Houston Chronicle's photo of the Vanessa Guillén mural near César Chávez High School
It's well beyond the time for me to take time out from posting my Green thoughts and write something about the murder of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén. The phrase "brutally murdered" is used in the media and in conversations with knee-jerk frequency, mostly to show that we know how to use adverbs. It's like how decades after the police beatdown of Rodney King we still hear serious journalists refer to him as "African American motorist Rodney King," as if that were his entire identity, a black guy with a car.
"Brutally" does not even begin to describe this horror movie in real life.
Just as George Floyd's murder-by-cop awakened millions to the value of black lives and the systemic rot in police culture, Vanessa's murder-by-colleague may serve to awaken millions to the rape culture that is rampant in our armed services—which in turn is a reflection, if somewhat distorted, of our society as a whole.
"Brutally" does not even begin to describe this horror movie in real life.
Just as George Floyd's murder-by-cop awakened millions to the value of black lives and the systemic rot in police culture, Vanessa's murder-by-colleague may serve to awaken millions to the rape culture that is rampant in our armed services—which in turn is a reflection, if somewhat distorted, of our society as a whole.
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