AnxiousBlackWoman has this trenchant commentary on the behavior of the mother of the woman who who was held captive, tortured and sexually abused for over a week in a West Virginia trailer:
It wasn’t until yesterday that I tuned into a CNN video online featuring an interview with the victim’s mother. I did not see an outraged or devastated mother letting the world into the tiny hospital room where her injured daughter lay so that we could witness the crime done against her. No. I saw a mother not protecting her daughter. I saw a mother letting in the Media Vultures into that tiny hospital room, where her daughter needs rest and healing and perhaps hasn’t gotten much with all this intrusion from the press. I saw a mother be interviewed by various press folk, only glancing at her daughter once while soaking in all the reporters’ questions. I saw a mother leak out unflattering things about her daughter – from insinuating that she’s got “mental issues” and “learning disabilities” (i.e. She’s stupid, y’all!) to further insinuating that she’d “go missing for weeks, running around town” (i.e. She’s a no good trifling so-and-so, y’all!) – things that may come back to haunt the victim as the defense team builds a case that would throw doubt on her testimony in court. I saw a mother caretaking while subliminally blaming her daughter for what had happened. I saw a mother not protecting her daughter and turning her over to the wolves.
Something else. I saw a daughter silenced. I saw a daughter lying in bed, filing her nails nonchalantly, pretending that she didn’t care her mother and the press were talking about her as if she weren’t even in the room. I saw her furtive glances into the camera while it objectified and fragmented parts of her body (close-ups on her shaven head, the bruises on her neck, her blackened eyes staring blankly out at us). I saw a daughter shut down, and I saw a daughter who is used to shutting down, making herself small and invisible. And, I hate to say it, but in that little TV interview, I also was able to comprehend how and why this victim got involved with someone like Bobby Brewster.
The full post is here.
-Bridget Crawford
