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It's a sad thing when issues of race obvuscate matters of justice.

An AP article this past Tuesday explored the phenomenon of the hyper-sexualized black women in American culture. This issue was explored against the backdrop of the ongoing investigation into rape charges filed against two white Duke lacrosse players. The victim: a black stripper. Police officials are still unclear whether charges filed against the two players can qualify as a "biased crime."

Crime is crime, and one can do nothing but lament at the undeniable role the race will play in the investigation. Sure, historical analyses and critiques matter--especially at NYU, where one could probably take a class on the application of deconstructionist theories to Charles in Charge.

(To explain my reference to deconstuctionism and Charles in Charge: A friend of mine told me that, in one of his classes, a student referred to herself as the, "suicide bomber of deconstructionism." Don't even ask me what that means. And, Charles in Charge is just a great show.)

I've read Bell Hooks, so, yes, I get it. And, my intention is not to undermine the importance of cultural studies. It's just unfortunate that Rush Limbaugh's judgements on the victim served as a roadblock to the direction any valid discussion about this case should pursue: punitive actions for the crime of rape, and not critical theories on race.

Here's a snapshot from Limbaugh's March 31st broadcast:

CALLER 1: Why is it, do you think, that you haven't heard hardly anything from Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton about the whole immigration thing? I mean, the silence is deafening from

LIMBAUGH: Well, they're busy.

CALLER 1: -- the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] and the --

LIMBAUGH: They're -- they're busy. They're busy. The Reverend Jackson is in New Orleans. He's leading a big march there tomorrow. The march is -- what is it called? The -- the march for the right to return a protected vote and reconstruction. He's trying to -- they got problems down in New Orleans. They don't have voter base, and Sharpton's working on a New Orleans deal, too. He's trying to figure out how he can get involved in the deal down there at Duke where the lacrosse team --

CALLER 1: Yeah.

LIMBAUGH: -- uh, supposedly, you know, raped, some, uh, hos.

To answer my own question: What's race got to do with it? Unfortunately, a whole lot more than we thought.