would be a bit more objective when dealing with allegations. We are a people have had to stand up for our innocence even when it was rejected…we know the horror of being tried by public opinion, yet we do it to each other so easily.
We all know accusations like the ones we saw in the movie Rosewood happen. Acknowledging this does not take away from standing in solidarity with victims, and survivors of sexual abuse. Those that commit the crime of sexual abuse need to be tried, and punished…but if they didn’t commit the crime they need to speak up for themselves. We need to be concerned about victims, and the falsely accused as they do exist.
Staff Writer; Larry Jackson
LJ is an old school poet, new school writer… Also the “Web Admin” for the following blogs; ThyBlackMan, ThySistas, and BlackFitness101…
