Fruit of the Poisonous Tree | James Wilkerson | TEDxBloomington

The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a legal doctrine that says that if a tree is poisonous, then that tree will only produce poisonous fruit. While this doctrine is typically used to keep ill gotten evidence in court, it is also the perfect diagram when describing toxic masculinity and the fruit it bares such as domestic violence, racism, and sexual assault. This talk examines the elements that allow the Toxic MasculiniTree to grow such as dominion and entitlement. It also looks at the elder statesmen who foster toxic masculine behaviors. Lastly, James looks at ways men can chop down Toxic MasculiniTrees down and replace them with healthy masculinity behavior. James Wilkerson is a native of New Albany, Indiana. He holds his Masters degree in communication from Bellarmine University and his Bachelors degree and Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville. In 2016, he founded Greek Law; a program that allowed him to give lectures on sexual assault prevention and consent at various fraternity and sorority chapters in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Alabama. Since then, Greek Law has grown into a nonprofit organization that educates middle school, high school, and college students alike. In 2020, Wilkerson began writing for the “I Taught the Law” online legal journal. There he founded a column called “The Title IX Guy” which examines sexual assault in a legal lens. In addition, he also writes a column in the Louisville Eccentric Observer Magazine, also called “The Title IX Guy” which analysis sexual assault issues on a local level. Wilkerson is the author of the book “The Title IX Guy: Several Short Essays on Rape Culture, Masculinity (the good kind and the bad kind), and Other Things We Should Be Talking About. He was named one of Louisville Business First’s 20 “People You Should Know in Law” in 2020, and is a two time Spirit of Service award winner at the University of Louisville. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx