COLUMN: "Bred for Bad Intentions"

From Harold Ford's "Papa Don't Take No Mess," Spring '92.From Harold Ford's "Papa Don't Take No Mess," Spring '92.· Strike Two! (Willy) Strike Three! (Mike) And you're going to JAIL, homeboy-ee! Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, for those out of touch Americans, was convicted last week on one count of rape and two counts of sexual deviant conduct in an Indiana court. We don't know how long he will be locked up, but we are certain of one thing: Mike ain't fighting Evander no time soon. The amazing side of this trial was that Mike never stood a chance. I know that Mike has a lot of money which, among other things, afforded him access to a pretty solid legal team. But what his money could not buy him was friends -- at least not real friends. And Mike does not have any real, credible friends. If he did have any real friends, they certainly deserted him when he really needed them. Justice Thomas had the President, select members of the Senate and close, reliable friends to rush to his rescue. In addition to his money and the outpouring of family support, William Kennedy had a name, a name and, I guess, a name. Since I only observed the Thomas hearing and the Kennedy rape trial from a far, I am careful not to sling rocks of innocence or guilt in their directions. But I will say that well-known families and well-placed connections do not hurt a person's chances for confirmation or acquittal. Mike was different, however. He doesn't have a really important family or any revered friends, unless you consider boxing promoter Don King these things. I didn't think so. Mike was dispensable to the general American landscape. His only measurable utility to society was that he could annihilate people in the matter of minutes -- sometimes seconds -- for money every six months. Mike said in an interview a few years back that he believed "a lot of people want to see me self-destruct. They want to see me one day with handcuffs and walking into the police car, going to jail." Time writer Richard Corliss admitted he was surprised that many people, after the verdict was handed down, expressed "sympathy for the devil (Tyson)." Sports Illustrated writer Richard Hoffer went on to describe Tyson as "a single-purpose organism, bred for bad intentions and well-maintained for its unique ability to enact violent public spectacle but extremely unsuited for real life." Mike, in effect, was vulnerable to conviction whether he was guilty or not. Many groups, including several women's activist groups, are excited and encouraged by the outcome of this trial. Corliss quoted one New York City attorney with the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund as having said, "The case provides a basis for people to go to the police. It should also make prosecutors pursue these cases more aggressively." Maybe. I tend to believe that all this case proves is that the law would not be interpreted to exonerate Mike Tyson, which should come as no surprise since Mike is considered the "devil." I guarantee you if Mike had the President's categorical support or had just graduated from Georgetown Medical School with the name Kennedy, things would be different. Not that any of this support is bad -- because if I ever get accused of rape or sexual harrassment, I'd want the President on my side. And I bet if Tyson had these things, he certainly would not now be taking advice from Donald "where did all my money go, I don't know but I'll find $20 million for Mike" Trump. He'd be getting ready to destroy Evander. Our legal system did not perform anything extraordinary last week. The legal system delivered something that it felt it owed the country -- a rape conviction based on the system's culpability and not the accused. (Too bad the system doesn't feel guilty about that old S&L; crisis.) I don't know which is sadder. The fact that Mike probably raped an innocent, 18-year old Sunday school teacher -- or that the criminal justice system is patting itself on the back for convicting someone who was apparently "bred for bad intentions." · Harold Ford is a senior History major from Memphis, Tennessee. Papa Don't Take No Mess appears alternate Thursdays.

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