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Reference UK Indymedia Newswire item: "Rapist Comes to brum"
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/birmingham/2005/11/327544.html

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DON'T RUSH TO JUDGEMENT

Mike Tyson has had, from childhood, a very unfortunate background. And a Black male being raised by white parents (who couldn't teach him how to socially handle and watch out for himself in a racist society, when being a Black male raised by *Black* parents is hard enough to cope with in a racist society) means that he was in *DOUBLE* jeapardy when it came to socially and emotionally watching out for himself in a racist society that has plenty of deeply ingrained, often subconscious, negative stereotypes -- and especially negative sexual stereotypes -- against Black males.

I don't know for sure what did or didn't happened between Tyson and the young cheeleader woman who claims that he raped her -- no one does. But, I can tell you that a Black female (and being Black she would be more socially aware than even most white female cheerleaders) who has been a cheerleader ever since she was a teenager -- and having thus been around plenty of athletes -- of *whatever* color -- for years and years -- almost *all* her teenage and adult life, wouldn't for a **millisecond** believe that an *athlete* (particularly one with Tyson's supposed negative reputation) in a major high school, college, or professional sport was going to invite her up his his hotel room for *merely* an autograph (which he could have given in the hotel lobby). So, *why* did the young cheerleader woman go up to his room? That's not to say that the cheeleader would deserve to be raped, if it happened; but it does strongly suggest that Tyson had been set up (and certainly not every rich professional athlete that has been accused of rape has *NOT* been found to have been set up), as he had been, caught offguard, by another women, like his former wife actress Robin Givens, in a different way, in his life.

You can bet that if Tyson had been an ordinary Black guy -- instead of a high profile, rich Black athlete -- and his accuser was an ordinary Black woman, no one -- not the police, not the press, not the judge, and not most white people -- would have really cared -- or taken it that seriously -- especially where the objective evidence was lacking or totally not clear -- that he was accused of rape. In Tyson's case, the judge and jury essentially just took the woman's word for it -- which doesn't happen in the case of white males (especially white male celebrities or other rich white males). And what kind of trial do you think that most Black men get in Amerikkka? -- especially where the attitude of a majority of whites is that most poor (or at least born poor) Black men are NATURAL/GENETICALLY *BORN* "SUPERPREDATORS"? (Yes -- that's the word that the white American media use in high profile criminal cases.) We never hear nearly as much about all the white celebrities who beat their wives/girlfriends or have been accused of rape. White society *LOVES* to have their "BLACK BOOGEYMAN OF THE MONTH/YEAR" sociopolitical football (to risk mixing a metaphor) at least every few months as another one of "THE BLACK MEN WHITES LOVE TO HATE."

Back off, stop jumping on the hate bandwagon, let him know that not ALL white people just love to hate white-so-called "notorious" Black men, and give Tyson some emotional room to grow and experience something besides controversy and/or hate or being used in his life.