A twisted and angry column about the Duke lacrosse rape case by Solomon Burnette in the N.C. Central University student newspaper, Campus Echo, drew a disclaimer Tuesday by Chancellor James Ammons:
"We are aware of the fact that Mr. Burnette has a right to express his opinion, but we also know that the freedom of speech comes with the responsibility to be fair and accountable. We also believe that the facts do matter in this case and every legal case and violence is not the answer."
Here's the column, published in the April 18 edition (opinion section):
"On March 13, 2006, some forty affluent white men solicited the presence of two black women on (former) plantation property for the explicit purposes of racially denigrating, disrespecting, and exploiting them.
" 'Tell your Granddaddy thanks for making my cotton shirt,' they were reported to have said.
"The women were, according to all accounts, called 'nigger' and told to penetrate themselves with broomsticks (see Abner Louima). One of these women said that she was raped by three of these inebriated white men. People in power and those without disbelieved her. This is sickening.
"I am not surprised at the outcome of the case. As a son of Africa, I know that American law is not worth the paper it is written upon. We all saw L.A. Gestapo beat Rodney King only to be acquitted. We were dismayed when the assassins of Amadou Diallo, who laced his area with a forty-one shot spectrum, were also acquitted. These injustices reflect the current disequilibrium in the American justice system.
"We black people (while we may be able to bribe judges like white people) cannot expect justice from the American legal system, period.
"Why are black people so apt to view this situation through a legal system created to perpetuate our repression?
"The 'facts' of the case should not matter to us because even if we are unsure of sexual assault, these supremacists have admitted to sexually, racially and politically denigrating these women. Strippers or not, this must be addressed.
"History has shown us that the (in)justice system cannot and will not address these issues because it is built upon them. So upon whose shoulders should the responsibility of retributive correction fall?
"White people still murder us with impunity. White people still beat us with impunity. White people still rape us and get away with it.
"The only deterrent to these legally, socially and economically validated supremacist actions is the fear of physical retribution.
"Black men, stand up. Black women, stand up. Black children, stand up. We have been at war here with these same white people for 500 years.
"The time to fight, whether intellectually, artistically or physically, has always been now."
Burnette is not an 18- or 19-year-old kid. The News & Observer reports: "Burnette, 27, is a senior history major and the son of former City Council member Brenda Burnette. In 2000 and 2001, he served a 13-month prison sentence after pleading no contest to charges of robbing two Duke students at gunpoint and then violating the terms of his probation."
So he's got his own troubling history with the law and with Duke students. His call for reprisals now raises a question of whether he may pose a serious threat.
But it's important not to characterize the Campus Echo or the NCCU student body by the statements of this one bitter individual. The same edition includes this encouraging article by Echo Editor-in-Cheif Rony Camille: