Slavery isn’t a criminal defense

By Promise King

The Portland Tribune, Jun 11, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

The news hit me with awful force. A suave Portland defense attorney, Randall Vogt, has decided to play the race card ever so coyly. According to pretrial papers filed in Washington County Circuit Court, Vogt contends that one reason his black client, Isaac Cortez Bynum, allegedly beat his 2-year-old son to death is because he suffers from “post-traumatic slave syndrome.”

In layman’s terms, Vogt is arguing that Bynum hasn’t gotten over the suffering that blacks endured from slave owners Ñ physical and psychological assaults that ranged from humiliating whippings to the most vile forms of denigration.

For corroboration, Vogt drew upon the work of Joy DeGruy-Leary, an associate professor at the Portland State University School of Social Work. The lawyer called DeGruy-Leary to testify. In fairness, DeGruy-Leary did not testify about the specifics of the case. According to her, she was simply called to offer an insight into the ramifications of “transgenerational trauma caused by the legacy of slavery.”

DeGruy-Leary has spent almost two decades developing her theories regarding slave syndrome. The theory postulates that the African-American community never got a chance to heal from the wounds of slavery, and, as a result, blacks suffer from multigenerational trauma. Self-destructive, aggressive and violent behaviors often result.

The merits of her theory aren’t really the issue here. What is vexing is the idea that slavery Ñ one of the most savage chapters of American history Ñ can be exhumed to defend an accused killer. Our continued silence when racial cards are played with such impunity simply undermines race relations.

DeGruy-Leary says her work is geared toward healing, and not for use in defense of alleged criminal behavior. “Those who would misconstrue PTSS as a form of rationalization for beating, abusing or harming children in any regard fail to take into account my commitment to the fundamental values and ethical standards of the profession of social work,” she says. “After 15 years of often painstaking research, my work on PTSS has made me acutely aware of a need for further dialogue regarding the relationship between historical traumas and the issue of race.”

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