Recently, I had a discussion with a few friends about the serial rapist whom the Charlottesville Police have been ardently -- at the same time untidily -- searching for since 1997. In the midst of the discussion, my fellow black college mates came to one conclusion: The description of the rapist could fit nearly 90 percent of the black males on this campus.
Flyers around Grounds and throughout Charlottesville, the "best place to live in the United States," contain a deficient sketch and a brief description of the rapist as a six-foot-tall black male between 20 and 40 years of age with an athletic build.
I am in my 20s, am over six feet tall and have an athletic build. Luckily, I was not one of the many young black men who had to cope with the Charlottesville Police last spring banging on their doors and virtually demanding -- considering the "guilty until proven innocent" berating -- DNA samples to verify they were the rapist (notice I did not say, "was not the rapist").
The victims do not deserve any criticism for the vague descriptions they provided to police. Since a majority of these cases occurred at night and because being raped is a traumatic and injuring experience, one cannot expect a victim to be capable of giving a clear and exhaustive description of the perpetrator of such a heinous and deplorable crime.
With that said, like many other black students, I still remain disgusted by the search-and-destroy investigation tactics of the Charlottesville Police that demonize other young black men. We wait for the day to be seen as equal people in the majority of the student body's eyes.
As I continued my discussion with my brothers, I mentioned the "myth of the black male rapist." Sadly, many of these intelligent, involved and peaceful black men agreed that the myth that all black men are rapists still exists.
In the book "We Real Cool," Bell Hooks wrote, "Sexual myths project the image of the black male 'pussy bandit,' the 'player,' as the erotic hero leading this life of endless pleasure. The myths can be traced back to slavery ideology and beliefs of slave-owners."
In "On Black Sexuality," Cornel West says that "white fear of black sexuality is a basic ingredient of white racism." In investigating the relationships between slave-owners and black women, West suggests that black women commonly were raped by white slave-owners, who were consumed by another myth which depicted black women as sexual goddesses who had the ability to subdue and satisfy the overly-sexual black male.
In addition, the rape of black women by slave-owners was used as a method of reminding the male black slaves who were "in charge." White slave-owners feared black male sexuality and the apparent threat it posed to their control over white women.
The first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, learned this firsthand when he was arrested in 1913 for violating the Mann Act's, which prohibited the transportation of white women across state lines for prostitution. The woman he attempted to transport happened to be his wife at the time.
Almost a century later, many white people still fear the black man as a potential rapist. To their dismay, many black students attend this university searching only for what had been restricted from many of their ancestors.
We want an education, respect from our peers of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, love from our fellow human beings, equality from others and friendship. We do not want to be seen as a threat against their well-being and safety.
Kurt Davis is a Cavalier Daily Health & Sexuality columnist. He can be reached at kurt@cavalierdaily.com.
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