Something rotten in the state of Durham

First, the facts. In Durham, N.C. on March 13, the Duke men's lacrosse team hired an exotic dancer to perform at an off-campus party. The woman admitted herself to the hospital later that night, saying three students had raped her in the bathroom of the house where the party was held. She said she had broken off five artificial fingernails while scraping the arm of one of the men who was holding her down.\nBut this is the match that lit the fuse. The woman is black and the three men she is accusing are white. Today is exactly one month since the party and the situation has ignited tempers on both sides, setting off dynamite in Durham.\nForget political correctness. It is time to be as real as these charges are. Exotic dancer? She's a stripper. Men's lacrosse team? They are jocks. And Durham District Attorney Michael Nifong? He's a moron, or worse, a moron running for re-election.\nWhile Nifong is far from smart, the lacrosse players he is up against are far from innocent. \nAfter the incident and before the DNA evidence was announced, Nifong made his opinions well known to anyone who would listen. He believed that a rape had taken place, and that DNA evidence would support his convictions. Shortly thereafter, the men's head coach Mike Pressler resigned, the season was suspended and everyone outside of the lacrosse family believed these players were guilty. \nThen came Monday -- the DNA evidence came out, stating that none of the players' DNA was found in or on the accuser's body -- and Nifong ordered orange juice to go along with the egg that was all over his face. In his efforts to make a name for himself and to put aside rumors that Durham was taut with racial tensions, Nifong had managed to do just the opposite.\nFor the moment, the team has been exonerated, and a town whose makeup is 51 percent white and 40 percent black, has exploded.\nWe live in a society that knows how to do one thing when we are confused and conflicted by catastrophe. We blame someone else.\nSo go ahead, let's point fingers. Blame Pressler for failing to lasso a team that reeked of irresponsibility. Blame the lacrosse players for their skewed attitude of entitlement and a lack of accountability. Blame the media for portraying the players as privileged and perverse. Blame the woman for telling authorities that she received a beating and bruises when photos surfaced proving that she had the body marks before she entered the party. Blame Nifong for claiming DNA evidence so prematurely that he made Jason Biggs seem like the 60-minute man.\nBlame whomever you want, but here we are, with a rape case on the table surrounded by questions of privilege, gender and above all -- race. Each of the 46 white lacrosse players has shown a quality usually revered by most sports fans -- loyalty. They have wrapped themselves in a code of silence, staying close, and have not done what our society usually does in times of chaos. They have refused to point fingers.\nTheir refusal has been their defense, which has appeared as a guilty defense, and in my opinion is a guilty defense. I grew up 10 miles away from where five of the Duke lacrosse players went to high school. I know the type. Playing their sport at a school like Duke gives them entitlement, and their money gives them privilege. But there will always be some players who are simply guilty by association.\nNot everyone at that party committed a crime that night. But, something happened at 610 North Buchanan Boulevard. Something caused a mother of two to scream rape. Something happened that the players will not talk about. Something happened that hasn't shown its face. \nFor the next days, weeks and months, the town of Durham will face queries of color, character and culpability -- with only one thing for certain: Something is rotten in the state of Durham.