This week, Brock Turner was released from prison, a mere 3 months into his already minuscule 6 month sentence. He was greeted by protestors at every turn, protestors that I would argue, are completely warranted in their arguments.
Brock Turner is a name that may very well be on the minds of all college women, but if he doesn’t seem to ring a bell, you may also know him by such affectionate titles as Stanford swimmer, a misguided youth, or the posterchild for the impact of white privilege on the justice system. Now, you may be asking yourself, “was that necessary? Why do we have to bring privilege into this? I’m not even one hundred percent sure what makes him a criminal?” Let me set the scene for you and we’ll talk a little more.
Brock Turner, a previous collegiate swimmer at Stanford University, raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster following a party. He, a white college-aged man, saw in a drunk woman, who cannot make cognitive decisions and therefore cannot give consent, an opportunity to exert his power over her in a time of vulnerability. Rape is about a power hierarchy, and anyone who doubts Brock Turner’s title as a rapist needs to remember this. Women should not be scared to be drunk in public, to be out alone, or to enjoy their college careers, but because of rapists like Brock Turner, we are.
How must she have felt to have her abuser painted as someone so passive, as someone who should be pitied? Because he might have been a good swimmer? Because he’s only 21? Because he’s white and male and shouldn’t be expected to control himself? All of this while she suffered with the shame and the disgust and the anger that comes with being the victim of a traumatic experience.
White privilege is what makes Brock Turner’s story especially frustrating, but also especially important. By some miracle, he went to trial, but because he “had potential,” and the judge “didn’t want to taint his college experience,” a crime that on average warrants 5-15 year in prison, earned him only 6 months. And of those 6 months, how many did he serve? 3.
Now, it isn’t unheard of for rape cases to receive significantly less jail time them they deserve, but that is more contributed to our society’s civil feelings on rape and women’s roles in it. When the first questions when a woman is raped qualifies her surroundings and her role in her own victimization, it is easy to see the sickening correlation in prison sentences. But, 3 months? There’s another system at play there.
Because of Brock Turner’s role as the top of the societal hierarchy, he received special treatment not often given to men and women of color when facing less violent and vile crimes. He is given mere months when people of color would have their whole lives torn apart and put on display simply because of a socially constructed opinion on who is worthy and who is not. Brock Turner forced himself upon a woman and ultimately ruined her entire future world view and subjected her to unimaginable trauma, but it is acceptable for him to spend only six months in prison?
According to our justice system, yes. According to our justice system, it is more important to send people of color to prison for the rest of their lives over drugs or other non-violent offenses than to reassure a woman that her story and her experiences are valid and recognized. According to our justice system, Brock Turner is more important. A rapist is more important.
So, yes, I do not believe in protecting the feelings of those in positions of power, and it is a necessity to call out violent white privilege when it prevails. This is all about how white privilege has and will continue to seep into our industrialized systems until heavy and serious critiques are implemented into situations such as Brock Turner’s trial and sentence. Until these conversations are had, Brock Turners nationwide will continue to commit violent crimes, get the sympathy of other white men, and get away with things no one should ever get away with. The cycle will continue and continue.