To wear or not to wear

Listening to a local sports-talk show in Charlottesville this week, I heard a discussion about whether, as parents, we would allow our son or daughter to wear a Duke men’s lacrosse T-shirt.

One caller said he would not allow his kids out of the house while wearing such a T-shirt. Apparently he wanted to teach his kids a valuable lesson about the judicial system. And that lesson was …. well, I’m really not too sure.

See, call me crazy, but I thought the judicial system in this great country of ours was based on the innocent until proven guilty principle. You know – you actually have to be convicted and not just accused before you are guilty.

But by banning your kids from wearing a Duke lacrosse T-shirt you’ve essentially told them that the players are guilty. Forget the case. Forget the court proceedings. Forget these players’ right to a trial.

First of all, only two players were arrested (although there are plenty of rumors that at least one more arrest will take place) and the rest of the players are guilty of, at most, bad judgment.

But even those players who were arrested deserve their day in court. At this point they are simply accused of a crime, not found guilty of one.

Aren’t we going a little overboard with this whole thing? Don’t misunderstand me. Sexual assault is a terrible thing, and if it occurred in this instance then someone should be punished.

But banning our kids from wearing a T-shirt is just insane. Did we ban Los Angeles Lakers T-shirts when Kobe Bryant was accused of rape? Did we outlaw Carolina Panthers T-shirts when Rae Carruth was accused, then convicted, of conspiracy to commit murder?

Of course not. Now, I will grant you that, in this case, the entire Duke lacrosse team was in the same building where the alleged crime took place. But that isn’t a good enough reason to condemn the entire program (which is pretty much what the school has done by shutting down the season and allowing the coach to resign).

So, would I allow my daughter to wear a Duke lacrosse T-shirt? If she wanted to, sure.

Maybe she’d be supporting the players who haven’t been accused of a crime. Maybe she’d be trying to tell others to hold judgment until we know all the facts. Maybe she was a fan of the Duke lacrosse team before any of this mess started and isn’t willing to give up on the team now. Or maybe she simply wants to wear a T-shirt.

And any of those reasons would have my full support.

- Patrick Hite