Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, February 25, 2019
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Samantha Goldstein
Elena Hubbell
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram
Jeremy Kaplan
Sarah Khan
Lucas Maiman
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Alex Satola
Ali Safawi
Ashley Zhang
Sam Weinberger
Erin White
FINNTAN STORER
Managing Editor
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
MAYA GOLDMAN
Editor in Chief
MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA
AND JOEL DANILEWITZ
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
T
here is little doubt that
the reporting about the
bad — and sometimes
illegal
—
behavior
of
prominent
men
has led to important
change in terms of
how we think about
and
acknowledge
sexual
assault
and
violence. When the
reporting on sexual
assault in Hollywood
and the media began
to lead to real change,
I was disturbed and
a bit nervous but mostly grateful
for the women and men who
stood up to tell their story. A year
and half later, it is necessary to
reflect on the movement and
assess how well we have done
right by its victims.
Though the initial wave of
public allegations has dwindled,
reports of sexual assault by
powerful
men
continue
to
emerge. The most recent public
person to be accused of sexual
assault is Virginia Lt. Gov.
Justin Fairfax. On Feb. 3, reports
surfaced of Vanessa Tyson’s
allegation that Fairfax, then a
John Kerry staffer, forced her to
perform oral sex at a hotel room
during the 2004 Democratic
National Convention. Five days
later, Meredith Watson released
a statement in which she detailed
that Fairfax raped her while
they were both students at Duke
University in 2000.
After the accusations that
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam
wore blackface, many assumed
Fairfax, the only Black person
to hold statewide office in
Virginia, would ascend to the
top
of
the
commonwealth’s
government. Once the sexual
assault
allegations
surfaced,
Fairfax did initially receive some
backlash, including some calls for
resignation and impeachment.
However, those calls have been
walked back.
Only two weeks after these
allegations, this story has fallen
out of the news. Even when it was
in the news, this story did not
receive the same backlash and
fury that the allegations against
producer Harvey Weinstein, Sen.
Al Franken or even Alabamian
Senate candidate Roy Moore did.
Why isn’t there a collective rage
on the behalf of Fairfax’s victims?
Why aren’t there protests or social
media
campaigns
attempting
to get justice for Vanessa Tyson
or Meredith Watson? Why does
it seem like sexual violence
against Black women is treated
differently than sexual violence
against white women?
Let’s review.
The first report of assault
allegations in a major newspaper
against singer R. Kelly was
published in 2000. The report
included having sex with a minor,
which is particularly problematic
given the age of consent in
Illinois is 17. There were also
several lawsuits filed against R.
Kelly for having sex with minors
and recording sex acts without
consent between 2001 and 2002.
Again in 2017, physical and
emotional abuse allegations were
reported against Kelly. Though
Kelly was arrested in 2003 on
charges of possession
of child pornography,
he was only arrested
on multiple counts
of
sexual
abuse
charges
last
week.
He
continues
to
make money on his
streamable
music,
some of which contain
allusions
to
his
heinous crimes.
In 2004, comedian
Bill Cosby was accused of sexual
assault by Andrea Constand,
and a year later, Tamara Green
also came forward with similar
allegations dating back to the
1970s. Since then, 60 other
women have accused him of
sexual assault, some including
being
drugged
and
then
assaulted. It was not until April
2018 that Cosby was convicted
on three counts of aggravated
indecent assault and sentenced to
three to 10 years in prison.
Harvey
Weinstein
was
removed from the Weinstein
Company within three days
of the first reporting about his
illegal behavior. Matt Lauer was
similarly fired from NBC one
day after allegations surfaced.
Even
more
recent,
Ryan
Adams’s music was shelved
after reporting by The New York
Times of his abusive behavior
toward women.
Why are some men delivered
swift, severe punishment while
others continue to hold societal
power? We should look to their
victims. From this pattern, it
seems clear that men whose
victims are primarily upper-
class, often socially powerful
white women receive harsher
repercussions than those whose
victims are not.
When
Prof.
Christine
Blasey
Ford
accused
then-
Supreme Court nominee Brett
Kavanaugh of sexual assault,
there was an outcry against his
nomination, as there should
have been. Just like Harvey
Weinstein, Matt Lauer and
others should absolutely face
serious and hefty punishment
for
their
actions.
Yet,
the
allegations
against
Justin
Fairfax seem to have faded to
the background. Few, if any,
continue to draw attention to
the charges against him.
The problem is not that
people are outraged on the
behalf of white survivors. The
problem is that people are not
as equally outraged on the
behalf of Black survivors. It
should not have taken almost
20 years for R. Kelly to receive
(some)
punishment
for
his
actions, nor should it have taken
14 years for Bill Cosby to be
convicted for his. And it should
not take just as long for Justin
Fairfax to face repercussions if
an investigation confirms the
allegations against him.
Additionally,
a
study
published
by
researchers
at
SUNY
Geneseo
in
The
Psychology of Women Quarterly
found that white women are less
likely to intervene in a sexual
assault if the victim is Black.
According to the researchers,
they
“found
that
although
white
students
correctly
perceived that Black women
were at risk in a pre-assault
situation, they tended not to feel
as personally involved in the
situation.” The white female
bystanders reported they felt
“less personal responsibility”
and that the Black victims
“experienced more pleasure in
the pre-assault situation.”
While the woman who
coined #MeToo, Tarana Burke,
has been doing work on behalf
of women of color since the
‘90s, the rest of us risk failing
the movement if we primarily
focus on the experiences of
white women. The assault
of any woman deserves our
attention and empathy, but
most
sexual
assaults
and
rapes take place where other
oppressions
already
exist.
This means that women who
hold
other
marginalized
identities
are
particularly
vulnerable to sexual assault,
specifically
because
they
hold even less societal power.
These groups include women
of color, disabled women and
queer women.
There is an existing and
growing
sect
of
feminists
who work to end oppression
that
intersects
at
multiple
marginalized identities in ways
that create new and overlapping
oppressions — also known as
intersectional feminists. Still,
most of society and mainstream
media are not considering the
sexual victimhood of black
women as wholly distinct and
important to address. This is
absolutely unacceptable.
White women must make
anti-racism
a
fundamental
pillar of our feminism if our
goal is to achieve real and
tangible change to improve
women’s lives. Our work must
first focus on the oppressions
of those most marginalized,
because only through helping
those most marginalized can
we dismantle entire systems of
oppression themselves.
Audre Lorde once said, “I
am not free while any woman is
unfree, even when her shackles
are very different from my
own,” and the truth of her
words persists today.
Marisa Wright can be reached at
marisadw@umich.edu.
Goodbye Opportunity, hello opportunity
O
n Feb. 13, the Earth
said a bittersweet final
farewell to one of the
greatest accomplishments in space
history: the Mars rover known
as
Opportunity.
Opportunity,
or “Oppy” as some call it, went
silent last June when a planet-
wide sandstorm developed and
likely covered solar panels used
to power the rover, leaving Oppy
unable to recharge its batteries.
In
a
hauntingly
beautiful
last
transmission,
Oppy’s
communication translated to, “My
batteries are low, and it’s getting
dark.” Words haven’t choked me
up that much since hearing Peter
Parker whisper, “Mr. Stark, I
don’t feel so good” in Tony’s ear in
“Avengers: Infinity War.”
Opportunity, along with its
partner rover Spirit, launched
in 2003 as a part of the Mars
Exploration Rover mission. What
was originally slated as a 90-day
mission to search for evidence of
past water on Mars turned into a
much longer journey, with Spirit
becoming embedded in soil in 2009,
losing communication in 2010 and
its mission officially ending in 2011,
and Oppy lasting an incredible 15
years on the red planet’s surface.
Between the two rovers, NASA
was able to collect enough evidence
to conclude that water did indeed
once flow on Mars. This was
a
monumental
discovery
that
changed how we view our sister
planet and the possibilities of space
exploration itself.
In many ways, Oppy represented
the best qualities of scientific
exploration. It highlighted what can
be accomplished with unlimited
curiosity, dedication to exploring
the unknown and commitment to
cooperation. It has earned its place
as a legend in the space history
book, but we must not let its mission
stop
here.
Opportunity’s
last
transmission should be a rallying
point for humanity to again push our
limits and aim further than we ever
have before. Our next goal should be
putting humans on Mars; moreover,
we ought to strive to establish a
full-time colony. This task is no
easy feat, but with hard work and
determination, it is entirely within
our grasp — to boldly go where no
one has gone before.
To many, such an aspiration
may very well seem like a plot from
Star Trek, but realistically, it is
much more science than science-
fiction. If we focus our resources
and concentrate on a clear target,
reaching Mars may be easier than
we think. During the Cold War and
the infamous space race between
the U.S. and the Soviet Union,
former President John F. Kennedy
stood before a nation and declared
we would put a man on the moon.
It wasn’t a question of “if,” but a
matter of “when.” He famously
inspired a generation when he said,
“We choose to go to the moon and
these other things, not because
they are easy, but because they are
hard.” After a few years of intensive
research and experimenting, the
U.S. was able to see Neil Armstrong
take those first few historic steps
across the lunar landscape. When
we decided to go to the moon, we
didn’t have the technology yet,
just an idea and old-fashioned
American determination. The same
ideas can apply to Mars if we truly
want it to.
Unfortunately,
after
the
success of the Apollo missions,
former President Richard Nixon
fundamentally
changed
the
space program. He reeled in
U.S. ambitions by ending human
spaceflight
beyond
low
Earth
orbit and did not embark on a
new space exploration goal that
would require huge investments
like Apollo. From then on, NASA’s
human spaceflight was limited to
the space shuttle program and the
International Space Station, until
former President George W. Bush
began phasing out space shuttle
missions after the tragedy of the
2003 Columbia mission killed 7
astronauts. Since 2010, the U.S.
has been entirely dependent on
Russia for getting our astronauts to
space, though that has the potential
to change, as President Donald
Trump said in the recent State of
the Union that “this year, American
astronauts will go back to space on
American rockets.” This is likely in
reference to the SpaceX test flight
scheduled for later this year.
There are those who say space
exploration is a waste of resources
and that money spent on space would
be better used here on Earth funding
schools, health care or defense.
While I understand where doubters
are coming from, history provides
evidence contrary to this notion. In
order to get to the moon, we had to
develop technology at a faster rate
than ever before, and the side-effects
of that kind of development are
technologies that vastly improved
our lives. Cell-phone cameras, CAT
scan machines, athletic shoes, water
purification systems, memory foam,
baby formula and artificial limbs are
just some of the products of space
travel research.
If that is what we could do then,
imagine the possibilities that could
come from a mission to Mars now.
The potential is almost incalculable,
and just one of many reasons going to
Mars is worthwhile.
In 1969, the entire world watched
proudly as humanity took a giant leap
forward into the future. Now, 50 years
later in 2019, we have the opportunity
to accomplish the impossible again,
the ability to achieve something
even those who watched the moon
landing live could not imagine being
feasible. Reaching Mars is that new
impossible possibility. I’m not sure
exactly what it is about exploration
that has captivated the human mind
for so long — the thing that pushes
us into the unknown. Regardless
of what it is that drives us, we need
to listen to the call, embrace the
uncertainty and dive headfirst into
discovery. While we have just closed
a significant chapter on the quest for
Mars, the next one is just beginning.
We owe it to ourselves and to future
generations to not squander the
next opportunity to explore Mars.
MARISA WRIGHT | COLUMN
When the victims are not white
I
n 2002, The Boston Globe
uncovered and exposed
systematic sex abuse in
the Catholic Church. These
discoveries
paved
the
way
for
thousands
more
abuse
scandals to be uncovered, and
put the Catholic Church under
scrutiny for the next 17 years.
The reporting was so inspiring
that the movie “Spotlight” was
created to tell the true story of
how these crimes came to light.
The true story “Spotlight”
tells is this: Sexual abuse
runs rampant in the Catholic
Church,
and
the
scandal
goes all the way up to the
Vatican. The Boston Globe
wrote 600 articles about the
scandals, which lead to public
accusations against 271 clergy
members, and brought more
than 1,000 survivors in Boston
to step forward. In that year,
BishopAccountability.org also
came out with a list of places
where major abuse allegations
have been found. On that list
there were two Michigan cities:
Detroit and Grand Rapids. But if
this was in 2002, it has definitely
been taken care of by now, right?
Flash forward to 2018: the
Pennsylvania grand jury. A
grand jury report exposed that
more than 300 Catholic priests
were credibly accused of abuse
in August, focusing specifically
on six Pennsylvania diocese. It
found that hundreds of priests
abused
children
and
that
church officials helped cover
it up. Since then, states like
New York, Illinois, Missouri,
Nebraska and New Mexico
have also begun working to
investigate the scandals in the
Catholic Church. Priests from
cities all over the nation joined
the cacophony of voices rising
up in protest and began to issue
statements
condemning
the
cycle of abuse and cover-ups
that have overrun the church.
But that did not even come
close to solving the issue.
Now, in 2019, Pope Francis
issued a statement on the
fact that nuns have been
consistently
abused
by
clergymen — another scandal
that has been covered up
for decades. These women
have had children and forced
abortions due to the abuse and
rape they endured from their
own superiors. Some have been
reduced to sexual slavery at
the hands of many of men in
their dioceses. These kinds of
abuses have been happening
all over the world; a report last
year released cases of abuse in
Europe, Africa, Asia and South
America. And this is the first
time the Pope has issued any
statement about the abuse of
nuns and the first time it has
been a big part of the general
news cycle.
Many nuns issued reports
as far back as the 1990s, only
to be ignored and silenced. In
1996, there was a study from
Saint Louis University that
uncovered the sexual trauma
endured by nuns from Catholic
priests. Some of the abused
nuns did not share any of this
information, even with their
own community, for fear of not
being believed or even being
punished by their superiors.
Others came forth long ago
but were ignored. For a long
time the cycle of silence in this
particular community was too
great to break. But now that it
has been broken, the floodgates
have opened.
The cover-up is one of the
most disturbing parts of this
already
horrifying
issue.
It made clear that some of
the highest officials of the
church were culprits, whether
they were an abuser or an
accomplice. Even those who
have been accused of doing
nothing are not in fact doing
nothing. They are assisting
the abusers by turning a blind
eye to their crimes, relocating
them when the crime is found
out and keeping them within
the church. Allowing the abuse
to continue under their watch
is almost as bad as committing
the abuse in the first place and
they deserve repercussions for
their actions.
With such a deeply rooted
tradition of covering up instead
of facing the allegations, when
will the scandals end? Will we
ever get to the bottom of this
issue? Right now it seems like
there is a new scandal coming
out every day. After 17 years,
we are just beginning to skim
the surface of these atrocities.
Pope Francis has stated: “I
think it is still going on because
something does not stop just
because
you
have
become
aware of it.” It is not enough for
this to have been uncovered.
The Catholic Church needs
to take action and rectify the
situation. And this will only
come through rooting out all
the abusers and starting fresh
with new policies to prevent
this from ever happening again.
Several
U.S.
bishops
have
already proposed developing a
code of conduct and creating a
committee to develop policies,
but few concrete changes are
being enacted now. What is a
clear course of action right now
is removing all known abusers
and
accomplices
from
the
ranks of the Catholic Church;
neither
should
be
allowed
to stay in power. “Spotlight”
paved the way, but now the
Catholic Church must walk
down it, either to restoration or
retribution.
DANA PIERANGELI | COLUMN
Jesus Christ, make it stop
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION
Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds.
Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550
to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to
tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
Dana Pierangeli can be reached at
dmpier@umich.edu.
Timothy Spurlin can be reached at
timrspur@umich.edu.
TIMOTHY SPURLIN | COLUMN
In many ways,
Oppy represented
the best qualities
of scientific
exploration.
For a long time
the cycle of silence
in this particular
community was
too great to break.
The problem is that
people are not as
equally outraged
on the behalf of
Black survivors.
MARISA
WRIGHT