Back when I was a scrawny middle-schooler with stringy hair and knobby knees, I can remember sitting in my 7th grade history class and listening to my teacher, Mr. E, explain the meaning of the idiom, “The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back.” He was referencing the “Shot Heard Round the World,” a stock phrase often used to describe the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775.
Mr. E explained it like this: Imagine a camel carrying a heavy load of straw. The camel is doing all that he can to not collapse and then one puny, tiny, piece of straw, no different from the rest, is placed on the camel’s back and he just caves.
Similarly, imagine a glass of water that is absolutely filled to the brim. It is about to overflow. Then one final drop, just like all the other drops of water in the glass, is dropped in. There is nothing particularly special about the drop. It just so happens to be the drop that causes the cup to overflow.
In one of my favorite childhood Disney movies, Mulan, there is a scene in which the emperor of China is talking with the Chinese General. The ever-wise emperor says, “A single grain of rice can tip the scale.”
Brock Turner, you are that drop of water. That straw. That grain of rice. There is nothing particularly special about you. Maybe there was. Maybe you were a great swimmer, a stand-up guy, a regular kid, but now? Now you have made a conscious decision to become a rapist and now you are the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The whole world knows your name. You aren’t the first rapist and you won’t be the last. In fact, the national statistics for rape response services state that one in five women has been the victim of attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. You weren’t the first and you weren’t the last rapist, but you will be remembered. Maybe it was your brave victim’s testimony. Maybe it was your father’s letter, your lawyer’s ignorance, the Swedish men’s reactions, that night, the dumpster, the press, that created this- the perfect storm. Maybe all of this made you the shot heard round the world.
But you, Brock? There’s nothing special about you. You’re just like all the others.
They’ll try to tell you otherwise. Your lawyers and your father will make ludicrous claims about your victim’s state of mind, the circumstances of that night, your ability to be rewarded based on “good behavior.” They’ll tell you that this case is different.
But that’s just not true. The only thing that makes this different is that it is the straw that broke the camel’s back. The world has seen this, the straw has been placed on our backs, and we can no longer stand. It’s the shot heard round the world. The flame of injustice brought forward by your victim has finally, FINALLY, been enough to create a fire.
And Brock, it’s about time.
We now have two options.
In a month, we can scroll through our Facebook feed and be onto the next story. The next life tragically affected. The next silent scream of an unnamed victim, a forgotten case, a short sentence of jail time in an attempt to appease. That’s one option.
Or we have the option to let this be the shot heard round the world. The start of a revolution. The straw that broke the camel’s back, the drop of water that began a storm, the grain of rice that tips the scale of justice.
That is the option I choose. I choose to not be silent. I am saddened that it has taken this long, but you have sparked this conversation, Brock. This issue that you have now put a face to can only be resolved by justice, and that is what we seek.
There’s nothing special about you, you’re just the straw that broke the camel’s back.
