Brian Banks

"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury." Marcus Aurelius

Brian Banks and Wanetta Gibson, both minors, had consensual sex. Then Gibson accused Banks of kidnapping and rape. His attorney, an adult woman, told him he was a "big black teenager" and a jury would never believe him. So instead of going to trial, which was his right, he pled no contest and lost precious years of his life in jail. Gibson and her family, adults, won a large judgment in a civil lawsuit against the school district. She recently reached out to Banks on Facebook and has admitted she lied. With the help of the Innocence Project, he has been exonerated and is claiming monetary damages from the state of California, which is his right. This is all a huge failure on the part of the many adults involved.

Every time a woman falsely accuses a man of rape, it is a disservice to the women who truly are raped.  I had conversations with both my sons when they were very young teenagers, about their vulnerability as young men. I told them that even if the girl consents, yes even if the encounter appears to be her idea, later she could say she was raped and it could possibly be her word against his. I took no pleasure in having these talks with my sons, but I had to prepare them for reality.

Brian Banks seems ready to get on with his life. At this point, he has chosen not to go after Gibson, although I think she needs to be held accountable in some way. Nina Mandell in The New York Daily News quotes him as saying, "I know it's best for me to try and move forward in a positive manner for the betterment of me. It hurts no one but myself to hang on to the type of negative energy." Wow.

Susan