“Innocent until proven guilty,” and “due process,” all sound like promising statements from our U.S. government, unless you’re a minority.
What makes minorities weary is whether these platitudes will actually be implemented into their cases, or used for some other political propaganda, as seen in Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s trial.
The Senate decided to move ahead with Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination after the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, as well as the accusations of Deborah Ramirez, Julie Swetnick and an anonymous accuser. They are expected to start voting on Friday.
Out of all the accusers, Dr. Blasey Ford is the one who detailed her experience for hours while under the nation’s scrutiny.
Ordinary citizens having opinions and taking sides isn’t shocking. This is America, after all.
What is striking is the obvious partisan routes political leaders went with Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony. They’ve taken her testimony and ran with it for their own political ambition.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh, ridiculed Dr. Blasey Ford at a Mississippi rally. Trump mockingly quoted part of Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony.
“I don’t know. I don’t know.’ ‘Upstairs? Downstairs? Where was it? ‘I don’t know,” Trump said. “But I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember.”
Republican leaders in favor of Kavanaugh also personally challenged Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony, while releasing an explicit alleged statement about accuser Swetnick’s sex life.
Envision your private and traumatic experiences being used as political bait.
Dr. Blasey Ford remained composed and receptive when detailing her past trauma, and it wasn’t enough for her to be treated with plain respect.
Dr. Blasey Ford followed the route of Anita Hill, who also testified against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas for sexual misconduct in 1991. The case was swift and there was little attention paid to checking for other potential witnesses.
Both trials brought a harsh reality to light about sexual assault, most victims are ignored. Plenty of Kavanaugh supporters wondered why Dr. Blasey Ford did not come forward until now.
This ridicule is why. The dismissive attitudes and lack of urgency from our government is why other survivors of sexual assault will never come forward with their accusations.
They will never be taken seriously and will have to deal with more trauma than before.
In turn, a vicious cycle of sexual assault, victim blaming, and internal trauma is projected and normalized in society.
I hope that us being aware of this will change our government. I hope that Dr. Blasey Ford and Anita Hill’s testimonies weren’t done in vain.
But it’s quite difficult to be optimistic.
There are hundreds of women in Washington D.C. protesting Kavanaugh as I write this article. While the word gets out, plenty of these women are simultaneously being detained.