Last fall, not long after the shock of the plummeting stock market had begun to wear off, Americans were thrown yet again into a frenzy by another startling news event. It was the horrendous ordeal of Tawana Brawley.

Remember her? It was late November in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., when the traumatized 16-year-old black girl wrapped inside a plastic garbage bag was found covered in excrement and with racial slurs written across her body. As the tale unfolded it was publicized that during her four-day disappearance, the girl had been abducted and sexually abused by a group of white men, one wearing a badge.

The story of the terror she had been forced to endure quickly became an event of national concern causing the media, celebrities, politicians, law enforcement officials and citizens alike to rally in support and later to question her word. And for some, it has continued for the past 10 months.

But now, after a seven-month state grand jury inquiry it turns out that the story was just that. A charade. A tale fabricated totally by the imagination of this young girl.

And in addition to this, nothing more will happen because no one will be indicted by the court, and under law the court cannot criticize ordinary citizens it does not indict.

It is a travesty to the issues of concern that were raised. Charges of racism and rape.

Neither is a subject to be dealt with lightly. Both are major problems plaguing our country, our states and even our own communities today.

One fact to consider is the effect of this luridly embellished white lie concocted by a troubled, young girl caught-up in the big world of real life.

What happens the next time a young girl or any person for that matter says he/she was raped? It doesn’t have to be even anywhere near the situation Tawana Brawley created for even the smallest shadow of doubt to be cast on the reliability of the story.

The public is already detached enough from accepting the increasing occurrence and severity of the issue.

Last week a woman in Chicago was forced off a train and raped on the stairway landing of a crowded L platform in the Loop. It was during rush hour, just after 6 p.m., and no one even tried to help her.

A brutal rape occurred in full view of other passengers and people waiting for the next train. The commuters walked by. No one stopped, no one called for help. Some even laughed as they passed.

Rape is not something to be taken lightly. It is a crime, but more than that it is a violation of a living, feeling, thinking human being’s body and mind.

Rape is not something to be dismissed with an “it will never happen to me or anyone I know” attitude. It does happen. It happens in big cities, small towns and college campuses all over the country.

A professor at the University of Arizona conducted a study last year which surveyed 6,000 students on 32 campuses. One in six female students reported being the victim of rape or attempted rape in the preceding year. One in every 15 men said he had committed rape or had attempted rape in the same period.

Chances are many, if not the majority of the rapes, went unreported. Rapes often go unreported because the victims don’t know what to do. Another reason is simply the public’s attitude.

Victims are often made to feel guilty, as if the rape is their responsibility. Rape does not necessarily come to a victim because it is “asked for” by dress style or mannerisms. The public needs to be educated that there is something wrong with rapes of any kind.

We need to realize that there is something wrong with an “I don’t want to get involved” attitude. It’s just not acceptable to keep walking by and pretending the problem doesn’t exist.

Fate deals strange hands. Some may be like the crys of wolf from Tawana Brawley, but others are like the pleas for help from the woman on the L.