Why would a seasoned prosecutor like Mike Nifong flout the rules in so many ways in the Duke case? Why would he publicly describe the four lacrosse players as "rapists" before that had been established in a court of law? Why would he suppress DNA evidence that the defense was entitled to see? Why, in short, did he go so far before the facts were in?
One of Nifong's public comments provides a clue. He says he wanted to protect the town of Durham from the reputation of being a place featuring "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl." From this we see that Nifong suffers from delusions of grandeur. He sees himself as the Custodian of Durham's Reputation. He views his job as the White Protector of the Black Race. If he simply saw himself as a prosecutor doing his job in a difficult situation--with competing claims and counterclaims--he wouldn't have made such an ass of himself.
Nifong seems to be suffering from Recovering Southerner Syndrome. This is the ailment, first named on this blog, in which Southerners feel so guilty about slavery and segregation that they perform undignified backward somersaults to prove that they are "not really Southern." When they encounter something Southern--like white Southern frat boys at a party--their mind immediately conjures up images of segregated water fountains and they draw their swords and go into Crusader Against Racism mode. Viewed in this way, Nifong saw himself as a kind of white knight slaying the dragons of Southern bigotry. Nifong was not alone in this: dozens of Duke professors reacted to the incident in exactly the same way.
The only problem was that the facts didn't bear them out. The Duke players apparently weren't planning a rape or a lynching; they were merely misbehaving in the manner of "boys gone wild." So the world is different now and the old models don't necessarily apply. I suspect that MIke Nifong is not the only fellow who is going to learn this lesson the hard way.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 3)
1. Southern Born, Southern Bred, Southern Proud as I say it out loud.
P.A. at 2:44PM on Jun 15th 2007
2. Its high time that Nifong gets a damn good dose of what he dishes out!!!Bust his chops and let him suck it up. Nifong, getting that feeling of despair and failure that you make everyone suffer!!
vann causey at 2:54PM on Jun 15th 2007
3. "Recovering Southern Syndrome" is the wrong label. William F. Buckley, interviewing the late author Eudora Welty, of my home town Jackson, Miss., asked, "How could you possibly have lived in Mississippi for the past several decades?" To which she indignantly replied, "How could I possibly not have?" A knowledgeable white southerner today knows well that racism and prejudice aren't the monopoly of the South, either yesterday or today. As Abraham Lincoln so well put it in his Second Inauguarl Address, slavery and its terrible legacy are the sins to be atoned for by all Americans." Dwyn Mounger, Interim Pasdtor, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Fairhope, Alabama (on beautiful Mobile Bay).
Dwyn M. Mounger at 11:22AM on Jun 18th 2007
4. The statement that Nifong suffers from "Recovering Southerner Syndrome" is way off base. His actions were based on one thing and one thing only, he was looking for votes and he got those votes! As a southerner and North Carolinian I resent such comments. I also resent the behavior of Nifong. It has damaged positive moves in race relations that had been made in our state over the last few years.
While North Carolina is far from perfect, there have been many positive strided made. People like Nifong make such gains difficult to maintain and to come by.
Joe Roberts at 3:51PM on Jun 15th 2007
5. If I recall correctly, the overwhelming majority of the Duke lacrosse team are NOT from the South...the three accused players all attended the same Long Island prep school, I think. It would be wonderful indeed if ignorance, racism, and intolerance were confined to one geographic area so we could cordon it off. Unfortunately, I've encountered it in every one of the United States and in many foreign countries. I'm tickled to death to be Southern, and I'm tired of us all being tarred, as it were, with the same brush.
APS at 3:24PM on Jun 15th 2007
6. What the heck is this recovering southern syndrome? I'm black and southern and proud, and that title just doesn't rub me the right way---whatever hypothesis he wants to use to justify it. I went to college in the Northeast, and I'm pretty tired of people thinking that the South is still so racist and backwards. As a black person living in Boston, I can guarantee you that the North needs to take a much closer look at itself. In the South, at least we know who the bigots are. In the North, they wear suits and ties and believe themselves to be so superior because of their unaligned history. Fact be told, people in the South are a lot more progressive on the topic of racism than the North.
dawn at 3:35PM on Jun 15th 2007
7. I live in the south and have most of my life. I also work in the legal system and I see this same thing everyday, it is just Mike Nifong got caught. Prosecutors all over the state of NC file charges and get Bills of Indictments on people all the time with little or no evidence because Grand Juries tend to think that a DA wouldn't bring it to a them without good cause so they sign them. Maybe this will open OUR eyes to the fact that we need to be more cautious and not follow so blindly.
A.B. at 11:35AM on Jun 18th 2007
8. I've followed the Duke rape case very closely since the beginning because my daughter lives in Raleigh. I think your cut on Mike Nifong i.e., that he is suffering from "Recovering Southern Syndrom" gives him way to much credit. He wasn't protecting the blacks or the town of Durham.....the man was running for re-election and he saw this case as a golden chance for votes. He also cared very little about truth or the law. What is really tragic is that he was allowed to run with it for as long as he did. Make no mistake....it will be very difficult for these three young men to recover from this travesty. From a northener's perspective, it will be equally difficult for Duke University, Durham, the state of North Carolina and the south in general to escape the image of southern law that Mike Nifong has painted.
Gene Wagner at 3:42PM on Jun 15th 2007
9. Nifong sold out his own race to get the black vote so that he could get re-elected. He didn't want to appear soft on white-on-black crime. He's a white Uncle Tom, and he should be ashamed of himself.
S.G. at 3:46PM on Jun 15th 2007
10. Having grown up in the South in a small university community, I see this as a classic town vs gown situation. The haves and the have nots....a no win situation for everyone. I was the townie, not the have. The prosecutor must pay his dues. And, the boys must grow up and out of their feelings of entitlement. Don't hire the stripper, don't make yourselves vulnerable. I am, also, not young anymore :-).
BB at 4:09PM on Jun 15th 2007
11. I give NO CREDENCE WHATSOEVER to anything DD says about race. He was on a talk show, and stated that American Blacks have no excuses, because West Indian blacks are darker, and have progressed further. This is racist and out and out wrong. Wake up DD. People don't fit into your convenient little molds. We West Indians come in all different hues too, just like your people.
You know very little about racial matters in this country. Accept that fact!
stuart at 4:03PM on Jun 15th 2007
12. The bottom line on Nifong is that he debased the office to which he was elected. His job is to uphold the law and base his actions on facts not personal agendas or opinions. The real tragedy here is the fact that these boys were victims of racism and an injustice that will be very difficult to recover from. It appears that these boys come from decent, honorable families who have stuck by them and my hope for them is that they can get on with their lives. I hope that Duke University and all of their so called scholars who also rushed to judgement within the confines of liberal academia will be held accountable as well. We have reached a point in our history where truth does not seem to matter and we are being held captive by politically correctness
nancy j at 4:03PM on Jun 15th 2007
13. I mean political correctness because I am sure that there is someone out there that will attack the grammar rather than disputes these facts.
nancy j at 4:07PM on Jun 15th 2007
14. To BB,
What?????????? Don't make yourself vulnerable? Before you comment on something, please try to make sense! Are they viewed as entitled just because they are white and all went to good schools and came from the "haves". Maybe, these are people who actually have worked for a living to try to better themselves and their families--unlike the accuser who tries to make a living ruining other lives and pulling the race card!
nancy j at 4:19PM on Jun 15th 2007
15. this is about the most retarded thing i have ever heard. i am from the south and i personally don't feel the need to make up for what some people who used to live here a hundred years ago did. i think that people are responsible for their own personal actions, and the idea of feeling "guilty" over slavery is absolutely rediculous when we had nothing to do with it, nor did the black americans living in the south today. Nifong was just trying to get the support of the black community and he made an ass of himself doing it.
jt at 4:23PM on Jun 15th 2007