Writing at Clutch magazine, The Root's contributing editor Demetria L. Lucas has what she admits are some "un-PC" comments about the Ohio trial that made headlines and set off a national dialogue about rape.
… Forgive me if I'm habitually line-stepping, or even crossing here, by writing what I'm really thinking, but there are a few things I need to get off my chest:
1. Ma'lik Richmond is the Luckiest Black Boy Alive
This 1) Black kid — football player or not — in a 2) small, middle of nowhere white town who 3) was charged with raping a 16-year-old 4) white girl got tried as a juvenile and THEN when found "delinquent beyond a reasonable doubt" received the lesser time than his white co-defendant?!
A year for raping a white girl? Are we still in America?! 'Cause a guilty Black man ain't been this lucky since OJ (and really, that was luck, money, and Johnny Cochran's skill as an attorney).
I watched Young Ma'lik's courtroom sobbing about his life being over, which CNN found so heartbreaking (I keep mentioning it because I'm just that appalled by it.) Ma'lik needs a perspective check. He got off way easier than some people expected him to, or really, wanted him to …
Read Demetria L. Lucas' entire piece at Clutch magazine.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.