I was feeling particularly affronted and aggressive when I wrote this. What I want us to think about now is how race affects our perceptions of the stories making news headlines. I want to look at the Duke Lacrosse news coverage in a slightly different way.  How do you think the media would cover a similar story if:  

The accuser was white and claimed she was raped in an Asian fraternity.  

The accuser was black and claimed she was raped in a black fraternity.

The accuser was white and claimed she was raped in a black fraternity.

The accuser was Latina and claimed she was raped in an Asian fraternity.

The accuser was Asian and claimed she was raped in a Latino fraternity.

These are just a few permutations on the race/incident wheel. Having been a network producer for more 10 years, I can assure you that the coverage would be different in each case. I am not even sure the case would have gotten any national attention if the alleged victim and alleged perpetrators had been of the same race. In that case, could the Duke story be mostly about race? Is it mostly about the abuse and degradation of women? Or is it mostly about the abuse of the justice system?  

Co-anchor of ABC News Nightline, Terry Moran has touched off a dust storm with his blog post entitled Don’t Feel Too Sorry for the Dukies. It’s worth reading. But, I assure you, if the story had involved black or Latino men who were wrongly accused, Moran would not have posted this article, even if the men were extremely wealthy and well connected. 

What do you think?