Why no fairness for Christine Blasey Ford?

After almost 30 years we are still in the same place when a Supreme Court nominee is accused of sexual abuse. Anita Hill bravely submitted herself to Senate hearings after accusing Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Ms. Hill ended up on trial. Mr. Thomas refused to discuss details and he currently resides as the most senior member of the Supreme Court.

It is wise that Christine Blasey Ford not submit herself to the humiliation of a public raping, allowing herself to be cast as a mixed-up, crazy liar of a woman in order to get her voice heard because she knows it won’t be heard just as Anita Hill’s voice wasn’t heard. Professor Ford knows that if she were to go up against Judge Kavanaugh and his tribe of white Republican males that she will walk away the bad guy no matter what she says. And, more importantly, she knows that if the same thing happens to her that happened to Anita Hill, we will be locked into another 30 years of governmental sexual abuse.

Ms. Ford knows she won’t be able to do it alone — no one person can make a systemic change. It takes a tribe to come in and join her in battle. She needs all of us, female and male allies alike, to stand up and demand an FBI investigation. She needs a non-partisan backup to present her case. She needs to know that she is in a safe environment to call this person out.

Some people are saying that she came forward and then wasn’t brave enough to face the committee. It’s not a matter of bravery, she is protecting herself from further abuse. I applaud her self-empowerment. She’s not waiting for the government to save her, she knows they won’t. They will do what they always do — protect the status quo and protect the white male.