Preconceived Notions

Steve Gilliard is leading a debate over at his blog on whether or not what William Bennett said was really racist. (Amazing that this would have to be debated -- you'd think it'd be pretty damned obvious that it was -- but in an age when Charles Murray is allowed to defile once-great newspapers with his spewage, I guess it's necessary.) This reminded me that I saw an article in one of the local papers that I wanted to bring to your attention. This week, Downtown Journal (formerly Skyway News), the free weekly paper for people living and working in downtown Minneapolis, has as its lead story a piece on the increased number of rapes in downtown Minneapolis. Now, who would you think are the culprits? And where you think you'd be safer -- in a bar, or out on the street? If you watch too much FOX News, you'd think that women walking alone at night were being ravished by big ol' Stagolees comin' on out o' the woodwork. (Hey, if we're going to push the racist stereotype, let's go all the way.) But the reality is, as was emphasized several times in the article, that the more likely scenario is that your date -- or someone you've never met -- slipped a roofie in your drink and then hauled you off somewhere in his car. (Bottom line for women, especially if you're out alone: Watch what you drink, how much you drink, and don't finish a drink you've left out of your sight, even for a moment.) And the unspoken reality, being that most Minneapolitans are white, is that if you were dating him or if you were at a bar with him and you're white, then he's white, too. There you go.