<p>Here is the link I read to find out about the woman prior to posting. I read it on Drudge. It does not identify her race.</p>
<p><a href=“Spectator Removed From Nifong Ethics Proceedings”>Spectator Removed From Nifong Ethics Proceedings;
<p>The notion that y’all were just as surprised as you could be to discover that Ms. Peterson happens to be black - and that the reference to what could be expected from “the community” was utterly without any racial implications at all - seems to me to be, at best, disingenuous. </p>
<p>People who are white, who are affluent, and who send their kids to fancy colleges - and I’m sure that there are many such folks even in Durham - don’t tend to be lumped together, when talking about them, into some sort of faceless (and here seemingly mindless) “community.” And white people, unlike black people, don’t have to deal with the indignity of having people presume that every loudmouth who shows up in the newspaper somehow “represents” their views.</p>
<p>I don’t find the comments or beliefs disingenuous. Personally, I find it uncomfortable when people choose to play the race card. Just my opinion, FWIW.</p>
<p>“People who are white, who are affluent, and who send their kids to fancy colleges - and I’m sure that there are many such folks even in Durham - don’t tend to be lumped together…”</p>
<p>Huh?? Where have you been for the past year? Have you read any of the media articles about Duke? If anything, I think in this case, the students at Duke were much more “lumped together” than the individual community members.
The media made many references to the fact that all kids who go to Duke are mostly white, affluent spoiled drunken brats! :mad:</p>
<p>PS. They are not.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You mean to say that they aren’t? (Just kidding.)</p>
<p>People tend to get upset, understandably, when they feel as though they and other members of their own group aren’t being treated as individuals. But those same folks, it seems, can sometimes be utterly oblivious when such references are made about others.</p>
<p>The word “community” is now code for “black?”</p>
<p>"You mean to say that they aren’t? "</p>
<p>I guess you missed the PS ! ;)</p>
<p>@ epistrophy: I’m no fan of Nifong and I’ve never seen much cause to applaud the lacrosse team’s conduct or regard them as heroes – just undeserving victims of the system like many others – but maybe I’m a racist because, in my mind’s eye, as I went to open the link provided here, I was thinking that this woman was a preppy Junior League mom, so – yeah – I was surprised to see that she was black. And if you didn’t see the picture of her, then I don’t see why you would assume that she was black. She was described as a Nifong campaign manager, so frankly I was thinking someone who could tap into deep pockets within the community for support and reach out to people who demand hard-nosed law-and-order. To me, that generated the image of a white woman. (In the moments before I clicked on the link, I also went so far as to imagine she’s probably a marathon runner who drives a Suburban.)</p>
<p>Everyone makes generalizations and assumptions. You can’t look at every person and situation that you encounter as a tabula rasa. You extrapolate and use mental shortcuts so you can process the flood of data that’s thrown at you every day. The trick is to be open to deviations from your expectations and to be willing to adjust your preconceived notions. We’re all racists if merely relying on our stereotypes and initial impressions is all that it takes. I submit to you that racism really occurs when people refuse to make adjustments to their thinking as more and more data becomes available to them. </p>
<p>In this case, for whatever reason, I pictured a white woman. So I know that that’s possible for others to do so. Then I opened the link, saw it was a black woman and leaped to a number of other assumptions. </p>
<p>You did the same sort of thing when you saw razorsharp’s post, assuming that he knew (or had surmised) that Peterson was black. You were wrong. That’s okay. That happens. Now make the adjustment that’s necessary instead of persisting in your incorrect assessment.</p>
<p>epsistophy-
Are you Al Sharpton?? ;)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, I’m not at all sure that in this instance I am “wrong” or “incorrect.” But if I am, it won’t be (as I’ve demonstrated in this very thread) the first time.</p>
<p>Well, that answers my question. If you admitted that you could possibly mistaken, then you definitely aren’t Al Sharpton 
(please, no racist accusation-- I am kidding around!)</p>
<p>
I would ask that you please not lump my white (though “poor”) kid in with those <em>AFFLUENT</em> white ones! But for considerable finaid, he would <em>not</em> be at one of those “fancy” colleges! 
My son’s best friend and roommate at Duke is half black/half hispanic and also on finaid. OOPS! You missed the mark of BOTH of those epistrophy! In addition, S’s roommate stood by the LAX players and his school—he wasn’t part of the…ummmmmm…“community” to which YOU–and ONLY you–referred. </p>
<p>Frankly, your remark was racist and unwarranted, and, well, you just blew it this time. Disingenuous? Pure projection.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>
I don’t think Epistrophy was the slightest bit off target to deduce that “the community” being referred to was not the “community” of “preppy Junior League” (i.e. white) Durhamites. There’s been much made of the racial overtones in this case, with a lot of sniffing about the racial bias of black people against the defendants in this case. It is disingenuous to assert that the reference to “the community” in Razorsharp’s post was not a reference to “the black community.”</p>
<p>And am I the only one who sees that Berurah’s heated response to Epistrophy’s post is, in fact, proving Epistrophy’s point?</p>
<p>
Most likely, yes.</p>
<p>kluge~</p>
<p>I am, as always, truly honored that there is something <em>so</em> special about me that I can get under your skin like no other poster! Unfortunately, the sentiment is not returned. Your continual singling me out is getting tiresome for me, and reflects “issues” on YOUR part, not mine. Just wanted to get that straight! </p>
<p>~berurah
P.S. You must have a regard for Al Sharpton that I do not share to feel that my response to epistrophy was more “heated” than jym’s. ;)</p>
<p>This is an excerpt from the blog of someone about Ms. Peterson:
Quite an interesting character. She is referred to as a community activist. To be honest, when I heard the term, I just thought of the Raleigh-Durham community in general, not any sociocultural or ethnic group. But thats just me.</p>
<p>“And am I the only one who sees that Berurah’s heated response to Epistrophy’s post is, in fact, proving Epistrophy’s point?”</p>
<p>I didn’t see that in Berurah’s post at all. What I saw was just the opposite. I think she was making a valid assertion that there is no way that anyone can define any “community” by regarding the attributes of a single member or even a small group within that “community”.</p>
<p>The irony of this whole saga is that many posters have indeed defined the entire “community” of Duke students as rich white potentially racist drunks. This opinion based on misrepresentations of the behavior of a few students on an athletic team who were wrongfully accused of a horrendous crime because of such biases! :rolleyes:</p>
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</p>
<p>That’s is total Baloney! If you are a Christian conservative you are lumped in by the media with loonies like Pat Robertson and the other loudmouth evangelists, if you are a conservationist liberal you are lumped in with Al Gore and the other loudmouth greenies. That is the nature of people whether you are black, white, green, or whatever.</p>
<p>I was in Annapolis, MD last week and was actually accosted verbally by someone for “giving us Bush” because I am from Texas. That was really fun, let me tell you…</p>
<p>
Actually, its Yale’s fault.</p>
<p>
Touche!!! And yes, how very ironic it is…</p>
<p>
And that’s what ANY logical, analytical, unbiased person who is <em>NOT</em> harboring a vendetta against me from another thread would see! </p>
<p>Thanks, 1sm.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>