Crystal Mangum as Hypervisible Object and Invisible Subject: Black Feminist Thought, Sexual Violence, and the Pedagogical Repercussions of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case

Abstract

In March 2006 Crystal Mangum, a Black female exotic dancer, accused three White male Duke student-athletes of sexual violence, igniting a firestorm of media coverage. This article focuses on the public treatment of Mangum, before and after the case was legally resolved, illustrating how she became hypervisible as a vilified object and invisible as a credible subject. Drawing on Black feminist thought, we consider how representations of Mangum serve pedagogical functions, teaching Black female survivors to stay silent.

Keywords:

• Black feminist thought
• Crystal Mangum
• Duke University
• sexual violence
• speaking subject
• pedagogy
• visibility

Notes

We refer to the case as the “Mangum/Duke” case to mark Mangum's erasure, as the case is usually referred to as only the “Duke” case.

We refer to Mangum as a “survivor” to forefront her perspective. While we recognize our choice as controversial, we do so guided by the impetus of Black feminist thought to center the perspectives of Black women and create spaces for Black women to speak for themselves (Collins, 2009). We do not position our choice as an insinuation of guilt with regard to the accused; rather our choice is a means to recognize the multiple perspectives of the case.

The only Black player on the team was exempted because Mangum identified her attackers as White.

A keyword search for “Crystal Mangum” in our library's Books and More database results in “Your search—Crystal Mangum—did not match any resources,” while a keyword search for “Duke lacrosse” yields 16 results—the first five of which explicitly center Duke, Duke lacrosse, and/or advocate on behalf of the lacrosse players and coach in response to the case.