| Topic Name: |
Who cares when a Black woman is murdered? |
| Message Name: |
I agree... |
| Date Posted: |
06/15/2005 |
| In Reply To: |
The phenomenon is not racism but rather the manifestation of some unfortunate realities of contemporary society combined with the accepted definition of what makes news.
Based on the "man bites dog" definition of news, there's nothing notable about tens of thousands of people dying in car crashes while just one death from a freak accident like... oh... a piece falling from a plane is a national headline.
When people are murdered or go missing, the same rules apply. Statistically minority Americans are much more likely to be crime victims than white Americans. So, in many people's minds, it's more unusual, hence more newsworthy when a victim is white, the "It-can't-happen-here" mentality.
It's not a question of one victim being worth more than another, but of one case seeming more unusual.
White victims' families are also more likely to be well off and better educated so they come off better on TV, playing into our need to deliver the pathos.
It's nothing unusual for the "story" in a story to be what drives it, instead of the facts.
Crying "racism" over something like this is ignorant or disingenuous and only makes it harder to address real racism when it pops up.
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| Message: |
My wife and I talked about this...Lacy Peterson, the runaway bride, Natallee Holloway, Elizabeth Smart, Chandra Levy, the Hocking case ...all pretty white women. Notice I said pretty. I think that's the key word, not their race. If an attractive black woman disappeared, there would more than likely be coverage, especially if she came from a wealthy family. Just like if an overweight, unattractive white woman disappears, you won't hear about it. It is TV after all.
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