Rachel's Tavern- Shakesville Comment on Whiteness and Racial Awareness
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- I’m Afraid President Obama, Himself, is a Bit of Coward on the Race Issue
- Highly Skilled US Immigrants are Emigrating: What’s the deal?
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Sep
11
Black Woman Attacked, Sexually Assaulted, and Held Captive in West Virginia
Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Gender and Sexism, Race and Racism by Rachel
Update: The AP, in a rather suspect move, is reporting the victim’s name, which will not be appearing on my site.? They are saying they have permission; however, to me it feels like they are taking advantage of this young woman, who? will? likely? get a bunch of hate mail and death threats from white supremacists.
I’m not sure that I can find words to adequately describe the brutality of this crime.? You can read more details below.? ? Here’s the initial report:
Authorities are investigating whether a woman who was tortured in a southern West Virginia home for more than a week may have been lured there by a man she met on the Internet.Police were still looking for two people they suspect drove the 23-year-old Charleston woman about 50 miles to the Big Creek home where she was abused, said Logan County Chief Deputy V.K. Dingess.There, according to police, she was beaten, sexually assaulted and humiliated.Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said police are investigating the possible Internet connection into what some are calling one of the most shocking crimes in the countys recent history.
In 30 years of law enforcement, Logan County Sheriff W.E. Hunter said hes never seen anything like this.
Its something that would have come out of a horror movie, he said Tuesday.
Deputies were interviewing the victim Tuesday morning and are scheduled to meet later in the day to discuss the case with Abraham, the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys office. The officials may decide then whether to file hate crimes charges.
Bill Crowley, spokesman for the FBI in Pittsburgh, confirmed that the agency is looking into possible civil rights violations.
Six Logan County residents, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, remained in custody Tuesday on $100,000 bonds each. They are charged in the weeklong kidnapping and abuse of the woman.
All six are white. The victim, who was being treated Tuesday at the Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital, is black.
Every one of these people who were arrested are no strangers to law enforcement, Hunter said.
Deputies found the woman Saturday after going to the home in Big Creek to investigate an anonymous tip from someone who had witnessed the abuse, Sgt. Sonya Porter said Tuesday.
One of the suspects, Frankie Brewster, was sitting on the front porch and told deputies she was alone, but moments later the victim limped toward the door, her arms outstretched, saying, Help me, the sheriffs department said in a news release.
Besides being sexually assaulted, the victim had been stabbed four times in the left leg and beaten, Porter said. Both of her eyes were black and blue. The womans wounds were inflicted at least a week ago, deputies said.
During her capture, the victim was forced to eat rat and dog feces and drink from the toilet, according to the criminal complaint filed in magistrate court. The woman also had been choked with a cable cord and her hair cut, it alleges.
One of those arrested, Karen Burton, is accused of cutting the womans ankle with a knife. She used the N-word in telling the woman she was victimized because she is black, according to the criminal complaint.
Deputies say the woman was also doused with hot water while being sexually assaulted.
We have all been praying and asking the Lord to take us through this, the victims mother told The Charleston Gazette on Monday. Its hard to deal with it. We are very angry. … She will be scarred for a long time.
She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, Mommy, the mother said. Whats really bad is that we dont know everything they did to her. She is crying all the time.?
Some evidence suggests that the crime was racially motivated.? We’ll have to watch the details as they come out.?
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44 Responses to “Black Woman Attacked, Sexually Assaulted, and Held Captive in West Virginia”
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“Six Logan County residents, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, remained in custody Tuesday on $100,000 bonds each. They are charged in the weeklong kidnapping and abuse of the woman.”
“Authorities are investigating whether a woman who was tortured in a southern West Virginia home for more than a week may have been lured there by a man she met on the Internet.”
America’s devaluation of black women.
From the news report, there is some evidence that this is a racially-motivated hate crime, with possible civil rights violations, rape, attempted murder, as well as federal charges of imprisonment and kidnapping:
“One of those arrested, Karen Burton, is accused of cutting the womans ankle with a knife. She used the N-word in telling the woman she was victimized because she is black, according to the criminal complaint.”
This young woman was missing for more than a week. Looking at a time frame on when she disappeared, when her relatives, or close friends/relatives reported her missing, I wonder how long it took the law authorities who were alerted by any relatives to look into investigating this young woman’s disappearance or to start searching for this young black woman?
“Deputies found the woman Saturday after going to the home in Big Creek to investigate an anonymous tip from someone who had witnessed the abuse, Sgt. Sonya Porter said Tuesday.”
If not for this witness, God only knows what more could have happened to this young woman.
She could be right now lying in some abandoned shallow grave, after having suffered unspeakable horrors.
And many people still refuse to believe that black women’s lives are still held so cheaply in this country.
Last year it was a little 15-year-old black girl who was brutally raped by two white men, one of whom stated: “She’s someone no one will miss.”
“Deputies say the woman was also doused with hot water while being sexually assaulted.”
“All six are white. The victim, who was being treated Tuesday at the Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital, is black.
Every one of these people who were arrested are no strangers to law enforcement, Hunter said.
The depravities and atrocities done to this young woman is nothing short of sick, perverted and sadistic.
“Update: The AP, in a rather suspect move, is reporting the victims name, which will not be appearing on my site. They are saying they have permission; however, to me it feels like they are taking advantage of this young woman, who will likely get a bunch of hate mail and death threats from white supremacists.”
From the news article:
“The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault and is not identifying the mother to protect the identity of her daughter.”
Maybe I missed it but, I did not see the young woman’s name in the article you linked to, Rachel. Is there some related article that previously gave out her name?
It is illegal to divulge the names of sexual assault victims, be they adults or minors.
This is possibly precedent for a lawsuit against the newswire for revealing the victim’s name, if so. If she wasn’t black would they have revealed her name to the public?
She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, Mommy, the mother said. Whats really bad is that we dont know everything they did to her. She is crying all the time.
Yes, the family does not know ALL of what their daughter suffered. Their daughter’s physical scars may heal and can possibly be covered with clothing.
She will have psychological scars from this nightmare for the rest of her life.
That this young woman possibly met this human on the internet has to also be taken into consideration.
Her life became jeopardized when she did not meet this person in a public setting, if according to the article she met him on the internet.
Per the article:
“Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said police are investigating the possible Internet connection into what some are calling one of the most shocking crimes in the countys recent history.”
“Well have to watch the details as they come out.”
I agree.
Forensics and SANE evidence will have to be thoroughly gathered to help the prosecution in this case.
Let’s hope that the police do not drop the ball on this young woman’s case.
She deserves to have justice for what was savagely done to her.
Usually, I’m pretty jaded when this kind of stuff happens; it usually doesn’t surprise me anymore.
But damn…
I couldn’t believe it when I read this story. I still CAN’T!
As a personal aside — when I was a kid my parents would always take us to visit our grandparents in Cleveland, Ohio. We were traveling from North Carolina, so that meant we had to go through West Virginia. I was always scared to death of West Virginia and southern Ohio. As a kid you can just sense when things aren’t right and when white people are looking at your black family a little TOO hard. Although this story turns my stomach, I am not surprised. I hope this story grabs everyone’s attention. Can you feel a huge shift taking place in this country. There is a lot of latent racism just ready to pop off.
Have mercy, have mercy! I knew, after the vicious media assault in response to the Duke Lacrosse incident, that this was not going to be the last we would hear of attacks on black women. I actually said to a friend of mine, “trust me, the next hate crime, someone is going to be hanging from a tree!” This isn’t exactly a lynching, but it’s damn close!
I swear, if the victim in this story gets crucified and turned into a “liar,” I’m going to go ballistic!
We don’t know the details of all this, that’s true, but I’m so not looking forward to either A) this case getting reported so that the white assailants become the “victims” or B) get completely ignored!
Thanks for sharing. *Sigh.*
White Supremacist sites are already saying that she is lying and accusing the “liberal media” of running with this in order to “persecute whites”
They are also using her name as is it is synonymous with lying.
[...] of Rachel’s Tavern (http://rachelstavern.com/?p=708#comments74195) posted this news article on the brutal kidnapping/rape/attempted murder of a young black woman. [...]
Tariq, Can you privately email me the links?
Thanks, Rachel
No-one should draw analogies between this case and the Duke hoax. It is clear that there was a heinous crime in this case, and there does not appear to be any question that this was racially motivated in whole or in part. This is real deal, scary stuff.
On the other hand, anyone who still believes that there was a crime in the Duke case, other than the alleged victim making false complaints to the police and prosecutorial misconduct, is not being honest with themselves. At the outset of the Duke allegations there were a ton of things that just didn’t fit - not the case here.
Why, why, why does every single mention of sexual violence against a woman have to turn into a referendum on the Duke Lacrosse team and their (one public) accuser? It really is sickening.
If you don’t think there was a crime there, take solace in the fact that the “law” is on your side and leave it be. It’s certainly in poor (read, misogynist) taste to introduce the topic under these circumstances.
Do you guys remember the Tawana Brawley incident? You guys may be too young to remember. But the assailants in that case were never found and many believed Brawley made up the whole thing. There is a pattern of Black female victems of White sexual violence being deemed as untrustworthy.
This goes to the notion that a Black women can’t be “raped” because her nature is to accept all sexual advances. This is a strong part of American sexual mythology.
I agree with an earlier post that America is moving in a direction of increased racial intolerance. Over this summer the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case that basically reversed Brown v. Board of Education.
Many of color, and women, don’t realize that all the legal protections gained in the 1960’s such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are not outside the possibility of being found unconstitutional by the narrow interpretation of a conservative court.
Observe the racially course nature of conservative talk radio and Fox News. This is all part of the right wing agenda to roll back all economic and racially progeressive advancement made in the United States. That has actually been the tacit goal of the American right wing since the Reagan years. Bring America bake to Pre-Roosevelt laissez-faire capitalism without government regulation or progressive civil rights legislation.
Comparing the social/public response in this case to the Duke case is not irrelevant. Regardless of what you think about the Duke case, it doesn’t mean that racially motivated mistreatment didn’t occur. It doesn’t mean that racial issues didn’t play a role in the way the media and the public responded to the situation, for better or for worse.
As a general comment on the story, I guess being abducted, violated, and tortured in this country means you better be ready to be called a liar. Awful.
I am reading this an hour after viewing a television report on slavery in America. Many are American-born, female and forced into prostitution. They did an extensive interview with one such teenaged African-American survivor. I am now wondering whether a disproportionate number of these victims are of minority background.
i have to admit, when i first saw a report of this on feministe, i tried to avoid it because i thought it would be too triggering. it was a little triggering, but mostly i’m just dumbfounded and outraged and saddened and oh my god, that poor woman.
i’m thinking violent, uncharitable thoughts about the fuckheads who did this to her, but i won’t send those thoughts out into the universe.
[...] has been writing about the kidnapping and torture of a young black woman, and it’s incredibly horrific stuff. I read about this case the other day, and have been holding off posting because it’s so [...]
As far as releasing the victim’s name, she and her family have chosen to come forward, which I think is very brave of them. I live in Charleston, WV, where she is currently hospitalized, and she and her mother just appeared on camera in the top story on our 6:00 local news. Their photo was on the front page of the Charleston Gazette yesterday morning. I’m not objecting to your decision not to print her name, just pointing out that there’s no doubt she and her family have voluntarily come forward and agreed to have their names & photos released to the public.
Having lived in West Virginia all my life, I can only say that there are many good-willed and hearted people here. However, the location of this incident and severity of this incident does not surprise me. That is no excuse, however, for what the people have done to this woman. It is terrible to think and to realize there are people like this anywhere. I have run into similiar situations with ignorant people. I can’t wait to leave…
It is so sad that this kind of thing happens period…. I guess from being a human, who is a god fearing person, to think that because of this act that someone limits good and bad people due to race. Yes, it was motivated out of pure hate for the race and my feelings people that do this should have the same done to them… But if we all beleive in the one person who has created all, we will try and pray that this act does not allow us to live with hate in our lives, because of an outer shell he gave us… Prayers go out to her and everyone who is affected.. I will pray, only God will get here through this! Justice needs to be served… if there is such thing…
Actually, the Twanda Brawley incident was fake. She believed her mother would be mad at her for coming home late, so she smeared her own feces on herself and tore her clothes and what not.
This case is something all together different. Between this and the Jena 6, I’m not quite sure what decade this is. Or century for that matter.
Fucking WV troglodytes. Jesus.
Incidentally, it’s “Tawana Brawley,” not “Twanda.” Her case was dismissed and a defamation suit was decided against her, but she never testified under oath. She still maintains that she told the truth.
And now, having hit the “Submit Comment” button and then thought about it for a bit, I should qualify.
Having spent many of my teenage years in or about that part of the US, I will say that while there are racist, violent, misogynist assholes (and enlightened people who have it together) all over the country, I have never personally experienced the degree of racial and sexual hostility that I experienced there *anywhere else*. There is a culture of violence and hatred and ignorance in some communities there — that is certainly elsewhere too, but that I saw *there* — that makes me dread going back.
I’m suspect you won’t post these comments, and that’s understandable — but some of the loathing you’re seeing isn’t just reflexive dissociation: it’s personal and grounded in experience.
As a former African American West Virginia resident, I was appauled at some of the negative comments made about West Virginia. Racisim exists in every state in this country. It is wrong and should not be tolerated. As for the alleged suspects in this case, I hope through the criminal justice system they get what they deserve.
Thank you. I am also a resident of WV, and although I am officially regarded as caucasian, my grandfather is a first generation Sicilian, born in WV. This kind of horror happens in every state and it’s a damn shame that most people are jaded concerning this type of behavior. I feel horrible for what happened to this woman, and would feel horrible no matter who it happened to. I hope the animals who kidnapped her are locked away in a cell and treated like the animals they are for the rest of their lives - they are not of the human race! I hope that time and love can indeed heal this woman and give her back her strength.
redplum: but that’s what Rachel is talking about when saying in her follow-up post - you admit that there are good and bad people in WV, but then use a broad brush to blast all WVs.
I’m sorry for whatever you experienced. But flip it: Someone experiences a horrible childhood at the hands of blacj people in Chicago. Would you want people saying, “OMG, those Illionois blacks, I’m not surprised,” or “Damn midwestern black trash”?
blacj = black, obviously.
When I first heard this story tears fell down my face and I started to remember this book I read for a african american history class. The book said something to the effect that black women are the mules of the world. No matter what the struggle has been, no matter how many black men and women attain success, no matter what we do or don’t do as a people nothing ever changes, while yes I will continue to fight, educate, and better my self and anyone else I can, when I close my eyes at night and see Harriet, Truth, Hurston, Wells,and Parks I think is the struggle worth the progress? My prayers go out to the victim and her family. When does it end!
redplum: but thats what Rachel is talking about when saying in her follow-up post - you admit that there are good and bad people in WV, but then use a broad brush to blast all WVs.
Actually, I was trying to clarify, and doing a crappy job of it because I was still so upset. “All WVs” are certainly not the problem, and I regret my initial sloppiness.
I have zero problem with anyone from WV (or elsewhere) who isn’t, as I gracelessly put it, a troglodyte. I have a problem with the very specific flavor of troglodyte that I ran into as a kid, and that I recognized in the coverage of this atrocity.
I also have a problem with the climate of racism and sexism that is, in my experience, more pronounced and pervasive in rural West Virginia, Kentucky, Northern Florida, and Georgia than in urban Massachusetts, New York, or California.
There are a lot of great people in all of the above places, and there are racist, misogynist criminals everywhere. There are also regional cultures in the US that really do vary quite widely. Just because there’s racism everywhere doesn’t mean it’s not more pervasive in some parts of the country. (And while we’re sharing credentials, I have backcountry Irish family all over the mid-South — and most of them are decent folks.)
In any case, my initial comment was ill-considered, and it’s contributed to the all-too-predictable shift of attention away from an outrage committed by white people against a black woman to the way some white people feel about some other white people, and about how some groups of white people are being denigrated in the media and by bloggers.
That totally sucks, and I apologize both for the insult and the distraction.
Where is the media coverage on this? If this was a white chick it, it would be under all over the news. The Black people who assualted the white chick would be under the jail also,NO bond. But, since this poor chick was black she just another ni##a that don’t mean crap. Right! Where so liberal, were such a great country. But, black people are still treated like second class citizens. This crap makes me sick, it makes me want to earl all over white people, and jump in there azz everytime they make a wise crack. This is a tucked up world. Am I a racist nope, but this crap just piss me off
Ali, are you kidding? It’s been all over the media. It was lead story on all the news channels, CNN, FOX, MSNBC…They had it up on their websites as well. It’s been discussed on the talk shows. I don’t know how you missed it.
The media has been all over it. Sports Illustrated (!) published the victim’s name online on 9/11, although the original link now forwards to CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/11/woman.tortured/
I think this was the main headline on CNN.com for 6 hours or so, they are on to the next thing, Bush’s speech on the war in Iraq and the democratic response, OJ’s alleged theft, Yankees, Red Sox, etc. . .
what’s pretty sad is the extensive criminal records between all those who were perps in the crime. What the hell were they doing out walking the streets in the first place? Interesting how the judicial system can turn a blind eye depending on the shade of your skin.
This type of crime makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I am a women and can very well fill this women’s pain and humiliation. Id like to give my blessings to her. No matter what people get away with in this world, they will not escape GOD’s wrath.
There are no words to relay the horror that I feel that something like this could happen today-I am outraged, horrified, and deeply saddened. I am also curious that no media coverage has been given to the victim’s life, her story-I understand that in her current condition she may not want to talk, but the decision of her and her mother to reveal their names seems to me an invitation for those who would be willing to listen to their story. What do you think the media has missed? Do you think its purely protecting privacy or not having an interest in letting the “victim’s voice” be heard?
Jelena,
That is very well said.
“the extensive criminal records between all those who were perps in the crime. What the hell were they doing out walking the streets in the first place?”
It’s the fault of them damned liberal judges.
What year is this? 2007? After reading this article, I’m a little confused. For a minute there, I thought it was 1957, or some other pre-Civil Rights Out-of-control racist time period! Between this and the Jena 6 story it’s hard to differentiate. When we begin treating EVERYONE in this breed like fellow human beings? When will black women stop being treated like living stereotypes? When we have to stop trying to explain to our children what racism is? I’m completely disgusted! In a world of technology, more information than ever and an ever-increasing world that is shrinking, you’d think we’d be well passed this kind of ignorance and animalistic behavior by now. It’s a damn sorry shame that too many of us are not!
May GOD watch over the victim and her family, give them the strength they need to prepare for the upcoming days of many challenges they may come up against. My heart is so filled with sorrow, I still can’t believe this happened the way that it did. If, we still have a little bit of justice left in this world then - these individuals who committed this aweful, unspeakable crime will pay.
Since I’ve heard this story I had been at a lost of words. I pray that God will watch over this family and pull them through this horrific ordeal. I am a black woman and I also have a beautiful little girl and hearing things like this makes you wonder. You ask God to always watch over your children but I can not even imagine this happening to my very own. This story has really touched my heart and I feel that where is our people with this case? I do respect the fact that our people got together to protest and march for the Jena 6 but where are our people with this? Where is Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and all the other strong black leaders? Why are we not out there protesting and marching at the jail where these white people are at awaiting their trial? I know this seems unrealistic in this world but racism has got to stop. Forget the whole black and white thing WE can not sit here as God’s children and PEOPLE of this world to let things like this happen. It is time for us to stand up as a whole and stop all this.
Listen this is a bunch of bull,this young woman was RAPED,BEATEN/TORTURED,STABBED,POISONED,
HUMILIATED AND DESTROYED, POINT BLANK PERIOD.This is no hoax, and another thing black women ARE NOT THE ONLY WOMEN WHO LIE ABOUT GETTING RAPED, lets take a glance at the KOBE BRYANT CASE. Stop bashing the black race A CRIME IS A CRIME PERIOD!LETS NOT DIVERT OUR ATTENTION FROM THE TRUTH!WERE THE HELL IS JUSTICE!
What happened to Megan Williams was wrong. Was it a hate crime? No,She was having an affair with one of the men involved. She was wanted in several counties for writing bad checks. Was she writing bad checks on one of those who beat her up? Maybe the black radical racist group (NAACP) should think about this before the try to march in Charleston, WV., after all Megan Williams was not an angel.
Earl, this is a hate crime, if she had been white and this happened at the hands of these white people its still hate. I mean how could anyone do this to someone they just “didnt like” this is hate! I see that you posted that what happened to her was wrong, but it seems like you immediately try to discredit Megan to make it seem like she somehow deserved the torture she recieved, im sure there are things in your past that youve done that would be considred wrong, your life and everyone else on the planet. so your telling me that for the red light you may have run, or the time you may have parked illegally, or something else you may have done that these things should happen to you??? and because you did these things we should be ok with that happening to you??? come on, think about what you are saying. put yourself, your friend, or your family in her position and then you tell me if you’d feel the same had this been u or someone you love. this should not happen to anyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation, religon etc. And i wish everyone would take off the “Race glasses” and see that she is a human being like you and I, who cares what their motivation was behind doing this, be it bad checks, race, drugs or just because they felt like it, its heinous and sick!! and just to be clear, I am a black woman, and i would be just as disgusted had she been any other race as I am right now!
“No,She was having an affair with one of the men involved. ”
This precludes the possibility that this is a hate crime how?
“Was she writing bad checks on one of those who beat her up?”
Where did you get this wild speculation from, http://www.pokeholesinrapevictimsstories.com?
“after all Megan Williams was not an angel.”
Ah, who the hell is? And I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t wish what happened to her on my worst enemy (if I had one). If everyone sat on their hands until crimes were committed against perfect people there would be no need for law enforcement, and if everyone exclusively stood up for perfect people, there would be no need for activism. I mean seriously, someone must’ve replaced your heart with a lump of coal for you to dismiss this verified atrocity with a wave of the hand over a HOT CHECK. I’m one of the few people with a squeaky clean record (no traffic tickets, no underage drinking, nil) and I think that’s a crock of bull. But, you know what, I hope you make your opinion about this known to people you know offline. I think they deserve fair warning… the women in your life should know, lest they confide in you about a sexual assault and end up getting read the Riot Act about how they f***** up.