Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, March 29, 2011
Media The New York Times Tries Again on That Texas Rape Story
Posted by Eli Sanders on Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 6:01 AM
The New York Times' first account of the gang rape of a young girl in Texas was widely criticized, and rightly so. As the paper's own public editor put it:
The outrage is understandable. The story dealt with a hideous crime but addressed concerns about the ruined lives of the perpetrators without acknowledging the obvious: concern for the victim.
Today the Times tries again, this time with a female reporter sharing the byline.
What emerges from this second take is a much fuller picture of the assaults—which, unfortunately, only get worse as more details are added—as well as a look into the shattered life of the 11-year-old victim and the culture of a terrifying small town where, as one woman told the paper, “the devil is in full control.”
Good on the Times for hearing the criticism, going back, trying again, and doing better.
They should stay on this story, which remains full of threads that need even deeper examination, from the role that lack of available health care played in what happened (people have asked where the victim's parents were, and it turns out the answer may have been in part: incredibly ill) to the alarmingly large number of men who have been charged in connection with the gang rapes ("nineteen boys and men, ages 14 to 27," says the Times).
"The arrests have raised fundamental questions about how a girl might have been repeatedly abused by many men and boys in a tightly knit community without any adult intervening, or even seeming to register that something was amiss," the paper says.
Those are fundamental questions worth answering, in print.
1
That's much better than the last article. Good to see the NYT trying to get it right. I think they do a quite respectable job of getting into her personal story. I would love for them to follow up on that shit town as to its blame the victim, rape apology culture. A little girl was raped and she had to leave because her life was in danger. I think the law should certainly carry the day, but if anyone's life should be in danger in a community after the rape of a child, it should be the rapists. There is something deeply, disgustingly wrong in that community and I think it should get full national press.
3
"The arrests have raised fundamental questions about how a girl might have been repeatedly abused by many men and boys in a tightly knit community without any adult intervening, or even seeming to register that something was amiss," the paper says.
Those are fundamental questions worth answering, in print.
Indeed except it seems obvious to me, from reading the article that this was a huge group of young disturbed men- most with public histories of violence. A small poverty struck town in middle america isn't full of educated concerned citizens. It's full of illiterate criminals, immigrants, and scared good christian neighbors that best keep to themselves. In the article the only person who they referred to who saw a photo of her and reported it was an elementary student for christ sake. The only reason that kid said anything was because kids cant lie and they have a conscious- unlike the plagued "keep to yourself" minds. It seems like everyone who knew about this while it was going on either wanted a piece of the action or was too afraid these boys would hurt them or their families. Sickening.
Those are fundamental questions worth answering, in print.
Indeed except it seems obvious to me, from reading the article that this was a huge group of young disturbed men- most with public histories of violence. A small poverty struck town in middle america isn't full of educated concerned citizens. It's full of illiterate criminals, immigrants, and scared good christian neighbors that best keep to themselves. In the article the only person who they referred to who saw a photo of her and reported it was an elementary student for christ sake. The only reason that kid said anything was because kids cant lie and they have a conscious- unlike the plagued "keep to yourself" minds. It seems like everyone who knew about this while it was going on either wanted a piece of the action or was too afraid these boys would hurt them or their families. Sickening.
4
Today's story is horrifying and really great reporting. Rich details on the family's existing disability, despair and poverty, and of the perpetrators, holy shit, the Ellis family alone...
When a paper shifts from C game to A it can be really rewarding. I love when you guys do it too.
When a paper shifts from C game to A it can be really rewarding. I love when you guys do it too.
8
@2: I think you're generally right. Where should we draw the line, though? Beginning or end of puberty (process of physical changes by which a child's body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction, which for girls typically begins at 10 or 11 and ends around 16)? Age of majority (threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law, which is between 14 and 21, depending on location and situation)? Drinking age? Moved-out-of-parents'-home and self-supporting?
Should we draw a hard line between child and adult? I suspect she was neither child nor adult, but adolescent.
Should we draw a hard line between child and adult? I suspect she was neither child nor adult, but adolescent.
9
The article states:
Since she'd reached puberty, she was not technically a child. Still, "young adult" suggests someone more mature than an 11-year-old just a year or so into puberty who is believed by her father to still think like a child.
Juan said his daughter had been a bright and easygoing girl, adept at schoolwork. As she reached puberty, he said, she had grown tall for her age and had begun to talk about wanting to be a fashion model. Yet she was still a child; her bed was piled high with stuffed animals. “Her mind is a child’s mind,” he said. “That’s what makes me so angry.”
Since she'd reached puberty, she was not technically a child. Still, "young adult" suggests someone more mature than an 11-year-old just a year or so into puberty who is believed by her father to still think like a child.
10
Oh god. 11 is a fucking child, period and tits or not. Not a technicality, nor worthy of one more second of debate in this context.
11
I have an 11 year old, and am horrified by the crimes of course. But I think calling the girl an adolescent is valid and realizing that she's not a baby is important. Eleven year olds think they are teenagers, and take pride in acting adult. Mine is very curious about sex. If she thought she could get away with sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet friends, she would totally do so.
Schools should have structures in place (to back up the parents), to see when adolescents drop out of their activities, start falling asleep in class, stop getting good grades, and otherwise indicate that something is massively wrong. As people have suggested, what if the men hadn't recorded their crimes? Would no one have ever noticed the destruction of her life?
Schools should have structures in place (to back up the parents), to see when adolescents drop out of their activities, start falling asleep in class, stop getting good grades, and otherwise indicate that something is massively wrong. As people have suggested, what if the men hadn't recorded their crimes? Would no one have ever noticed the destruction of her life?
12
@4
Yeah, that family gave me the heeby-jeebies. A sick family in a sick town in a sick state in a sick country.
Yeah, that family gave me the heeby-jeebies. A sick family in a sick town in a sick state in a sick country.
13
Yes, no it reads as a 'negroes run wild' piece. More racism from the white, msm media again pointing out only gang rapes by large groups of black males. What about those nice, white lacrosse players and rapists at Duke?
Some folks are even trying to blame rap culture as if some artist rapping about pimping caused this! It's art people!
Some folks are even trying to blame rap culture as if some artist rapping about pimping caused this! It's art people!
14
Did I say baby? No. I said in this context debating whether this girl was a kid or adolescent is totally irrelevant, off track and weird. She's eleven. I don't care how adult she thought she was - it's simply not relevant and smacks of looking for some way to shift an iota of responsibility onto her and off of the fine gentlemen who engaged in this crime of moral turpitude.
What a fucked up town. What a fucked up situation. And for all we know, her parents were good people with a heavy, heavy burden who couldn't keep track of her. Absolutely heartbreaking. And agreed, schools should have those structures in place, but in that town it looks like they need to start with a larger jail.
What a fucked up town. What a fucked up situation. And for all we know, her parents were good people with a heavy, heavy burden who couldn't keep track of her. Absolutely heartbreaking. And agreed, schools should have those structures in place, but in that town it looks like they need to start with a larger jail.
15
JT is right. Rape is horrible and unacceptable. It would have been no worse and no more disgusting or unexplainable if all those men had sex with a child than it was for them to have sex with an adolescent girl, who was a few years from being an adult. Whether the victim was a baby or a child or an adolecent or an adult makes no difference. The Stranger and teh New York Times should not even report the person's age.
16
Ugh. Seems like one of the commenters on this story is trying to justify his own interest in young adolescent girls. Stop debating with him.
17
@13, oh you mean those nice Duke lacrosse players who happened to be innoccent when accused of raping an adult prostitute? Yeah, the case of three men falsely accused of raping an adult woman that led to the disbarrment of the prosecuter is totally like the videotaped gang rape of an 11 year old girl by 18 men and boys.
Jackass.
Jackass.
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