Duke Chronicle’s Tolerance For A Double Standard

Yesterday’s Chronicle carried a story headlined: “Giles bench vandalized, community responds”

TC’s story began - -

Residents of Giles Residence Hall said Monday that an unknown individual or group spray-painted the letters F and A before their bench's phrase, "G-Spot," late Saturday night, forming a homophobic epithet.

"The staff of the Center for [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] Life is saddened and outraged by such a public display of disrespect and negatively targeted at many members of the campus community," LGBT Director Janie Long wrote in an e-mail to the LGBT community Monday evening.

As of Monday evening, the bench was also plastered with fliers countering the vandalism, highlighting the phrase "We Don't Tolerate Hate," surrounded by point words such as "bigotry," "ignorance" and "offensive."

A staff member on East Campus reported the vandalism to the administration Monday, at which point a police report was filed, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said.

"Expressions of intolerance outrage me," he said. "If on a college campus we can't expect civility, respect and acknowledgement(sic) of differences, then where can we?" …

The rest of TC’s story’s here.

Today’s TC editorial is headed: "Giles vandalism intolerable"

I want to share some of TC’s editorial with you here, after which I’ve pasted in a comment I left on the editorial’s thread.

TC’s editorial began - - -

On Tuesday The Chronicle reported a disturbing case of vandalism on East Campus that was directed against the LGBT community. A phrase that can be considered nothing less than hate speech was reportedly scrawled on the Giles Dormitory bench late Saturday night and has now been on display for several days. . . .

Our collective indifference to this act shows something severely jaded about the Duke community. ...

The entire editorial's here.

Folks, I’m not sure what TC means by Duke’s “collective indifference.” Duke administrators have spoken out including Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta who called it a "crime"; students have been told there’s counseling available to them; DUPD says its actively investigating the incident; and, of course, TC has spoken out expressing its outrage at what it said was "nothing less than hate speech.” .

Now my comment from the thread:

I regret that, as reported in The Chronicle yesterday, some unknown person or persons painted the letters “F” and “A” before the "G-spot" Giles has painted on its dorm bench.

TC notes: "What's more, the vandalism has remained intact and undisturbed for days, aside from some fliers taped to the bench beside it."

Why is that? It would take only a little time to paint over the offending letters or repaint entirely the G-spot sign.

TC should tell readers why that hasn't been done.

I hope TC will also tell readers why it's never editorialized criticizing those who three years ago and just a short walk from Giles waved CASTRATE and GIVE THEM EQUAL MEASURE banners and in other heinous ways threatened a group of Duke students.

The actions of that hate-filled crowd deserve condemnation from every decent member of the Duke community.

It's especially important we do that given that so many in the crowd were members of the Duke community; and that other Duke community members not at the threatening hate-fest later engaged in equally reprehensible actions.

Why has TC never condemned those actions and the actions of those on campus who shouted "rapist" at innocent Duke students?

Those students had been falsely accused in what was a literally unbelievable hoax which gave rise to a witch hunt and a frame-up attempt to send three innocent Duke lacrosse player to prison for gang rape.

Why has TC never spoken out condemning the unconscionable treatment those students received from so many at Duke?

Why didn't TC speak out against those who circulated VIGILANTE posters on campus and the black hate-group members who shouted threats, including death threats, at then Duke sophomore Reade Seligmann at the Durham Courthouse on May 18, 2006?

In terms of its editorial silence on all those matters, TC has been hand-in-hand with President Brodhead, the trustees and almost all senior faculty.

What considerations have led successive TC editorial boards to avoid asking Brodhead, the trustees, and faculty members to explain their silence?

I strongly agree with this from today's editorial: "...it is always important to call a wrong a wrong, and the Duke community should recognize that this offensive act is inappropriate and intolerable on a college campus."

And I wonder, as the editorial board members agreed to publish those words, whether they gave any thought or discussion to TC's silences in response to the offensive acts, some including immediate physical endangerment, directed at Duke students on the 2006 Men's lacrosse team?

Perhaps someday the board members will tell us.

It’s a reasonable question.

John in Carolina