One of my father’s pet phrases was “That’s about as useless as teats on a boar hog.” He reserved that oath for something he thought contemptibly useless, like the Durham Human Relations Commission. I’ve lived in Durham since 1981 except for 18 months in Richmond in the mid-1980s and I can’t remember a thing the Human Relations Commission has done to improve human relations, especially race relations, in this city. HRC Chairman Larry Holt upheld that tradition last night at a Duke panel discussing the Duke lacrosse case.
In his opening statement Holt talked at length about the history of rowdy student parties in Trinity Park, pointing out that the evidence of this problem could be found on the area crime listserv. He called this activity “extenuating circumstances leading to the rape allegations.” As he continued in this vein, many of the 60-or-so people in the audience were looking at each other wondering what his point was. He ended his opening statement by pointing out that the crime listserv for the area had been “relatively quiet” since the lacrosse arrests. Was he saying a little injustice is OK if it keeps the listservs quiet?
One audience member asked Holt why the Human Relations Commission did nothing and made no comment at all after protestors threatened and used racial slurs against Reade Seligmann as he arrived for a court appearance. Holt’s response: “I didn’t attend that event. I personally wasn’t there.” Blogger KC Johnson, a Brooklyn College professor who was a panelist, pointed out that a death threat was made against Seligmann in the courtroom that day within feet of Durham DA Mike Nifong. Like the Human Relations Commission, Nifong did nothing.
In his opening statement, Johnson said he was disappointed that people and groups that usually mobilize to fight lack of due process and civil rights abuses have been silent in this case. I put the HRC in that category. Whatever we taxpayers in Durham are spending on the HRC is too much.
UPDATE: Prof. Johnson says he will be attending the hearing today before Judge Osmond Smith on the Duke lacrosse case. He says he’ll live-blog the event if he can get some wi-fi in the courthouse.
