By Jacqueline Kelly–
Features editor Sarah Rohleder recently wrote a piece about the rape accusations against former U of L basketball player Chris Jones. For those who don’t know, Jones was not the only one accused of rape and sodomy. Two other men, Tyvon Walker and Jalen Tilford, were also allegedly involved in the incident.
Not long after being released, Tilford posted a selfie to his Instagram. The caption read, “I thank you all for the support soooooo much love for you guys mannnnnn I’m blessed for all you guys hearts much love.” What’s disgusting, though, are the comments this photo received. People seemed to be siding with Tilford by disregarding the women who were allegedly assaulted. There were many comments sending prayers to Tilford. Others said things like, “Stay away from those dirty lying scheming thots bro, they only tryin to bring a n**** on the come up down.”
Tilford himself even appears unfazed by all that is going on. Since his release, he has continued posting Instagram photos in which he appears happy. Of course, we can’t assume the alleged perpetrators committed rape. But why the blatant assumptions that it was the women who did something wrong? The types of thoughts and comments on Tilford’s Instagram photo automatically place the blame on rape victims instead of acknowledging any possible wrongs that he and his friends committed.
The comments left on Tilford’s picture go beyond the incident in question, though. These things don’t happen exclusively at our school. American culture is constantly finding ways to make rape victims responsible. We question what they were wearing, how they present themselves, whether they were drinking, why they were in a particular place at a particular time and a host of other irrelevant factors.
The truth of the matter is that no one is provoked to commit rape. It’s not about being led on or tricked. It’s not about anything the victim does. It’s about the decision the perpetrator makes because they feel entitled to something. That’s why telling girls not to walk alone at night or be a “tease” doesn’t help.
What we’re really doing is ignoring the true motives of rape, avoiding the situation at hand. The result is a culture in which we side with rapists more than rape victims. It doesn’t matter if Tilford and his friends or any other guys for that matter hang out with white girls, black girls, attractive girls or what you have it. Until our culture changes its mindset on sexual assault, we will continue to be a nation that assumes the victim is at fault because of something silly and supports the rapist.
