i wanted to pass along this cleveland plain dealer story done by one of the newspaper’s longtime writers — about her own rape 20 years ago. it takes an hour to read and can get somewhat upsetting (but please don’t let either stop you). the story isn’t just about rape or recovery, but also about race.

I struggled with my reaction to my rape for a long, long time. I feel deep shame to say this, but this story is not worth writing if I don’t tell the truth, however uncomfortable and harsh: The rape made me fear black men I did not know, especially young black men.
I hated this fear. I tried to reason my way out of it, and I spent a lot of my time in therapy trying to overcome it.
Finally, a psychologist asked me the obvious, common-sense question: “But do you also fear and avoid strange white men?”
My answer was yes, of course. The difference was that fearing white men did not make me feel bad about myself. It did not make me feel like a closet racist. It did not bring me shame.

i know i’m being unusually serious, but a couple of people have thanked me already for posting it on my facebook status, and i figured i should give my massive blog readership a chance to read it too. the more people (men, women, whatever) who do, the better.

on an interesting-ish personal note, susan goldberg used to be my boss. she wasn’t particularly well liked, but i wasn’t around long enough to form an opinion on my own. she always had nice shoes, though.

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