Quick Hit: On Feminism, Liberals, Black Folks and Antione Dodson

I came across this post on Tumblr, which highlights a real-life example of intersectionality of oppressions for poor woman of colour survivors. Apparently there’s been a meme going around making fun of Antione Dodson, the brother of a  survivor of attempted raped who voice his (very justified) fury about his sister’s attack.

According to Dodson a rapist was targeting Lincoln Park because no one was doing anything about it. He said several young women and girls had been raped, and had either received no assistance or not asked for help because they knew the police were not going to do anything.

In late July, a rapist broke into their small home through a window and attempted to rape his sister. Dodson managed to scare the assailant and force him out of the apartment. He then called several of his friends in the area to look for the person because, like everyone else, he did not believe the police were going to do anything about an assault in low income housing. Later Dodson called both the Housing Authority Office that runs Lincoln Park and the Police. Hours went by before the police arrived and according to Dodson and others no major search was mounted by them. Also according to Dodson and others, the Housing Authority issued a statement but has made no improvements to security or safety in Lincoln Park to help protect them from being targeted. In fact, an attempted rape following a similar m.o. (rapist came through bedroom window, advanced on girl inside) occurred the following evening.

This story of systematic rape of young black women and girls left to fend for themselves because they are poor and the failure of the police or tax-payed for housing programs to protect them has been totally eclipsed by the spectacle made of Dodson. Dodson’s interview outlining the attempted rape of his sister and the sexual violence and rape other women and girls endured was put on youtube, not to highlight the problem but rather to highlight how “ghetto” Dodson was. While youtubers across the racial spectrum showed up to laugh, police failed to capture a rapist.

In fact, many people have counted the Dodson’s as lucky. The attention allowed Dodson to become an internet star and make enough money on interviews to get his family out of the projects. His sister will not be targeted by the Lincoln Park rapist again. But what about everybody else’s sister? And does moving out of low income housing on an unstable economic source negated the fear and trauma related to Dodson’s sister’s attempted rape for her and her mother, who witnessed the attack? To me it seems kind of like the politicians who say “in a way Katrina was a good thing” because of all the services and new construction people received. The idea is predicated on the assumption that black people’s, especially poor black people’s, are so worthless that if several of them are tortured, murdered, sexually assaulted, or traumatized, so that 1 or 2 of them can live better lives that is acceptable because those 1 or 2 were never meant to live better lives anyway.

Read the entire post.

I like this because I think that it does bring forward how society (even though it may not be conscious) just hold lesser value of black bodies. And they get away with not valuing them because many do not have the power, connections, or money to fight/speak out. Our voices are rarely heard. We rarely get the chance to raise our voices.

Does the Office of Civil Rights really live up to its name?

Sometimes I feel like a broken record here,  but unfortunately this had been my biggest barrier to getting any semblance of restitution: lack of money.   Seriously. You are more or less supremely out of luck if you have been raped and want some justice. Legal assistance is expensive and minorities are often swamped with cases. What I’ve experienced is a ridiculously long waiting game in trying to see if any progress will be made.

I’ve been fortunate enough to talk to people who are practically experts on Title IX & Jean Cleary Act. There is no question in their minds that Tufts has done a pile of wrong not only to me but numerous survivors. The problem is getting the people who actually have the power to enforce these laws on board.

I am not in the financial condition to pay for a lawyer to directly sue Tufts. What does that lead to? Jumping through countless more hoops to show that the university is in the wrong, starting with the Department of Education/Office of Civil Rights. Sadly I was quickly shown that the office does not quite live up to its name. Before they even will look into whether the school has been done wrong, your complaint has to fit this criteria:

Timeliness

A complaint must be filed within 180 calendar days of the date of the alleged discrimination, unless the time for filing is extended by OCR for good cause.

What’s a “good cause” ??? I have no idea… I would think just knowing there is a potential violation at hand… a systemic apathy towards and lack of support of sexual violence survivor like there is at TUFTS would be enough. However, that wasn’t what they expressed to me.
Taking into account many survivors don’t report right away, that getting your rights violated after being raped is retraumatizing, and many may not even know about Title IX and it’s relevancy to sexual assault, this could eliminate many people who truly have been wronged from getting their voice heard.

From the moment I sent in my initial complaint, there was a clear sentiment that the Office was trying to find any reason possible to not investigate my case. Luckily, I was able to get help from Diane Rosenfeld and her wonderful students at Harvard Law School and Daniel Carter & the staff at Security On Campus. They knew my rights and they knew how hostile the system can be.

I think there isn’t enough information out there on how to handle the system and I think that not being informed is a large contributor to the fact that too many colleges are getting away with violating the rights of survivors and letting rapists go unpunished. For reasons related to the conditions under which I endured abuse, I had to go through all of this with little to no support. It’s scary. There are a lot of unknowns. So I hope that sharing my story can help someone out there. I hope.

Next time I’ll share my first experience with the Office of Civil Rights after filing my complaint almost a year ago. Til then, check out the resources for reading that OCR has about discrimination and their complaint process: Know Your Rights.

Raped at Tufts: One Year Later.

I notice that my domain registrar keeps giving me reminders that I need to reregister for another year to be able to blog under this name for another year. It prompted me to think about what has happened to me since Tufts “deliberate indifference” to my rape. I must say that not much has changed.

I think this is the problem when a bunch of people so removed from student life-so removed from MY life-decide whether I am worthy or not. At the end of the day their lives move forward and continue while mine had remained at a standstill.

What can be the rests of a horrible sexual assault policy and inadequately trained administrators? Let my life serve as an example. I feel the effects of others’ decisions-an individual’s decision to rape me and a group of Tufts employees decisions  to not care- every single day. Every where I am suffering, every way I am oppressed is because of these people. Note the following example,  which all seem to be related:

Academic opportunities- I can’t afford to go to school. No one will give me the money to go to school since I don’t go to Tufts anymore

Financial situation- since I had spent my entire life in school, I can’t compete widgets unemployed, more experienced, more educated applicants to jobs. A year of applying to so many jobs- in a wide range of fields from retail to nonprofit proves fruitless. And surprise! Lack of a job= no loan to go to school or pay out of pocket.

Mental and physical health- no health insurance because I 1) don’t have a job, 2) am not in school, and 3) can’t afford to buy a plan. So this leaves a traumatized rape victim with severely limited access to mental health services. Did I mention the additional trauma I experienced thanks to Tufts ignoring my rape report?

What do we have at the end of the day? The feelings of a survivor who was abandoned & retraumatized. I can’t escape the thoughts and feelings related to my rape thanks to the lack of a comprehensive sexual assault policy at Tufts University. There are serious, LIFE CHANGING consequences as a result of an indifferent, just defensive administration.

All I can say is thanks for the FIRST HAND lesson on the intersectionality of oppressions that can happen when you’re a poor woman of colour who was raped. It’s a lesson I rather would have learned another way.