Durham is deeper than that

'Gritty?' Come here punk; I'll show you "gritty."

Under most circumstances, talking to the television set will get you a padded room at the Hoo Hoo Hotel.

An angry monologue was the only response, though, when the ABC News "Nightline" segment on the Duke University lacrosse scandal opened last week with a shot of three obscure, ramshackle buildings that the narrator used to illustrate Durham's deteriorated state.

"Durham," a reporter intoned, "is a gritty city that has seen its better days."

Why, you dirty ... .

At the same time I was whispering unsweet expletives at the screen, across town Reyn Bowman was watching the same show and, he said, "jumping right out of my seat."

"It was gratuitous," Bowman, president of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, said of the slap. "Any show that significant should do its homework. We've had people following up trying to make sure that image doesn't infect" all reports.

Too late, Reyn. When I asked Mayor Bill Bell for his views on how Durham is being treated during coverage of the alleged rape case, he sent me a statement saying he is "concerned about how the city is being portrayed.

"I think, in the rush to ... make a more appealing story, the media has portrayed Durham as a black, poor, working class city pitted against an elitist, white university."

Bowman's job, in a sense, is protecting Durham's image, and attacks or slights aimed at Durham are met with vigorous rebuttals: When hotels and businesses list their address as "RTP, N.C.," they can expect to hear from Bowman. He even said he has seen news reports placing Duke, in rosier times, in Raleigh.

"They never have a problem with that when it's bad news," he said.

The news now is bad, and Durham and Duke are being used as albatrosses placed around each other's neck.

The civic characteristic that makes Durham unique, its racial and cultural diversity, is the same thing that makes it such an easy target for critics. Think about it: When you can stereotype a city as "blue collar," a race as "crime-prone" and a university as "elitist," then you don't have to delve deeper.

Duke students, for instance, have been alternately hailed or vilified as rich and privileged. At any school where the tuition is $40,000, it's unlikely you're going to find many kids who grew up eating welfare cheese and peanut butter, but that still doesn't mean all of them are trust-fund elitists waiting for mumsy and dadsy to croak so they can inherit a Fortune 500 company.

On a network news show earlier this week, I was put in the unaccustomed position of defending Duke students. I mentioned the ones who, among other altruistic acts, have tutored kids in Durham public schools or spent their Saturdays helping to build Habitat for Humanity housing.

Just as it's unfair to characterize Durham by the appearance of three ugly buildings, it's equally unfair to characterize all Duke students by the allegations aimed at three lacrosse players.