Speaking of which, we can't help noting that the two young men thus far indicted are from New York and New Jersey as it turns out. In other words, good ol' boys they ain't. Meanwhile, Duke University and Durham, located just a few miles from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and smack dab in the center of what's known as the Research Triangle, are about as Southern these days as the Bronx.

Another myth shattered by facts is the claim that the alleged perpetrators belong to a privileged class by virtue of their attendance at Duke University, an expensive private school where tuition and fees run about $40,000 per year.

The impression of privilege is expanded by the perception that lacrosse is a white prep school sport. While true that lacrosse is popular at northern prep schools, it's also a popular sport in northern public schools, and increasingly so down South.

In any case, 40 percent of Duke's students receive financial aid, and minorities represent 37.1 percent of Duke's class of 2009, though only 9 percent are black. Another 21.5 percent are Asian and 6.5 percent are Hispanic. Nevertheless, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education has named Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill among the top schools in the nation for African-Americans.

As of Tuesday, a third person was expected to face indictment in the rape case. Given that all but one of the Duke lacrosse team is white, we can safely bet that the third person to be charged also will be white.

Beyond that, any commentary about race, class and privilege is meaningless - nothing more than the tropes of snake-oil salesmen and rabble-rousers whose time for fretting and strutting upon life's stage has passed.