According to Stephen A. Smith, the Duke rape case represents Black racial opportunism at its worst. Unfortunately, Smith seems to miss some of the broader issues that made this case critical to our public conversation.

Duke case not worthy of being a cause for black folk to rally around
By Stephen A. Smith

When prosecutors dropped rape charges on Friday against three Duke University lacrosse players – all white – accused of attacking a stripper – who is black – we heard about it on television and the news wires.

There was no hype to speak of. No uproar worth mentioning, despite valiant efforts for attention by defense attorneys. No news conferences rife with ministers lamenting the moral schism that hinders progress in this supposed mosaic called America.

Predictably, there was no sign of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, either.

Perhaps there should have been, though. For once, maybe the tide should be turned. Maybe mea culpas, tinged with hyperbole and accentuated by self-promoting individuals who have appeared to shed their titles as activists eons ago, should be placed on the front pages, apologizing to the three who were accused: Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.

Not so much for presuming their guilt before all the evidence came in. Mainly for using it to promote a black cause without giving a damn.

We have serious problems all across America, but nothing compared to the kind that exists in the black community, and the perverse pleasure it evokes from those who watch from afar.

On more than a few occasions, when something insidious occurs involving an African American and a white person, race is automatically attached. Time is turned back. And the issue that provokes the very reflection that permeates our thoughts as a people potentially ends up wasting our time, dividing black and white America even further.

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