When white women are violated, America responds and the response is immediate.
The violation doesn’t have to come attached to criminal charges, lawyers don’t have to vet the accusers entire background, there aren’t editorial meetings where stories are canned because the victims are are the wrong color, wrong sex and in the wrong tax bracket and because editors are worried about their friends in elected office being embarrassed. Just the mere allegation from a white woman of her being violated in some sexual way is still enough to bring this country to its knees–and for there to be consequences.
Case in point. Just three days after a New York Times investigation detailed numerous incidents of alleged sexual harassment by media mogul Harvey Weinstein, the board of directors at The Weinstein Company fired him. That’s all it took. Well, three days and a laundry list of white women who claimed the powerful film producer engaged in inappropriate conduct that included sexual harassment, unwanted physical contact and sexual advances. I cannot overlook the white women because they played an important–if not decisive role in the swift action taken on Capitol Hill all the way to the boardroom of Weinstein’s own company.
As expected, everyone from actors and producers to elected officials are falling all over themselves to either distance themselves from the situation or to jump on the bandwagon condemning Weinstein for his behavior. Former and current employees are saying they knew about his behavior. There are reports of clients of the Weinstein Co. threatening to stop working with the company if Harvey Weinstein was still associated with it and the Republican National Committee has put out a national call for Democrats to “return dirty Harvey Weinstein cash.”
Meanwhile, right next door in West Hollywood, just two months after a Black gay man was found dead in his home of a crystal meth overdose–it’s business as usual for a prominent Democratic donor who is alleged to have engaged in some inappropriate conduct of his own. Like Weinstein, Ed Buck is a white man of means with a laundry list of victims who have come forward with stories about a man who they say has a Tuskegee Experiment like fetish which includes calling Black men the n-word and shooting drugs into young Black men that he picks up off the street or via dating hookup websites.
Gemmel Moore was found dead of a crystal meth overdose in Ed Buck’s home on July 27. At the time, his death was immediately classified as an accidental methamphetamine overdose by the coroner. Moore was a 27-year-old Black gay male who worked as an escort while Buck is 63-year-old well known white gay male Democratic donor. Now while most people would not be able to explain away a dead body in their house and have the police accept it, in Buck’s case he was able to do just that but now the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s homicide bureau is taking a closer look after Moore’s personal journal was published.
In his journal, Moore wrote, “I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that,” a December entry reads. “Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth it was very painful, but after all the troubles, I became addicted to the pain and fetish/fantasy.”
“My life is at an alltime [sic] high right now & I mean that from all ways. I ended up back at Buck [sic] house again and (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE).
I don’t think Harvey Weinstein and Ed Buck make a very apt comparison in this piece, but yes, I definitely have wondered why Ed Buck, abusing and killing young black men, was largely ignored the first time it was reported, discovered and then largely ignored. And I absolutely realize his preferences were obvious. Without using inflammatory terminology, it seems that Ed did indeed have special types he chose. Why DID Ed get a pass. Is that how it goes? In some cases, you get one free. How he was able to keep on doing it? I wonder if anyone will… Read more »
Well, there’s four minutes I’ll never get back.
I definitely think this is a stretch to compare these two situations and make them about race, gender, or class, even. Weinstein is famous. He’s interacted with legions of journalists, celebrities and other people in the industry. Even those that didn’t know (or hear rumors) of him being a sexual predator knew that he was a pretty awful man, who strong-armed and pushed people constantly. What we are seeing in the media isn’t a testament to defending white women, for the most part. We are seeing a release of pent up anger, and release. They finally get to say what… Read more »
What a stretch. This is crossing from tragic to a drum beat of persecution.
Here’s a bulletin for the author: Gay men have the right to have consensual sex. It is no longer criminal. And yes, most of us self respecting gay men prefer it that way.
Sex workers even have the right to have consensual sex . Some use drugs. And some make bad decisions and suffer terrible consequences.
To all of those familiar with the behavior of Mr. Buck: “silence is complicity”. And as Vice President Biden underscored today: “Abuse of power whether mental, physical or economic is the greatest sin”.
Does She Own Stock in Wehoville? I seriously can not understand your fascination with this story. Ive also worked in DC politics for a decade and never heard of this woman
I am a white man. I have NEVER treated anyone other than how I would want to be treated myself. I live by the Golden Rule. I don’t care what color someone is, what sex there are, what sexual preference they have, etc. etc. – everyone gets treated with respect and kindness. So why am I constantly judged by the color of my skin? Because of the actions of a few that are also white? That’s the very definition of racism. Stop grouping all white people – men especially – in one pot. It’s not always about race. That is… Read more »
OMG. So now female prejudice is a thing and we don’t respond loudly enough when it’s men who are harmed by consensual sex. And nonrich privilege is a thing. A super rich guy gets fired in three days but an upper middle class guy gets due process. I guess we’re supposed to ignore more women and let more rich people get a pass on their bad behavior for justice’s sake. I feel so bad for Harvey Weinstein after reading this, if only he had harassed men instead of women or been some guys of ordinary means, he’d still have a… Read more »
“the good fortune of being born white and female”? I know a lot of white females who have gone through hell thanks to men. In the workplace, at home, in society, on and on. Males more often than not try to dominate in many ways, including dividing the groups they oppress. See that and don’t participate.