Topic
for
5/2/97:		 Is Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson a mere victim of our Army's need to set an example for those who mistreat female recruits, or should he get what he deserves given the magnitude of his actions?



Name: TTristan
Email: c6techcon@vicenza.af.mil
Response: SSG Simpson got what he knew he always could, but played his odds to avoid anyway. This case is not about racial tension in the m ilitary, though they DO EXIST. (I'm in it, I've seen it, I've faced.) It does not even have to be about rape, because I've been in those extended stay training situations too, and seen how "fast & eager" some folks (men & women) are willing to give it up. But, yes, people in the position of power (in or out of the armed forces) have and will continue to use their status to exert unwanted sexual pressure on others. The issue here--the misue/ abuse of power and responsibility. Breech of contract, with both the military and HIS WIFE, and GOD-- to all 3 of whom he stood up and swore to uphold a promise. On the issue of being black, that is where I really get upset... that bro. had made his way, even if it has been rocky, his responsiblity to his people, the black community who love him, was to remain above reproach in his success, and to make the way easier for some of his own. HE HAS DONE THE EXACT OPPOSITE. Now everyone (white, Black, etc) can use him as the unfair measuring stick for the rest of us upstanding black hard working respectable citizens. He has made the road rockier for the next honest bro. or sis. trying to move up in the world. The NAACP, the black race, needs to cut its losses, some of us just can't be saved, because we insist on helping the enemy dig our own graves. Every group (black, white, army civilian, male, female etc.) has its bad, or maybe just not to bright apples.


Name: Jimmy Lateef Vaughan
Email: jvaughan@ctia.org
Response: Regardless of whether the Army is making an example of him or not, no sympathy should be given to Sgt. Simpson. Upon entry into the military, soldiers take an oath to follow the code of conduct. That code is especially stringent for those in command. When he decided to have sex with these women, regardless of their color, he knew he was violating that code of conduct. For every incorrect action there is a consequence. Whether you pay it now or later, that consequence will be paid. Sgt. Simpson will simply have to deal with the consequences of his actions. Saying that the Army is singling him out because of his color is a weak, tired argument. Black folks make bad decisions, just like everyone else, and we have to answer to those decisions, just like everyone else.


Name: Serious in Chicago
Email:
Response: Here we go again! I agree with the responder named BLACK MEN ARE ON THEIR OWN. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. During his folly he probably was not too worried about how his people felt, so why should we now be interested in him? He gets want his calls for. I'm just sorry for his mother. Maybe this will make other brothers keep their pants zipped!


Name: Nnamdi Nzingha
Email:
Response: Delmar has made his bed and now he has to sleep in it!!! What he did was inexcusable, and to make matters worse, he was married.


Name: CALVIN
Email:
Response: WHEN WILL BLACK MEN LEARN? OUR MEN SEEM TO HAVE BEEN STRICKEN WITH SOME KIND OF FEVER THAT SAYS THEY MUST HAVE A WHITE WOMAN. DELMAR SIMPSON THREW AWAY HIS ENTIRE LIFE. AND FOR WHAT? NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME THAT WHATEVER HE GOT WAS WORTH THAT. I THINK THE BLACK COMMUNITY NEEDS TO GET TOGETHER TO DISCUSS THIS. OUR MEN SEEM TO HAVE TAKEN COLLECTIVE LEAVE OF THEIR SENSES.


Name: Erica!
Email: thomas2@potomac.net
Response: This is my first time at this site, and it won't be the last! This is an excellent, well-done site! Now, several points on this most unfortunate case. I well know the stereotype of Black males as super-sexual predator, and I know this country has a shameful history of just taking the word of a white woman to cover her backside for whatever reason. But we in the African-American community MUST deal w/ the issue of rape. A few Black men rape, and most do not, but when it occurs, we must deal w/ it frankly and not use racism as an excuse not to punish them. For ex., former Rep. Mel Reynolds blamed racism b/c he's being punished for having sex w/ an underaged teenager. Racist? She was underaged! A similar point in this case. Not only was dude MARRIED! but the Army regs plainly stated that he should have NO sexual contact w/ his privates, consensual or not. Certainly if he had to have an extra-marital affair, he could do so outside of Aberdeen? Additionally, what's the motivation for the NAACP throwing so much weight behind this case? We have a housing bill in the works that's going to FORCE the residents there into "volunteer" service and we have Republicans in Congress that want to deliberately undercount "minorities" (officials at the Census bureau want to use sampling technique, that will produce a more accurate count for less $$$, rather than the expensive counting of households) b/c they fear Democrats will gain seats -- certainly these are the issues African-American need to be informed about and also act upon. Now I will concede that if the offending person was an officer (2nd Lt. and above) and NOT a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) then it would have been much harder to 1) get him into court and 2)get such a long sentence. It seems to me that the NCOs are like blue-collar workers while the commissioned officers are more like white collar workers (even the military elite?), so because of class differences, the two types of officers most likely would be treated differently. But that's the only unfair situation. I'm sensitive to Simpson being used as an example, ostensibly as a warning that unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated, but implicitly to show again how this society feels a/b Black men and implicitly to white women who wish to "experiment" w/ black men. The army should not engage in witch hunts, and if they as an institution are in error, they should be made accountable. I feel badly for Simpson and his family but his case should not be the standard used to represent the plight of African-American men wrongly accused. He sealed his fate the moment he bedded all those young women.


Name: SSG Brooks
Email: Qnard2@aol.com
Response: The only true victims in all of this are the four children of SSG Simpson that are forced to live their lives without their father. His wife for reasons she probably will never understand has to now become a Single Parent, another statistic. SSG Simpson knew the consequences of what his actions could and would be. He chose lust over the NCO Creed. He put passion before Duty, Honor, Country. He chose females that had less then six months in the military over the 12 years he had invested. I feel no one was really treated unfairly, those female trainees knew what it would take to get over. Many females for centuries have been "Batting our baby browns and blues" to get any thing from preferential treatment to tires fixed on cars. Those trainees were not victims they were willing participants so long as the opportunity presented itself. SSG Simpson chose those females that presented themselves as available. The one female that brought all of the charges claims to have been harrassed by nine Permanent Party soldiers. That is virtually impossible in a Training Environment. I know I've been there. Your total day is supervised and scheduled. You come in contact with 3 Drill SGTs on a daily basis. Picture yourself on a post that my have 3,500 people and you've been there for 4 weeks how can you get to know them without putting yourself out there. The young people of today know how to get over moreso now then ever. They're taught from day one to say no. So by the time they reach the age of 18 and go into the Army nothing changes. How did Simpson know which one of the 30 or so females he could approach like that. Easy, by the way they carried themselves. How can anyone rape you 6 times and you never say anything. These white girls claimed rape when this became a public issue why, because that was a way of saving face when they went back home to their all white communities. They knew that if the word got out that they had been sleeping with a black man, no decent selfrespecting white boy would have them. As for Simpson, he follows suit with the other black men that achieve a little status and turn to a white women to validate it. He now has lost everything, his family, his friends but more so being an NCO the respect from his fellow NCOs. As for those females, they shown me that they have no respect for them selves or the military but, they were not held to answer for actions. They are now serving somewhere on active duty enjoying their pay and all of the the other benefits that we have.


Name: BLACK MEN ARE ON THEIR OWN
Email: S015LAB@DESIRE.WRIGHT.EDU
Response: Delmar Simpson, like O.J., had no business fooling around with white girls anyway. When will Black men ever learn? What is that is SOOO bad about the beautiful, vivacious Black woman, that a Black man would have to disrespect his mother and turn to a straggly haired white woman anyway? The Aberdeen Proving Ground is no more than 40minutes from the District of Columbia. Surely he could have found a Sistah there he could date, or even a white woman working on Captiol Hill, or downtown if he was THAT PRESSED to have one. It angers me how Black men have let the White man dupe them into believing that their women are more precious, and more desirable than his own. Sgt. Simpson may be a scapegoat, or a symbol to deter all of the white men who are doing exactly what Simpson was allegedly doing. But it doesn't matter. If a Black man can follow the rules these whitefolks make and break on a daily basis, and stick to his own beautiful Black woman, he would not find himself on trial for murder one year, and rape the next. Black women have coddled, and defended Black men who continuously find ways to get caught up in foolishness for too long. They are on their own now as far as I'm concerned, and will either sink, or swim in this white world that sets up traps for them that they seem to TRY to fall into, instead of shrewdly maneuver their way around them, with the intelligence and survival skills undoubtedly passed down to them from our ancestors. They just don't want to get the point. So let them sink, and the ones left standing can be upright responsible spouses to the millions of Black women who are stable, and in need of a decent husband.


Name: Sandra Walker
Email: walkerss@erols.com
Response: I believe that Sgt. Simpson is indeed a victim of the Army's need to set an example. And for that he will pay a heavy price. I also believe that he is guilty of the crimes for which he is charged. It is a well-known fact that white women are attracted to black men. It is also a fact that black men are attracted to white women. It is also a fact that both male and female privates are afraid of their drill sargeants who have great power. I do not believe that all those white women wanted to have sex with a black man. I believe he is a dog who used his penis and his rank as a source of power over those he knew could not fight back. It is good that he had so much sex in the army because he will not fare so well in a federal prison to which he is headed for the rest of his life.


Name: K.Copeland
Email: GlenKen@AOL.COM
Response: Every time he crossed that line from IAW (in accordance with) Army regulations to his IAW (improvisation at will), he knew there could be consequences. I don't think he's an example because it is still going on and will go on until an independent committee is allowed to investigate completely. He is definitely not a victim because HE had choices. That's the bottom line.


Name: SFC Copeland
Email: glen@Aol.com
Response: I don't feel sorry for the brother. Here's why, I have been in the Army for 19 yrs and I have a daughter. Often, a soldier gets the benefit of a promotion based on the patch (drill sergeant DS) alone. I still recall the fear I had for that person behind the campaign hat. If my daughter chose to go in the Army, I would expect that she would be taken care of by her DS. I also realize they may have been attractive to him--so what. If he felt himself getting weak, he should've fasted or have asked for another assignment. What I really dislike is seeing another black male on the front page feeding the white media more bites of negativism to destroy our youths chances to eradicate such stereotypes. No I don't feel sorry for him because he disgraced my proud race.


Name: akeem shabazz
Email: jeffery_robibson@dpsnet.detpub.k12.mi.us
Response: The N.A.A.C P. in a recent press conferance, with five lying white women,whom stated that army officals told them told them to lie on negros to cover up this scandal. Once again the whites will go to any lenght to wrongly convict a black man. no justice, no peace. these women told the whole world the armies true intenions. only black men rape white women. white men are saints,when we rape its justified.


Name: Solomon Landers
Email: Numberup@worldnet.att.net
Response: A mere victim? No. The Staff Sergeant was an adult in a position of responsibility. He is also responsible for his own actions. He chose to disrespect his wife and military rules. Actions have consequences, unfortunate ones sometimes. But a man, and a military leader should be more than a mass of unthinking hormones. Granted, the military standard is higher than that of society generally, but this is hardly a bad thing. Discipline, order, honor, integrity are absolutely essential in our armed forces. If a man can't win the battle against his own lower urges, how can he win a war? I don't deny racism in society or in the armed services, but this time I don't think racism is the issue.


Name: Tyree Amala
Email: TyreeA@hotmail.com
Response: Sgt. Simpson has been selected to be used as an example to not only those who would abuse women, but he also serves as example to Black Men in the Military with any type of power.


Name: Jimmie Johnson
Email: tezamiji@ix.netcom.com
Response: Sgt. Delmar Simpson like too many other black men fail to realize exactly how caucasion females really feel about them. Isn't it ironic that his name is Simpson and when are african american males going to recognize that caucasion female beings are out to conquor and then go on to the next "black fool" to completely ruin his life.? Simpson was in a position to improve the lot for african americans in the armed services, but instead, here once again a brother goes wild over the enemy who probably was there to set him up. If he would have been going about the business of doing his duties and not flexing his muscles, he would not be in this mess. I wonder if it was worth it? The enemy is going to eat him up! hopefully the african american community will not come to his rescue. I hope black men all over the world learn something from this and leave those people where they belong which is far away from us.


Name: Barbara Dryden
Email: bujiden@msn.com
Response: I'm very sorry that so many African American men I have run into seem to believe that they must establish their manhood sexually. Of course, this is culturally determined. From the "Mandingo" years when Black men were used for stud service to breed more slaves, much like dogs are bred, to the present time when discrimination in jobs, housing and education leave precious few avenues in which African American men can aspire to excel, sexual domination of women has for some served as a means of self-affirmation. I even admit to a bit of uplift because in this case it seems it is white women who are used rather than African American. But I am tired of seeing our men fall prey to this state of mind. As an African American woman, I have to deal with racism, sexism and sexual exploitation attempts from not only white men but my African American brothers. We must rise above emulation of the sexual exploitation that has apparently been bred into us by history and politics. Our men must make themselves felt by the brain power that is our natural inheritance. Simpson IS responsible for his behavior. He should NOT sexually exploit ANY women.


Name: Qwell
Email:
Response: While in this society we are judging and placing value on individuals' lives. The Bible clearly states that "he who judges will be judge". If we as individuals believed God to be who He says He is, we would be unable to exercise any definite judgement. We must recognize that to live in this evil world a decision must be made. The decision must be to either do right because it is right to do, or to do wrong . This is no middle ground. Now in this case, the individuals involved all had to make a decision, to do and/or accept to do right or wrong. Therefore, whether we use Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson as an example, he was not the only one who made their decision. To be frank, there would be no way to judge without being judge by self-examination and knowing that God will hold you accountable for your decision and you must stand in defense of your decision to be walking in the same judgment in which one has applied to this individual. I believe we must be careful to label/judge/place value of morality on any persons. Remember Jesus was judged falsely by many, but He came to save us all who have SINNED. And no sin is greater than the other. If we claim to love God, then we must also choose to make the decision to do RIGHT! On another tip, our system is inconsistent in their judgments. The judgment is strict and overbiased, and demonstrates that it is being used as an example. An unfair example. Just as the OJ trial. This is just my expression of opinion!


Name:
Email: shadeed2@juno.com
Response: If Staff Sgt. Delmar Simpson is really guilty of rape and other assortments of mis-conduct, then what in hell, for instance, is the rep. barney frank guilty of? If its about principles, and not about most of the so-called victims being white, then what criminal laws are we africans following that says on the one hand that, 1) one cannot violate long standing military laws forbidding fraternization between officers and subordinates, but on the other hand, one can, if he's white, seduce even young boys and not only stay out of jail, but allowed to remain in high office, where he votes on and passes, or rejects, laws for people to follow. This dangerous double standard in dealing with criminal laws and other policies, make this countrys' rulers a very sick and dangerous breed. No one is safe from being accused, charged, and convicted on absolutely anything that is currently feasible. In the past, societies died when they became corrupt beyond repair!


Name: Sylvia Weeks
Email: ljr97@bellsouth.net
Response: I feel that as African Americans we must choose our courses to steer very carefully. It is intresting to me that the news media is focusing so much attention on this particular topic when there are so many more that deserve our attention. Delmar Simpson is not a cause to fight for. Hopefully he will find peace with himself. It will do him no good to beat up on himself. We all make mistakes and There is still a God in heaven. However, I have no sympathy for the brother. I do have sympathy for his wife and mother. I have felt that betrayal of trust. I think this is a distraction from the issues that are important in our community and the NAACP should be seen on CNN discussing ways we can help mothers make the transition from welfare to less than minimum wage employment. And, how are we going to find employment for those workers that are being displaced from Dept. of Public Assistance Offices across the country.


Name: Quincy Alvarez
Email: maven@eden.rutgers.edu
Response: Based on cases such as O.J. Simpson and Sgt. Delmar Simpson, I have my own concerns regarding the Black Communities' interest in both matters. Putting all notion of Political-Correctness and subtlety aside, do African Americans as a whole believe sexual violence, rape or murder committed against white women is justified because it somehow serves as a means of vengeance against the White Community? I can understand the view of African American Women with regards to their opposition to interracial relationships between black men and white women. I just want to know if there is truth behind the "Revenge Factor" regarding cases in which black men sexually involve themselves with white women. Does that liason have any merit behind it? Response, Please.