Justin Fairfax Was Right to Invoke Virginia’s Lynching Past
My family’s blood runs deep in Virginian soil. It has seeped through, down to the roots, engulfing the brutal period of enslavement and embedding itself in the tyrannical terrorism that was Jim Crow. In the end, we survived Virginia’s worst days. And perhaps because of the numerous stories of survival I have heard all my life, a desire was birthed in me as a child to not just witness wrong, but to fight for right — not for what’s easy, not for what’s expedient, not for what contorts with the whim of the crowd, but for what I truly believe to be righteous and consistent with the notion of justice. This imperative remains at my core, even when it’s hard, even when it’s unpopular, and even when there are uncomfortable consequences to be paid. It is my personal North Star, and it has informed my life choices, including my decades of work on behalf of Black women and girls in the US and around the world.
It’s perhaps because of this unique and distinctly personal perspective, as a Virginian African American woman who resides and votes in the state, that I have watched what has transpired over the past several weeks with deep disgust. I’ve seen my Governor, at first admit, then deny appearing in a racist photograph that invoked both a hurtful and murderous past. I’ve also seen the state’s Attorney General and Speaker of the House each embroiled in racially offensive controversies of their own, while dozens of others in the Virginian delegation have remained conspicuously silent based on what could very well be their own past racially dubious actions. I’ve also watched as this entire turn of events have been all but forgotten as sexual assault allegations have, at least for them, conveniently surfaced against Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax just as talk began to bubble up about the possibility of him ascending to the position of Governor in the wake of the series of racially charged scandals that have occurred.
Let me say from the onset that there is never a wrong time for truth. Every woman who has experienced the trauma of sexual assault should come forward on her own timetable, and no one else’s. And when she does come forward, she should be heard, she should be respected, her allegations should be taken seriously and investigated rigorously in a fair and impartial way. But what I have witnessed instead, has been anything but.
In this moment of #MeToo, the cultural norm has now shifted from reflexive disbelief of accusers, often peppered with a range of irrelevant and demeaning questions specifically meant to minimize their experience and sequester them into a spiral of shame, to now a new normal which holds as the standard blind belief based on accusations alone. This reality now assumes in all circumstances, that women are to be unequivocally believed and men are to be met with absolute disbelief, be damned the search for facts. It’s also a space where all of the accused are to be instantly lumped into the same basket and turned into the straw men of Cosby, Kelly or Brett Kavanaugh. This culture does not accept the notion of having each individual accusation analyzed based solely on its own merits and circumstances. Instead, the norm has drifted into the territory of she said it, so that’s enough. Any questions surrounding the matter are not only perceived as irrelevant, but are interpreted as an attack on the accuser. This overcorrection not only flies in the face of fairness and any notion of due process, it’s dangerous and it’s wrong. If we don’t correct course, it is this culture of accusation equals guilt, that will one day, cause the movement to be undone.
While it is true that in the overwhelming majority of cases, women who allege sexual assault, were in fact, sexually assaulted, we must also acknowledge that an overwhelming majority is not synonymous with 100%. As a result, when we embrace a culture of assumed guilt, we risk ruining the lives of the innocent. And if that unfortunate risk only impacts one innocent man out of 100, in my eyes, that is one too many. Who among us would want to be that man? His mother, his father, his wife, his child? A rapist deserves to wear that scarlet letter for life. But for the wrongly accused, such a repulsive designation, is too high a price to be imposed based on mere accusations alone. Why would any movement seeking longevity and legitimacy make the calculated choice to run that risk instead of proceeding in a way that respects the rights of all parties involved while also minimizing the possibility of such a grave mistake in the first place?
In the end, truth is not afraid of light. It does not change with time or circumstance. Truth is consistent. What is true today, will still be true years from this moment. However, uncovering those truths, especially related to incidents that took place over a decade prior and with no physical evidence captured at the time, will require an untangling of conflicting versions of a single event. This level of complexity won’t fit neatly in the confines of a tweet. And while skipping this tedious but important step in favor of swift retribution may be satisfying for many, especially those who live with the daily fact that their abuser walks free, the right outcome, in each individual case takes time to unfold. The stakes are too high to be driven by thoughts of displaced revenge or to find oneself caught in an echo chamber of instantaneous belief. Even with the comfort of knowing that statistically speaking, most accusations are a forerunner to guilt, for those times in which it isn’t, and which guilt is automatically assumed and acted upon, the results would be disastrous. Who among us, should take comfort in that slim, but still very real possibility?
African Americans especially understand the dangers of so-called swift justice. We have lived in a country that for centuries have handed out such based on the accuser’s word alone. Yes, we have seen it in days gone by, swinging at the end of the lyncher’s rope. But we have also seen it in various contemporary contexts with results just as disturbing. We have all witnessed the birth of a different movement, one which sought to highlight the importance of Black Lives, and one that was necessitated by the reality of murdered Black men, women and children. This movement was based on the actualized results of instantaneous assumptions of guilt, that led to immediate and deadly punishment typically based on assumptions alone. How can any of us who witnessed those injustices, now be morally sound and consistent, when decrying that somehow, in these circumstances, allegations alone are enough. The fact of the matter is, we can’t.
In the Fairfax case specifically, I, for one, find it curious that from the very beginning, only one party has consistently requested the involvement of law enforcement to get to the facts. I also find it curious that only one party has asked for a thorough investigation — not merely a belated call for only a General Assembly Hearing, a space prime for political stunts and theatrics, rather than having a neutral full and fair search for the truth. And I find it especially curious that the only party seeking these outcomes have been the accused and neither of the accusers.
It’s also quite interesting that Virginia House Republicans on one day, voted down efforts to have the state ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, but on the next, instantly positioned themselves as champions for women’s rights by calling for a Public Hearing on the Fairfax accusations — to be accompanied by television cameras of course, but not to include one iota of independently gathered evidence related to any of the parties involved. This is a sham. It’s a show. It’s a built for TV drama pushed for political gain. It is not and would not be a quest for truth.
While some have made the very legitimate argument that Black women are too often minimized, and our voices for far too long, have gone unheard, it’s also true that Black men typically bear the burden of presumed guilt, and are especially likely to be wrongly accused. In fact, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, Black men represent 59% of those found to be wrongly convicted, and ultimately exonerated of sexual assault charges. The only way to respect and account for these two countervailing realities is to avoid the Kabuki theatre and high stakes drama of a politicized public hearing that fails to be informed by a nonpartisan investigation of the facts.
If not corrected, the absolutism that now engulfs the #MeToo movement, may one day, be its downfall. We’ve already seen at least one known attempt to weaponize this tendency by a right-wing organization which sought to bribe women to accuse Robert Mueller of sexual assault. Although that attempt was caught, future attempts may not be. Just as disturbing is the very real possibility that just one false accusation could set the movement back to square one, driving women who have experienced this most difficult of violations back underground to suffer in relative shame and isolation. Now, can the #MeToo Movement survive a Jussie Smollett-like spectacle? It might. But I, for one, don’t want to find out.
It is possible to avoid this fate. If truth and justice are the goals, fairness trumps expediency. History has taught us that lesson multiple times. The question is, are we wise enough to learn?
Want to see the full context of Fairfax’s controversial statements on lynching and the need for due process? Watch it HERE
