BTR News: America’s culture and legacy of rape

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America has a problem and it is called rape. A 16 yr-old teen says she was drugged and raped recently at a house party in Houston. Her alleged rapist took photos of her half-naked body lying on the floor passed out and posted them on social media and the photos went viral. Many people thought the photos were funny and then started posting photos of them imitating the teen victim’s body position, sort of like the planking photos that went viral.

In 2005, LaVena Johnson was a 19 yr-old Army private deployed to a base in Iraq. She had been there just eight weeks when her lifeless body was found in a tent. She had a gun shot wound to the head, was partially burned from being setting on fire and had some sort of caustic substance poured on her genitals by her alleged attacker. Like so many victims of rape in the US military, the military sought to cover it up.

It would be easy to point at the case of the 16 yr-old rape victim and say the blame lies solely with a hip-hop culture that has for years sexually objectified women but as LaVena Johnson’s case illustrates, it is part of US military culture as well where men and women are victims. However, it does not stop there as rape and sexual assaults are a part of college culture. In fact, it is correct to say that rape is a huge part of American culture that goes back to height of the genocide committed against Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans. It is also a telling sign when states refuse to do anything about prison rape where 60% of all reported rapes are committed by prison guards and other staff.

Tonight we will examine it all with youth counselor Shareef Hameed. Join us for this important conversation and dialogue.

Black Talk Radio News focuses on the global social/political news and issues of the day from a Black perspective. It is produced and hosted by Scotty Reid and airs on the Black Talk Radio Network radio station.