NBC
Mediator of Imus Apology Meeting: Duke Players Don't Receive Hate Mail [Mark Finkelstein]
Appearing on this morning's "Today," the Rev. DeForest Soaries, Jr., who mediated yesterday's meeting between Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team, said to Meredith Vieira:
"These young women are receiving hate mail. These young women are receiving threats on their lives. And I think to put it in context, [Imus] mentioned the fellows from Duke. The fellows from Duke are victims of an overzealous prosecutor who has apologized. But no one's sending them hate mail. The students at Rutgers are the victims of an overzealous shock jock and their lives have been threatened."
In a way, it's a shame to play "dueling insults." But since the reverend raised it . . . Imus did indeed insult the Rutgers players in a highly offensive and demeaning way. And I don't doubt that they have subsequently received hate mail and threats. On the other hand, they also received an overwhelming outpouring of support and praise from all corners of society.
"No one's sending [the Duke players] hate mail"? How could the Rev. Soaries possibly have imagined that? A quick Googling reveals that the players have received death threats. Moreover, they weren't merely insulted; they were threatened with imprisonment for most of the remainder of their lives. And rather than rallying around them, their university fired their coach, and 88 Duke professors "issued a public statement in late March promising to 'turn up the volume' and thanking campus protesters who had distributed a wanted poster containing photos of the lacrosse players while banging pots and pans outside one player’s residence, shouting, 'Time to confess.'”
It was one thing for the pastor to have been unaware of the facts of the Duke case. Meredith Vieira surely knew better. But rather than challenging Soaries on his gross misrepresentation, Meredith moved blithely on: "Did you feel at the end, Reverend, that Mr. Imus 'got it'?"
04/13 01:14 PM
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