By Tracy Clayton
So I’m thinking that the folks at Very Smart Brothas should consider changing their name. To Very Misled Brothas. Very Loud and Wrong Brothas. Or Very Well Intentioned But Ultimately Failing Brothas. Their latest post entitled “’Rape Responsibility’ and the Fine Line Between Victim Blaming and Common Sense” makes a very good case for doing so.
If you cringed at the very mention of that title, congratulations! You have approximately 30 percent more sense than VSB thinks women don’t have. The article was written in response to a piece that appeared at Ebony.com entitled “Stop Telling Women Not to Get Raped” by Zerlina Maxwell of Loop 21. Maxwell basically said that cautioning women on how to behave (dress appropriately, don’t leave clubs with strange men, etc.) as a means to prevent rape is ineffective, and that the real change will ultimately come from teaching our boys not to rape. VBS’s response was essentially, “Yes, I agree with all that…but y’all still need to be careful.” Seems innocuous enough, right? It’s not. Here’s why.