Victim

A college student was out jogging and she was attacked and murdered and the suspect arrested is Jose Ibarra an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. The interesting thing about the reporting of this incident is how many suggested that females should not be jogging alone. To some this seems like blaming the victim. Recall back in the 50's when Brigitte Bardot came out in a mini skirt and soon it became a fad. There was an incident shortly after when a young woman wearing a mini was accosted and some said she should have been more careful which is a roundabout way of blaming the victim. This caused a backlash in the press saying she had every right to feel safe wearing the mini. That was back in the time when politically correct speech was not at the forefront of the news. Today to blame the victim should be vigorously attacked but it is pretty quiet. While it is unfair to blame the victim people have a responsibility to act sensibly. If a man wearing a $2,000 suit is mugged in a dangerous part of town at 2 in the morning it is not unreasonable to suggest that he should have been more careful. This does not excuse the mugger but it does point out why people have to use common sense. It is suggested that one of the reasons why there is not that much backlash in the Ibarra case is that the attacker was part of the oppressed class and the victim was in the oppressor class.