After 18 Years, The Duke Lacrosse Accuser Finally Admits That She Fabricated The Entire Thing
There is so much to unpack here, and I'm not entirely sure if I have it in me to be the one to go through them all. But for essentially my entire life, lacrosse players have been vilified because of one gigantic lie. And now that the lie has finally been admitted to, those 3 players and that entire Duke lacrosse program deserves for this admittance to get out to as many people as possible.
There are so many lives all across the world that are unimaginably shattered due to sexual assault. It is beyond heart breaking to think about how many people have to go through life carrying that trauma everywhere they go. It's even more heart breaking to know that some victims have to carry that trauma while nobody believes them. And the reason why it's still hard to believe absolutely everybody who comes out accusing someone (or some people) of committed a violent sexual assault is because of people like Crystal Magnum.
Not only did she attempt to completely ruin the lives of 3 lacrosse players at Duke University. Not only did she ultimately get that entire team's season cancelled, the coach fired, the reputation of the program tarnished, and create a narrative around lacrosse players for an entire generation. But she also committed quite possibly the worst injustice towards actual victims of sexual assault. Lives are ruined by sexual assault, but lives are equally as ruined by wrongful, and straight-up fabricated, allegations of sexual assault.
Just from a personal standpoint here--I've been coaching high school lacrosse for the past 10 years. I also have 2 daughters who my wife and I adopted. They are 19 and 18-years-old respectively. I love the shit out of every kid I coach, and I obviously love the shit out of my daughters. I would love to live in a world where I knew for a fact that nothing bad would or could ever happen to my daughters. I'd also love to live in a world where I know that nobody could ever wrongfully accuse any of the kids I coach of doing something heinous, and then the court of public opinion assuming they're guilty before anything ever happens. Moments like the 2006 Duke lacrosse case make it so hard to believe we'll ever live in that world. But at least this admittance is a good place to start. At least David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann finally get to hear what they've known was the truth this entire time. It won't be able to make up for the past 18 years of public opinion still making jokes about the entire ordeal. But it's a place to start.