Thought You Should See This

March 19, 2012

"What is the message that it conveys? It says that a brown kid who never intended to hurt anyone because of their sexuality will do jail time, while politicians and pundits who espouse hatred on TV and radio and in stump speeches continue to be celebrated. It says that a teen who invades the privacy of his peer will be condemned, even while companies and media moguls continue to profit off of more invasive invasions."

—

Thank you, Danah Boyd, for voicing the same unease I’ve been feeling in the wake of Dharun Ravi’s conviction for privacy invasion, tampering with evidence and bias intimidation in the case of the suicide of Ravi’s roommate, Tyler Clementi. Just read Ian Parker’s astonishingly detailed New Yorker profile of the case, the evidence and the protagonists and wonder if this, too, isn’t an occasion when we’re over-simplifying the tragic, complex facts of a situation in the name of emerging, nominally triumphant, all in the name of righteousness. Only, as Boyd writes, “Sending Ravi to jail will do nothing to end bullying. Yet, it lets people feel like it will and that makes me really sad. There’s a lot to be done in this realm and this does nothing to help those who are suffering every day."

[Story via Jeff Jarvis]

2:15pm | URL: https://tmblr.co/ZLv7dxIF2kOR
(View comments)

(Notes: 14)