Many of us have read all the horrible accusations of unimaginable cruelty towards R Kelly throughout the years. Yet, he kept on selling out arenas, making music and hiding his crimes in plain sight, enabled by those around him who helped him hide those cruel secrets. It once again proves, that in this world, people can and will throw away their morals for money, fame, recognition and for other worldly pleasures, therefore creating a whole network of brushing off any accusations, to keep the cash flowing in, silencing the victims with money and threats. It is truly astonishing how R Kelly was able to get away with it for so many years, with the first allegations made against him dating back to 1991. Finally, the singer was found guilty in one of the trials on the 27th of September, after lots of desperate victim blaming from his defence team.
And understandably, the world is still angry: why did it take a Netflix documentary and so many women to speak up to get any justice? Does this even feel like true justice?
One person tweeted ‘He believed he could lie, but the truth finally caught up with him. It shouldn't have taken this many women, and this many years, for Black women to be believed--and valued. Now time for soul searching.’
Another expressed ‘I have mixed feelings about this #RKelly verdict. Mostly I’m just so, so sad AND EXHAUSTED that it takes at least 20 years or 20 victims for powerful men to receive any accountability, especially when the victims are Black women or kids.’
The saying ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ is a great example. People in important positions can do more damage than good, using that influence for their own gain. Jeffrey Epstein and R Kelly are amongst those examples. They did not care about anyone else but themselves. They did not care if they’ve ruined the lives of children or women by violating, threatening, controlling and humiliating them. They thought they were invincible. Moreover, let’s not forget they did not do it alone - a whole network of people has aided these predators throughout the years, and these people who helped should be held accountable, even if they were just following orders.
One would think that if they see their boss asking them to bring underage girls to them on a regular basis would be the wrong thing to do, right? RIGHT?!
Professors Peggy Cunningham (Dalhousie University) and Minette Drumwright (University of Texas at Austin) explained ‘In all workplaces, people are embedded in networks of social relationships that they value and want to maintain. However, we found that if someone falls prey to the charms of a predator – usually powerful men, such as Kelly – they gradually lose their perspective. <…> These enablers often do not intend to do bad things, but bad behavior is contagious and biases can blind them to their own increasingly bad conduct.’
Eventually, the individual conforms to the culture and loses sight of what is right and wrong, since everyone around them does the same, as well as any feeling of personal responsibility, as our justice system has already shown many times. In reality, in these types of cases, it takes a lot more individuals than just the predator alone to keep an abusive and toxic system like this running, like a well-oiled machine. Yet, if we rid the accomplices of any responsibility, this will keep on happening over and over again.
The professors further state, ‘Our research suggests that networks of complicity also need to be addressed and the behavior of enablers exposed and where appropriate punished.’
With that said, if there are direct legal consequences to those people, the risk will outweigh the reward, meaning the money, recognition or keeping the job will simply not be worth it.
‘Meanwhile, network members themselves need to be shown that it is in their self-interest to expose perpetrators, like Kelly, and lift the veil themselves on the great harm abusive behavior causes.’
After all, most people nowadays only look out for themselves and their personal gain: if something does not directly affect a person, they will most likely be a passive bystander, or see what they can personally get from a situation – hence the self-interest bias. No wonder if one wants to get help while being attacked on the street, they need to shout ‘Fire!’, instead of ‘Help!’. It is a reality that is hard to admit for many people, but in cases like this, it only makes one wonder how different these situations would have been, if the individuals who enabled and aided this notorious behaviour were directly liable.
So, should we be happy that R Kelly’s enterprise is finally shut down for good? Of course. But is there immense room for improvement for the justice system? Absolutely. All we can hope for is that the necessary changes will be made and that little by little more individuals will be held accountable in these situations. But until then, let’s just believe the victims.
Image Courtesy of NBC
Comments