In this way, this incident reminds us of Abu Ghraib in 2006. Military personnel committed crimes against humanity upon prisoners of war in an Iraqi prison, took pictures of their acts, and shared them with whomever where the photos went on to proliferate on the world wide web. The males who raped this girl were not ashamed of their actions; they boasted. These males swelled with pride; they bragged to their peers. What is more disgusting: gang raping a child or gang raping a child and then showing all your friends how it went? What were not included in the article were the reactions of those who were shown the video of the rape. Were alarmed or aroused? Did they report what they saw to the proper authorities, or keep silent and let these criminals continue to prowl for children?
These rapists demonstrate more disgusting qualities when they say that the girl dressed older than her age and associated with males older than her. In other words, according to the perpetrators, this little girl "was asking for it." That's what many rapists who evade responsibility say. They say the victim brought it upon herself because of her dress or some other such character traits that they misperceive as desire for rape.
The article quotes from various members of the community who reiterate the incident is "devastating" and "is tearing our community apart." (McKinley,...
There are clearly a number of issues at work in this community and the rape is a symptom of the problem and likely not the problem itself. Living in the community now must be incredibly awkward, and it is difficult to imagine how the town can go on functioning with this incident in the air or on people's minds. If they want their community to heal, the people of Cleveland, Texas have some soul searching and community outreach to do.
Finally, this rape and aftermath is not an isolated incident. This is not something that happens once in some random small town in America. Occurrences such as these are far more commonplace in American culture in general. This is not the first tragedy of this kind to appear in the news by a long shot. So when the people rocked by this event in Cleveland, Texas say their community needs rebuilding, it is true, but we must also consider the word "community" on a grander scale. We need to think of the country as a community with many social problems that absolutely need to be addressed immediately, or situations like this will only repeat and escalate.
Reference:
McKinley Jr., J.C. (March 8, 2011) "Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town." The New York Times. Web.
