Wednesday Feminist Fuck You
Sorry, I just couldn't wait two whole days to say FUCK YOU to this quote:
"This dance itself was a successful event."--West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman Marin Trujillo looks on the bright side after the brutal gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside of her high school's homecoming dance.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Wednesday Feminist Fuck You.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/16868
I hadn't read the CBS article the quote is from before. Maybe with 19 murders in the school district last year, a homecoming dance without a murder - even there was a 2.5 hour gang rape that up to 20 people watched and didn't stop and which resulted in a 15 year old girl being taken to the hospital in critical condition - constitutes a successful event...
But seriously, I hope that quote was taken super out of context because otherwise, I echo you, Ann.
I'm not sure what context this could be in to make it sound in any way appropriate. I'll spend all day trying to think of one but I doubt I'll find it.
agreed
I'm not sure what context this could be in to make it sound in any way appropriate. I'll spend all day trying to think of one but I doubt I'll find it.
Sounds like a bureaucrat trying to cover his a$$. They have a known violence problem at the school yet they send the guards patrolling the campus home a 1/2 hour early, on a Saturday night?
I'm sure like every other public school in Cali, they're strapped for funds, but if you can't provide for basic safety, perhaps you shouldn't be having evening events. Honestly as anyone who's ever stepped foot in a bar knows, you need more sec'y at the end of the event than during it--he11 they probably should have brought in extra sec'y for the close. My daughter shouldn't have to carry a gun to school to protect herself from other students. Seriously. Get. A. Grip.
but its wednesday, not thursday. I think that you got a day ahead of yourself
You. Have got. To be kidding me.
Dear Lord on High! Hopefully this is taken out of context because holy shit.
o_O;; to the max
Well, gee whiz, the dance was GREAT! The band was just super! I don't think we should let the six murders and seven rapes put a damper on what was a swell event.
Are these people totally insane?
Here's the context:
"Richmond High School has a 69 percent truancy rate and is in a school district that had 19 student murders last year. Fights at Richmond have been posted on YouTube, and a van was set on fire on the football field's new artificial turf. An investigation by CBS station KPIX-TV last year found only a handful of the 16 security cameras in the school were working.
On Friday, there were four Richmond police officers on duty at the dance, but the security guards patrolling the grounds were released at 9 p.m., a half-hour before the victim left the dance.
"Dance was successful event and safe for the students that were there," said Marin Trujillo, the West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman. "This dance itself was a successful event."
This just awful. Something is REALLY REALLY wrong with our school system and I don't know why people aren't waking the fuck up. How can you learn in an environment where you fear for your life?
IKR? And that quote about how it was successful and "safe" for the students who were there - she was there, you assholes! I mean, okay, no one was raped on the fucking dance floor - but she's still a student, raped by fellow students, while fellow students watched, on the grounds of the school. To say that it was successful and safe is such a mind-blowingly cruel, ignorant thing to say, I can't deal with it.
19 student murders?! Ugh, this story just keeps getting more tragic the more I hear about Richmond. I know I live in a really privileged little bubble, but the fact that high school is so violent and dangerous for some people really blows my mind.
I went to a pretty violent high school in a pretty impoverished city. This Richmond shit though, this is insane.
The entire quote from the CBS article is as follows:
"Dance was successful event and safe for the students that were there," said Marin Trujillo, the West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman. "This dance itself was a successful event."
The spokesman appears to be contrasting the safety of the students who were at the dance itself, as opposed to outside the facility, where the rape took place.
Oh FFS.
I suppose if you narrow the purview of the noun "dance" to only include the areas that had actual dancing, then yes. The dance was a complete success. By that logic, I could host a dinner party. In the dining room, a full 8-course spread with perfectly matched wine, beautiful centerpieces, and a seating arrangement that would ensure blissful harmony between the gusts. In the living room, three large gentlemen who were dismissed from their bouncer careers for their meth habits would beat insensible anyone who entered the living room. Because the actual "dinner party" took place in the dining room, and the ex-bouncers looming were in the living room glowering at the diners, and the unfortunate victim who tried to make a go of it by crossing the living room to get to the restroom who is in critical condition were not part of the act of dining at the moment they were being beaten senseless, I too could claim that the dinner party was a complete success and could remain unchallenged.
Clearly, this girl needed to start dancing the second she was assaulted. If this horrible crime were actually part of the dance then maybe it wouldn't have been allowed to happen.
What's that line..."Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
I could see if that has been said by some kid, but the school spokesperson? Seriously? What a bunch of idiots!
What's that line..."Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
My thought, exactly. *head-desk* The stupid, it BURNS!
I know what Ms. Trujillo said was disgusting, but shouldn't the FUCK YOU! be for the actual rapists and the onlookers who watched and did nothing? This disturbing display of apathy truly shakes my faith in humanity.
While Ms. Trujillo is coming across as an insensitive bureaucrat, what can she really say in her position. She works at a violent school were murder happens quite often.
The real FUCK YOU should go to the people who stood there and watched. There is something very wrong in a high school, and it's so deeply wrong that principals and superintendents no longer matter, that fellow students would watch this sort crime happening and do nothing.
I agree with you that the rapists are 100% at fault for their conduct, and their decision to commit that brutal crime.
As for the bystanders - they are not police officers or armed guards, they're UNARMED KIDS, who had their own safety to worry about.
Perhaps they recognized the rapists - and knew the rapists were gang members - if so, any intervention on their part could have led to them being attacked or killed, or set them up for a gang attack by other gang members at a later date.
Much as we should never question the survival strategies of a rape survivor, we shouldn't question the survival strategies of bystanders to a violent crime either.
The school failed here - and Trujillo's comments echo that failure and show how the Richmond schools basically do not care about their students safety.
I'd also like to add:
Did these 14-17 year olds realize they were witnessing a crime? I didn't know the real definition of rape until I got to college.
Also, it doesn't seem like all 20 people were there the entire 2.5 hours. Many of them showed up later after the assault had already started. Did these kids know that 'having sex' with someone who is drunk or unconscious is RAPE? Did the bystanders even know she was drunk or unconscious?
There are just so many questions that the news media cannot answer yet because the police are not done with their investigation.
Kids these days, especially teenagers who, unfortunately, have been exposed to violence in their community before, are not idiots. I'm betting even if the majority did not realize what was happening, there were some who knew it was a terrible crime. They should have called 911. They should have at least informed an adult inside the building. Are you telling me that if you saw that when you were in high school you wouldn't have thought anything of it?
"Did these kids know that 'having sex' with someone who is drunk or unconscious is RAPE? Did the bystanders even know she was drunk or unconscious?"
Is there any indication that the girl was drunk or unconscious? I didn't see any mention of it in the linked article or video.
Are you kidding me? A 15 year old being sexually assaulted for 2.5 hours by at least 10 different people wouldn't have made ant of them think this was a crime?
I could not imagine the screaming, the tears, the blood that she was covered in. She was found and brought to a hospital in critical condition. You would have to be deaf, blind and devoid of all compassion to not know this WAS NOT OKAY.
Are you kidding me? A 15 year old being sexually assaulted for 2.5 hours by at least 10 different people wouldn't have made ant of them think this was a crime?
I could not imagine the screaming, the tears, the blood that she was covered in. She was found and brought to a hospital in critical condition. You would have to be deaf, blind and devoid of all compassion to not know this WAS NOT OKAY.
Are you kidding me? A 15 year old being sexually assaulted for 2.5 hours by at least 10 different people wouldn't have made ant of them think this was a crime?
I could not imagine the screaming, the tears, the blood that she was covered in. She was found and brought to a hospital in critical condition. You would have to be deaf, blind and devoid of all compassion to not know this WAS NOT OKAY.
Are you kidding me? A 15 year old being sexually assaulted for 2.5 hours by at least 10 different people wouldn't have made ant of them think this was a crime?
I could not imagine the screaming, the tears, the blood that she was covered in. She was found and brought to a hospital in critical condition. You would have to be deaf, blind and devoid of all compassion to not know this WAS NOT OKAY.
The more cynical parts of me think that they watched and did nothing, or joined in, because it was their favorite internet porn scenario live and in person. Those women like being abused, so this one did. It's sexxxxaaayyyy.
The less cynical part of me hopes to god that's not it.
C'mon, they didn't have to be a hero. They could've left the scene & called the police. Standing and watching is just callous.
According to the news reports the crowd grew from word of mouth, meaning they chose to tell everyone else in the neighborhood except the police. They may not be guilty of a crime, but that's just heinous.
The school failed yes, but that does not take away of the blame that should be put on all who took part or were bystanders for this event.
You are essentially saying with this comment that if you see something terrible dont do anything about it. But hell you might as well take pictures or hell, invite friends with text messages.
I'm guessing the success was that she wasn't shot in the head while dancing. That she wasn't set on fire and burned to death while everyone watched. That her parents are with her at the hospital hoping for a speedy physical recovery instead of identifying their daughter's body at the morgue.
In the grand picture of what success means for those living in a bubble of security where they are not likely to see more police than they do students graduating, the actial dance WAS a success. That hangout/drinking spot where the brutal rape and beating occured was a tragedy. One that probably could have been prevented had security stuck around a litle longer.
You know what, I totally understand that "The enemy of the perfect is the good." But I usually apply that to finding the right paint to match the couch, or only exceeding the quarter's projected profits by 2% instead of 5%.
I usually don't throw up my hands and say "well, hey, it gets the job done" when someone is robbed, gang-raped, and have to be airlifted to the hospital.
If I were gang raped and rushed to the hospital, I know the first words out of my mouth when I woke up wouldn't be "hey, at least I wasn't set on fire!"
No but if you were raped by multiple people and those same people were physically beating you, you'd probably wake up and be shocked that you were arising from sleep and not floating above your hospital bed looking at your corpse.
Had nobody called police do you really think they would have stoppped? How far would this have gone? As awful as it is, far worse has happened to other students-other children without any help either.
This doesn't make what happened to her any less hprrendous but to say making it out of something like that ALIVE is no big feat says her life is worthless after being raped.
I really doubt that the woman in the hospital agrees that the dance was a success because her rape happened outside of the building. Sorry.
thank u so much for posting this. i live in the bay area and i actually the man make this quote on my local tv news. i literally repeated it out loud to my mom after he said it like.. "huh!!?? the dance itself was successful???!"
where can we contact him and let him no he in no way should represent our school districts???
typo correction: i actually **heard** the man make this quote on my local tv news.
mtrujillo@wccusd.net
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
This just goes to show that he is as stupid, ignorant, and horrible as the students who were bystanders. I hope they all get punished. Imagine if that girl was you or someone you knew...a big FUCK YOU to those kids and their parents as well.
And just what were the students supposed to do? Who knows how big the assailants were? Whether or not they were in a gang? Had weapons? Were known murderers?
In places where violence runs amuck and people are tortured and murdered in teh streets rape isn't somethign that makes people take a pause. Remember that woman who was gang raped, beaten, and forced to fellate her SON and left for dead by about 10 boys and men? Her neighbors heard her screams but figured if she was still alive she was doing better than their sister/brother/cousin/aunt/unclefriend they jsut buried who was killed.
Are you serious?! Really?! How could you possibly excuse or justify those students despicable behaviour? How?! Ok, ok, say they were scared. BUT 2 HOURS??? Really, how scared or desensitized could you be if you are taking pictures and inviting others to watch? THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT HAVING CALLED 911 or at least informed some adult who was at this 'sucess'ful dance. You are just as disgusting as them.
Where doe sit say that the same people were sitting there watching for the full 2.5 hours? It DOESNT! It happened in a place where there was a drinking party and I wouldnt doubt that many of the bystanders were drunk or under the influence. Underaged drinking is a crimes, teenagers are msotly impulsive and not exactly up to snitching on themselves. They also live in a very bad area where people are killed ofr a lot less than simply calling the police.
I'm not justifying why they did nothing. I'm stating that its very possible that people who see others MURDERED and tortured right in front of them are desensitized to anything and everything else. They just are, no matter how hard it is for you to believe. For some people that's just life.
This is some weird-ass logic. I don't follow really. But here is what they could have done: walked away. Called the police. Nobody is asking why someone didn't attack the attackers. They're asking why they stood and watched for over two hours.
FUCK. THAT. SHIT.
I've been following this story since I first heard of it. I wish there was something, ANYTHING I could do to make those bystanders wish they had never been born. Not just a few, but almost 20 of them? Laughing and taking pictures? How heartless can a person be?
No, dear spokesperson, this dance did NOT go well. There is no bright side to this.
Agreed. There is NO WAY this quote could be taken out of context. I suppose he meant that at least nothing happened to interrupt the electric slide. It's despicable that the spokesperson would even attempt to come up with some upside to this.
I found this quote while reading this article http://cbs5.com/local/richmond.teen.raped.2.1274537.html
Sources told CBS 5 that two school security guards who typically would have patrolled the school grounds were sent home about a half an hour before the attack occured because officials wanted to avoid incuring overtime costs.
I'm speechless.
...wait, what?
No, seriously, what?!? How in the name of everything holy can ANYONE make that statement with a straight face?!?
I feel sick. I've been thinking about this all day. The rape itself is bad enough. What really scares me is how so many people did nothing. Nothing. Didn't it occur to anyone to quietly sneek off and make an anonymous phone call to the police? Really? I always thought that if I was in trouble and others saw it they would help me in some way. After all that is what I would do. It seems I give people way too much credit. I feel sick to my stomach. I need to stop thinking about this.
For the record, it is not Ms. Trujillo. It is Mr. Marlin Trujillo who has been active in promoting the "so called" safety initiative at Richmond High. This safety initiative culminated in dismissing the chaperons and the security guards at 9p immediately after which this poor little girl was brutalized.
And yes, he called the event a success. And yes, the 2.5 hour gang rape occurred on school property during a school function.
In case any one wants to drop Mr. Trujillo a friendly hello, here is his email:
mtrujillo@wccusd.net.
What a stupid, stupid quote. Seriously, in light of this heinous crime, who really CARES if the school dance was a success? Trujillo, they're called "priorities". Look into some new ones.
This wasn't Kitty Genovese style bystander apathy, this was bystanders filming it on their mobile phones.
When film like that is out there, it's tragic that there's a record, but my only hope is they can use that to catch all the participants.