It was just after 2 a.m. on a pitch-black Friday morning when Bernadette Greene-Placentia’s life changed. The Democratic candidate for Congressional District 8 strolled across a parking lot to repair a damaged campaign sign. It was a routine she’d followed all summer. This time, she only made it a few yards.
An attacker smashed her over the head. She blacked out. She woke up to find a strange man on top of her.
Greene-Placentia struggled to open her eyes. She felt a sharp pain below her waist. The attacker was pulling his penis out of her.
She heard him mumble something like, “-ic bitch, not a very good fuck,” which her mind filled in as “Democratic bitch,” she recalled. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what he said.
One leg was out of her jean capris. She wore brand-new tennis shoes and a campaign t-shirt. Another man came over. Greene-Placentia felt his weight nudging her left leg further apart. She began swinging her foot at him. “Not even worth it,” she heard the man say as he moved away. He wore black boots and had small feet, she recalled.
The two men left Greene-Placentia face down in the parking lot. The hatch of her silver Jeep Grand Cherokee was still open. The car was still running. She heard music.
She doesn’t remember pulling up her pants or picking herself off the asphalt parking lot. She doesn’t remember closing her Jeep’s hatch and putting her foot on the gas. She doesn’t remember pulling her car into the driveway and collapsing into her bed.
“It’s just these little tiny flashes of things that I do remember,” Greene-Placentia said in an interview with Phoenix New Times. “As much as I don’t want to remember, I’ve tried very, very hard to remember more stuff. But that’s where I’m at.”
That’s the fucking horrendous thing about censorship. It gets us to think the horrible thing is the ‘word’.
We’re not fucking distressed about the fucking “RAY” sound followed by the “APE” sound, we’re distressed to hear that a man involuntarily pushed his dick into a woman - in the year 2026.
This kind of thing can even distance victims, making it harder for a woman to seek solace by announcing to a limited group online “My name is X, and I was a victim of rape”. Or, in a similar case, a black guy telling a group “You think racism doesn’t exist? A cop pulled me over last week, and I swear I heard him call me a n^^^^r over the radio.” Imagine the level of societal disgust/action that just doesn’t happen because people are taught they can’t talk about these things. They’re distressing? Of course they are!!
On the last note, I’ll only say that I choose to censor the N word because I’m white, and I don’t like designing “valid scenarios” for racists and trolls to get to say it, which they always want to.
Well stated. News agencies should state facts and not downplay the news. It’s not good for society. Sometimes I wonder if certain words are avoided to make advertisers happier.