Definitely. No doubt.

I used to live in Memphis so can add that race was most likely a factor here. The Memphis police are racially biased. That said, they are also extremely gender biased, especially in reports of sex crimes or domestic violence. I cannot say that if Ms. Franklin had been white like the heiress, the end result would not have been the same. I literally have no confidence there. It most likely would have been exactly the same end, with a woman being murdered.

Let’s not forget he said to her, "you bitcheS always say that." This is a confession of a serial rapist. He’s already had multiple victims by the time he ran across Ms. Franklin. What’s the likelihood, given that, Ms. Fletcher, the woman he killed, was white and that he’s operating near a college campus, that ALL of those victims prior to Ms. Franklin were also black? Not very high. I’d bet if reports were combed for similarities, like a Tshirt over the head, you’d find a LOT more and they’d be of both races, maybe even Hispanic and Asian too. Those women just didn’t have a description or a name.

In the end, this is what all women deal with. Rape is not taken seriously by law enforcement or the prosecution of the law. It’s only when we’re dead, and then only if the families of the victim have some financial clout, that anyone ever gives a damn that women are being brutalized and murdered on the regular in this country. For being women. Being a woman means you are born with a death sentence that can be enforced at any time by any man. Mostly, justice or accountability is a pipe dream. You live in a state of stochastic terror.