Penn State: A Goddamn Shame

This horrific situation has been on my mind since it broke a few days ago. I wondered in vain for days why Herman Cain and his bullshit were the lead story. I really don't give a damn if he pinched some blond asses in 1994. They're grown. They handled it. Got paid and moved on with their lives. But a coach accused of molesting troubled youths (read BLACK) for over a decade, while coaching at a prestigious powerhouse university in the Big East Football Conference--that's not more important? Who cares about the idiotic pizza guy running as the Republicans' Anti-Obama & his all too predictable sexual peccadilloes with young white women.

I read about ten pages of the Grand Jury indictment report against Jerry Sandusky, and I haven't been comfortable since. The graphic nature of how he abused these children haunts me worse than last night's episode of American Horror Story (and if you've been watching that show, you know that's a helluva statement).

I can't go into what was said. You can Google it if you want to have those images seared into your brain, but I still find it so goddamn troubling that so many people witnessed what he was doing and said NOTHING! One janitor in 2000 (according to a CNN report) claimed to have seen Sandusky pin a child against a wall in the shower and perform oral sex on him. IN THE LOCKER ROOM. ON PENN STATE'S CAMPUS. And did nothing. Another, more disturbing account, detailed that of a graduate student (who by the way, is now an assistant football coach for Penn State) who witnessed Sandusky anally raping a boy around the age of ten, also in the shower. And did nothing.

At first, when I read this, I felt for the grad student. The report said he was visibly distraught as he left and called Joe Paterno (the head coach) the next day, after having first discussed the matter with his father. But as I thought about it, I was like, why the fuck didn't he stop it? How could he see that and just leave the child there? How could he not help this little boy? I thought of how scared and confused this child must have been. How much pain he endured. The report said that both the child and Sandusky saw the grad student see them. And I thought how he must have wished for that man to come over and save him. How could he turn his back, go home, eat dinner, talk to his father SLEEP, that night after seeing that? And how could he resume life as normal with this man? Work with him every day knowing what a monster he was. How?

Initially, I didn't preoccupy my mind with the thought of race. I kinda assumed the children were white, even though they allegedly came from Sandusky's foundation Second Mile. A foundation he started for troubled youth. That term is quite telling because it connotes something very specific to most folks. When one hears troubled youth or at risk youth, it is almost automatically assumed the youths in question are black. If not black, then some other minority but definitely not white. But in my mind, I just couldn't fathom that really. I didn't have time to think about it while the despicable details were bombarding the nightly news at a rapid fire rate. But now, I find myself inquiring about it because I think it's a serious factor.

I don't have any confirmation about the race of the alleged victims, but a friend of mine said she heard they're black. And if this is true, it shows how insidious race relations continue to be in this country.

Among my black friends, we always laugh and joke about CWP shenanigans. For those that don't know CWP stands for CRAZY WHITE PEOPLE. They're always doing something stupid, fearlessly stumbling along the way, cloaked in their whiteness and using it as a shield or a kind of currency if you will, to pay their passage. Most times it works out. The joggers jailed in Iran? White. Freed. Those Christian missionaries jailed in some Muslim country for trying to convert the citizens to Christ? White. Freed...eventually. The kid caned in Singapore. White. Oh, guess it didn't really work out that great for him, huh? Still, the country rallied for him. When was the last time you saw an international incident involving American citizens in peril who weren't white? Or related to Lisa Ling? Lemme rephrase. Were any of those folks black? Hell no! Cause we know if we get into some shit oversees we're on our own! Even if President Obama was ready to send in the troops to save his own, best to believe Congress would impeach his ass first. We kinda joke about it and make light of the fact that our government won't lift a finger to save its black citizens from being accosted, raped, or killed should we fall into less favorable international hands. That's just the way it is. And there's something sobering about that. It keeps us from acting crazy in international time zones.

But what's funny in a Dave Chappelle comedy sketch, or as a joke when I'm chillin with my friends, loses its humor when the topic of sexual molestation comes into play. My cousin posted an article to my facebook page--the topic, how poor black children are more apt to be victims of molestation. Why you may ask? Because who's gonna protect them? They're easy targets because still, with a black President, African Americans are still second, third, and fourth class citizens in our own country. We're non persons. A predator like Sandusky, wants to get away with his crime. So he's gonna choose accordingly. Who's gonna care that he's raping a black boy in the showers? Who's gonna even give it more than a moment's thought? Apparently no one.

And I was angered when I thought and then heard (unsubstantiated though it may be) that these alleged victims of abuse are possibly black. Because I thought, is that why you chose them? Because you knew you could do whatever you wanted, in front of whoever was around, and no one would stop you? Is that why none of these adult men called the cops or pursued it any further? Great, you told your boss that this guy was being inappropriate with young boys, but what then? Did you harass your boss until action was taken? Did you call the cops? What kind of follow up did you do? Oh, that's right. Nothing. It was better, safer for you to keep your damn job. What if these children had been white from good homes? Had money? Would the police have been notified then? What is so sick and twisted about us as a people that our racial indifference extends all the way down to the children? Damn. Heartless.

I was initially against firing Joe Paterno. I don't care that much about college football. But I feel his accomplishments there are certainly legendary and commendable. I'm not a gung ho football spectator, but it's a huge part of my life. Or had been. It's a part of my family's genetic make-up just like the DNA strands in our blood. Every man in my family has played it--my father, my brother, my uncles. My cousin's husband makes his living as a coach in the NFL & has done so for over a decade. He also coached on the collegiate level. So I enjoy it as much as some, maybe not as much as most. And I feel bad that Joe Pa as he's affectionately referred to, was fired due to the vomit inducing actions of one very sick son of a bitch. That now his legacy is tainted and not really by something he did himself. But as I think about it again and listen to his statements of regret, I realize that his inaction was an action. That he chose to let sleeping dogs lie and continue to think about football and his players and everything else except for this child predator in his midst. How the hell could he sit across a coaching table from this man and talk about plays, attendance, boosters, players & players' eligibilities & all that other shit, and KNOW he was looking into the eyes of Satan himself. That the man before him enjoyed having sex with children. I keep coming back to that question HOW? because it just baffles the mind. Seriously, my mind is literally blown by this whole thing.

I'm sorry these grown ass men didn't make better choices. I'm sorry that the team is now covered in the same shit stains as their former assistant coach & athletic director, and that they have to pay the price. I'm sorry that they, as boys themselves in some respects, can't just play the game they love, but have to undergo this stress and turmoil of losing a beloved coach before their season comes to a close. I'm sorry that they can't have this time again. I'm sorry that football on the collegiate level (more so than on the professional level even) hasn't been a game for a long, long time, and that because of that everyone lost sight of good old fashioned human decency.

But most of all, most importantly--I'm sorry that Penn State University, its officials from the President on down, that the coaches, the interns, the Athletic Director, the Director of Finance, their attorneys, the board of trustees, Second Mile Youth foundation, the janitorial staff, all who either knew or should have known, let a predator rob these defenseless children--these little boys, of their innocence. That they allowed him to do it with impunity, without fear of discovery or punishment. And that their voices were silenced for far too long, and threaten to remain so amid this circus.

But mostly, I'm afraid that the firing of everyone involved will fail to keep this from happening again at Penn or anywhere else. That's the symptom. It's not the disease. When the welfare of the few (the college & it's lucrative football program) comes before that of the many (the innocent children) the result will always be the same. The only thing to change are the players, not the play.

Till next time, lovers!