Amanda Knox: Are We Ignoring The Elephants in The Room?
I won’t get into the tawdry details of the murder of poor Meredith Kercher. You should or must know that by now. I won’t get into all of the drama surrounding Amanda Knox because you can read that here . I believed, back in 2009 when she was convicted of murder, that she was involved in some way. Whether or not she killed Meredith was something I wasn’t sure about. What I was sure of, however, was that she was lying about and/or hiding something based on her ever changing stories.
None of that matters now, because yesterday Knox’s conviction was overturned and she was released. She is currently on her way back to Seattle. The way this city has supported her since day one has been puzzling and baffling to me. It seems that from the beginning no one could believe this woman had anything to do with Kercher’s death. It was like it was patently impossible. Some people here wouldn’t let it die. I lost interest in the case and only paid attention when important details came out. I followed the case closely in the beginning, but life went on for me.
I found the whole thing to be disgusting and tacky. They would call this average looking woman “Foxy Knoxy” for reasons I didn’t quite understand. Knox was always at the forefront of the entire case, while Kercher became an afterthought. Did people even remember why she was on trial anymore? It was all about Knox. But then again this is not all that strange. We will be barraged with images of missing Caucasian women over and over again, even if there is little to no hope of finding them alive (Natalee Holloway), while we will completely ignore women of color even when we have a chance to save them (Romona Moore). Meredith, whose mother is Indian and father is white, did not stand a snowball’s chance in hell.
This whole thing has made me sick because we are ignoring the elephants in the room: race and class. I cannot deny that the Italian police and forensic team totally screwed this up. They probably feel the same way the LAPD felt after the OJ Simpson trial. I am not convinced Knox is innocent, but then again it’s not up to me. The DNA evidence was botched and it was not fair to keep her or her boyfriend Sollecito in custody. I wouldn’t want that happening to my child. Still, the unapologetic use of white female victimhood to draw sympathy for Knox was vulgar. Yes, people will do what they have to do to get others to believe in their loved one’s innocence, but the ease in which they attacked the Italians as these otherworldly, backwards foreigners–when we make the same stupid mistakes here *cough OJ cough*–was vile. They othered the Italians and made it look like they envied Amanda Knox for being beautiful, for being fair… The prosecutor obviously has issues, but I don’t think it’s fair to say he represents all Italians. Of course they had to add the “America! Fuck Yeah!” factor in there, and it started to feel like I was watching some kind of spinoff to “Birth of a Nation”. The Kerchers couldn’t compete with the wealth Knox and her supporters had thrown into a PR firm and other perks that money can buy you when you’re in deep shit.
All the while Meredith was forgotten and stayed forgotten. All the while we saw the same photos of her in her Halloween costume, while we were treated to endless photos of Amanda Knox.
She’s also been hailed as some sort of hero or saint for having gone through her ordeal. Yet, no one seems to want to bring up the fact that she accused Diya “Patrick” Lumumba–her former boss–as a suspect. How soon we forget what happened when white women accused innocent black men of raping white women.
When will she be called on the table for that? Quite frankly, unless she can come up with a reasonable explanation for why she did that, I could care less about her and her credibility and integrity will always be suspect to me. Lumumba’s life was ruined as a result of her lie but no one wants to hold her accountable. That’s just not acceptable to me, and it shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone else.
I believe in God. I believe that He doesn’t sleep. I also believe that we all will ultimately have to pay for the things we’ve done wrong, whether it’s in this life or the next. So, guilty or innocent, God is still at work. This not about being bitter but frustrated at the obscenity of this entire thing. Enough already. Let her go to her family and to her life–after all she’s still got hers, and Meredith does not–and live out the rest of her days in obscurity just like the rest of us. When all is said and done, this woman’s character and integrity are immature and need development. She should not be rewarded for that.
Knox will go on to have a number of interviews where they will want to talk to her about her ordeal. Let’s not forget Meredith Kercher or her family. Let’s not forget the injustice done to Patrick Lumumba. Let’s hope Amanda Knox doesn’t forget either.
