Victims....

I came across two unrelated stories in the past few weeks that I think are vivid examples of Girard's theory of scapegoating.

An article from the Washington Post tells the story of David Ritcheson, a 17 year old Hispanic boy who ended up at a party with several other teens. At the party, they drank vodka, smoked marijuana and used cocaine and Xanax. A twelve year old girl who lived at the home where the party took place, complained that Ritcheson had attempted to kiss her. This threw David Tuck, one of the teens at the party, into a fit of rage. He was known as a white supremacist, a skinhead, and he had three racially motivated assaults on his record, at least one against a Latino. He hit Ritcheson so hard he broke his jaw and knocked him unconscious. That may have been a blessing. For at least the next hour Tuck and Keith Turner, another teenager at the party tortured Ritcheson. They burned him with cigarettes. They tried to carve a swastika on his chest, kicked him with steel toed boots, and tried to strangle him with a garden hose. The most unbelievable thing they did....which landed Tuck in prison with a life sentence and Turner with a 90 year sentence....they sodomized him with a plastic umbrella pole, kicking it into his rectum, perforating his bladder and doing all kinds of internal damage. During the attack, Tuck shouted, "White Power." Ritcheson endured 30 surgeries and spent over 3 months in the hospital.

He seemed to be dealing well with the attack, even though he declined any kind of counseling. He seemed to be getting on with his life. He returned to high school. He was recovering physically. He was involved in and testified on behalf of "Hate Crimes" legislation. Unfortunately, the story does not have a happy ending. Last Sunday, David Ritcheson jumped to his death from the upper deck of Carnival Cruise Lines' Ecstasy. He was weary of people looking at him, knowing who he was and what he had endured.

Genarlow Wilson ended up at a different kind of party. It was a New Year's Eve party in a rented hotel room in Georgia....again the party goers were teenagers. This party turned into something akin to an orgy. There were at least two girls passing out sexual favors to the boys that were there. One was a 17 year old girl who had intercourse with several of the boys, including Genarlow Wilson. The other girl was 15 and had oral sex with several of the boys, again including Genarlow. He was basically a good kid. He was on the honor roll. He was elected Homecoming King. He played football and ran track. I think he had several athletic scholarships lined up. I always tell my kids to "make good choices." Genarlow Wilson made a bad choice....and it has cost him dearly.

He is now 21 and has spent two years in prison. The 17 year old girl accused Genarlow and the other boys of rape. The jury found him innocent of that charge, however, he was convicted of aggravated child molestation for having sex with the 15 year old. At the time of his conviction, it was considered a felony. He was over the legal age of consent, the girl was not. It didn't matter that there was an age difference of only two years between them. The "crime" that Genarlow was convicted of is no longer a felony. Consensual sex between two teenagers is a misdemeanor. Unfortunately, the law is not retroactive. Many well known civil rights activists have been involved in his case. Even Jimmy Carter spoke out on behalf of Genarlow stating that it was hard to ignore the racial element involved.

In June, a judge ruled that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and that his conduct should have been punished as a misdemeanor. Georgia's top prosecutor vowed he would fight the judge's order that would have set Genarlow Wilson free. He filed an appeal....and Genarlow remains behind bars during that process. If you would like to read more about this case, check out the Wikipedia article which details the case and has links to many other news articles about this case.

According to Girard, a scapegoat is often completely innocent of everything except being a member of a marginalized sector of society. This includes women, minorities, the handicapped....people that are a bit different or those who have no one to speak out on their behalf....the homeless....the mentally ill. Sometimes, though, they are not completely innocent, yet they are not nearly as guilty as their victimizers believe them to be. Neither of the boys mentioned in this post are completely innocent. Ritcheson had gotten into some trouble and was at a school for students with disciplinary problems. That's where he befriended Gus Sons, the teenager who knew Turner and Tuck. He did not abstain from the drugs and alcohol at the party. He allegedly tried to kiss a 12 year old girl.

Wilson was also at a party where there were drugs and alcohol. He had unprotected sex with two girls, one who happened to be under age. Someone was stupid enough to film the whole thing which gave prosecutors something very concrete to go on. Neither of these "victims" were totally innocent, yet neither of them deserved the hand they were dealt. I think they were both singled out because of their race....one by racists who operated outside the law, the other by racists who used the law to "sacrifice" their victim. Hard to decide which of the two is the most disgraceful.