# Black climate activist cropped out of photo with Greta Thunberg **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 26, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998 "2020-01-26T15:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/1 "2020-01-26T15:31:05Z")
The Associated Press publishes a photo of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg with some other young climate activists at Davos. The picture published showed Greta with four young specimens of fine Aryan youths. The actual photo included a black Ugandan activist. On the left. Who was cropped out. > **[Outrage at whites-only image as Ugandan climate activist cropped from photo](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/24/whites-only-photo-uganda-climate-activist-vanessa-nakate)** > > Vanessa Nakate was excised from image, which also featured Greta Thunberg, ‘purely on composition grounds’ says Associated Press This came to light when the activist, Vanessa Nakate, revealed it on social media. AP has claimed that it was done \* purely on composition grounds \* since _the building in the background was distracting_ Which is a rather weird excuse. While I like to presume good faith, it’s hard to do so here. Even if they weren’t actively malevolent, their is some institutional problem if a picture is cropped and they don’t even pause to consider that they are removing the only black person in it. Were they racist? Does Ms Nakate have a point when she says it symbolizes how non white opinions and activist are dismissed or ignored? I suspect that the reason it was done is since AP’s mostly western customers would readily identify with a bunch of white kids rather than a black activist. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/2 "2020-01-26T15:49:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Were they racist? Does Ms Nakate have a point when she says it symbolizes how non white opinions and activist are dismissed or ignored? > I suspect that the reason it was done is since AP’s mostly western customers would readily identify with a bunch of white kids rather than a black activist. I think it’s just a symmetry thing honestly, the photo is more pleasing to the eyes with her cropped out, but that’s just like my opinion man. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/3 "2020-01-26T15:53:03Z")
Yep. Definitely racism. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/4 "2020-01-26T16:06:01Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I think it’s just a symmetry thing honestly, the photo is more pleasing to the eyes with her cropped out, but that’s just like my opinion man. Ok. Why just her? ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/5 "2020-01-26T16:08:19Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I think it’s just a symmetry thing honestly, the photo is more pleasing to the eyes with her cropped out, but that’s just like my opinion man. Somewhat more pleasing, yes. But the composition of the photo was so awful that any amount of cropping won’t do much good. Either there were severe restraints on the angle, etc. of the photo, or else whoever took shouldn’t be in journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/6 "2020-01-26T16:17:13Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Ok. Why just her? The way they are standing, Ms. Nakate is definitely more croppable than the others. The other four are standing closely together and she’s just a bit more apart from the rest. If they were all the same color, would someone crop her out “purely on composition grounds”? I wouldn’t rule it out. Therefore I can’t rule out that this was done “innocently” (i.e. without racism, though also without sensitivity to racial issues). ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/7 "2020-01-26T16:36:39Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Either there were severe restraints on the angle, etc. of the photo, or else whoever took shouldn’t be in journalism. Lol, a rather extreme judgment for a single bad angle photo, don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/8 "2020-01-26T16:53:59Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Somewhat more pleasing, yes. But the composition of the photo was so awful that any amount of cropping won’t do much good. I’m not going to argue why she was or wasn’t cropped out of the picture, but I’ll note that if that picture was cropped just barely over the top of their heads\*, the building almost disappears . > [@](#): > > Either there were severe restraints on the angle, etc. of the photo, or else whoever took shouldn’t be in journalism. I didn’t watch the video, but are their photog credits? It’s possible it wasn’t an actual photog that took the picture, just a picture the paper used. It could also have been a somewhat candid shot as they don’t all appear to even be looking at the camera. \*[Cropped like this.](https://i.imgur.com/w4qFHBA.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/9 "2020-01-26T16:54:18Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Somewhat more pleasing, yes. But the composition of the photo was so awful that any amount of cropping won’t do much good. > > Either there were severe restraints on the angle, etc. of the photo, or else whoever took shouldn’t be in journalism. Actually, shouldn’t be in photography. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/10 "2020-01-26T17:08:34Z")
That whole picture is weird. There is something about the focus or lighting that just seems off to me. If I wasn’t told otherwise I would think it was photo-shopped with the climate activists cut out of a different picture and pasted onto the background. It isn’t clear whether removing the black activist was done for racist motives, but if not whoever did it clearly wasn’t thinking about the optics involved. Unless there is other evidence I am going to file this under Hanlon’s Razor. “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence”. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/11 "2020-01-26T17:09:36Z")
Which of the names are recognizable–besides Greta. It’s a possibility they included the well-known people and excluded her not because she was black nor because of the composition issue–but simply because she was a nobody. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/12 "2020-01-26T17:17:21Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > It’s a possibility they included the well-known people and excluded her not because she was black nor because of the composition issue–but simply because she was a nobody. The picture at PBS shows them all as peers, the story reads so too. It’s a picture in the same setting maybe a moment later or before. > **[Greta Thunberg brushes off U.S. finance chief's criticism](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/greta-thunberg-brushes-off-u-s-finance-chiefs-criticism)** > > Steven Mnuchin had a day earlier dismissed Thunberg’s suggestion that governments and companies cut back dramatically on fossil fuels with a condescending barb. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/13 "2020-01-26T17:34:45Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > . “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence”. Sometimes you can ascribe to both : Malice _ **and** _Incompetence. Just look at today’s politics. I also think malice in the long term leads to incompetence and vice versatility, but that’s another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/14 "2020-01-26T17:52:02Z")
I totally believe the photo was cropped on compositional grounds. It’s just that the “compositional grounds” are “well, these four objects look the _same_, so they make a nice group. And \*that \*object looks _different_…” IOW, the black commentators saying ‘well this happens all the time to us and we’re completely jack of it’ had a very valid point. “Compositional grounds” include getting rid of things that are different, unless they’re the focus of the picture, and in Western settings it’s obviously often going to happen that the most different-looking person in a group will be black/some other non-European ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/15 "2020-01-26T18:07:59Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I totally believe the photo was cropped on compositional grounds. It’s just that the “compositional grounds” are “well, these four objects look the _same_, so they make a nice group. And \*that \*object looks _different_…” I don’t know, and probably never will know, and therefore reserve judgment on, the real reason it was done. But I agree that this is one quite possible explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/16 "2020-01-26T18:11:28Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Unless there is other evidence I am going to file this under Hanlon’s Razor. “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence”. The conservative principle is “Never ascribe to malice or incompetence that which you can blame on the liberals.” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/17 "2020-01-26T19:17:50Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > The picture at PBS shows them all as peers, the story reads so too. It’s a picture in the same setting maybe a moment later or before. > > [Greta Thunberg brushes off U.S. finance chief’s criticism | PBS NewsHour](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/greta-thunberg-brushes-off-u-s-finance-chiefs-criticism) A comment there from one of “the best” Trump people: > [@](#): > > Mnuchin had a day earlier dismissed Thunberg’s suggestion that governments and companies cut back dramatically on fossil fuels with a condescending barb. > > “Is she the chief economist? Who is she? I’m confused,” he said. Then, following a brief pause, he said it was ‘‘a joke.” > > ‘‘After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us,” he added. As it turns out this economist that became a president of the American Economic Association between 2014 and 2015 and is an American economist and Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, is known for his work in economic modeling and climate change and won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, already did that and more years ago: > [@](#): > > The most appropriate place to start when reflecting on Nordhaus’ contributions is at the beginning of his career. He began with an interest in how innovation and technology influences growth, much like his fellow 2018 Nobel laureate Paul Romer, but then recognised that other environmental and resource challenges are equally important and interesting to study. > > In the 1970s, there was great concern in both the academic community and popular press about resource scarcity – will we run out of minerals and fuels on which we rely for human wellbeing? Some of his early work sharply points out that as resources become scarce, they become more valuable, leading to further discoveries of the resources, innovation in economising on those resources, and innovation in substituting scarce resources for more plentiful – and less expensive – resources (Nordhaus 1973). > > Moreover, this work emphasised that the changes in price would be expected to lead to a smooth path of resource use that allows humans to continue to maintain their wellbeing. The past several decades have largely proven Nordhaus correct, as society today is vastly more resource and energy efficient and still has ample resources at least in the foreseeable future. > > But Nordhaus’ early work recognised that while resource scarcity does not present a pressing threat to long-run economic growth, the human impact on the environment provides much greater cause for worry. > > In 1974, Nordhaus wrote: “I have performed a rough calculation of the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide… Assuming that 10% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed annually (G. Skirrow), the concentration would be expected to rise from 340 ppm [parts per million] in 1970 to 487 ppm in 2030 – a 43% increase. Although this is below the fateful doubling of carbon dioxide concentration, it may well be too close for comfort.” > > Nordhaus was prescient – it turns out we are right on track to hit 487 ppm of carbon dioxide in 2030. In two papers (Nordhaus 1975, 1977), he laid the groundwork for what is now an entire field on the economics of climate change. > > In these early papers, Nordhaus began with a classic macroeconomic model of long-run growth. This groundbreaking work was the first to include a representation of carbon dioxide concentrations and the climate in such a macroeconomic framework, and to begin analysing how climate change can be mitigated at a the lowest cost possible. > > This work was followed up by construction of one of the first, and the most well-known, integrated assessment model of climate change. Models are crucial for understanding the nature of climate change and how to address it because the issue involves physical, chemical and economic relationships that would simply not be possible to grasp fully without a clear framework. > > Nordhaus’ first integrated assessment model – the Dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy (DICE) – provides just such a framework. The single model contains all of the links among carbon dioxide concentrations, the climate, economic damages from climate change, and a model of the economy that produces carbon dioxide emissions – closing the loop (Nordhaus 1992). > [@](#): > > Hundreds of papers are based on the DICE model first published in 1994. The model is so clear that it is taught in courses around the country. In fact, I recall building the model in Excel from scratch as an undergraduate in the late 1990s – a transformative experience that developed intuition about the nature of the climate change issue that simply would not have been possible otherwise. An entire field of economists work with different versions of integrated assessment models of climate change, and I suspect nearly all of them began their careers working with DICE. [https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/global-warming-real-and-has-consequences-part-i](https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/global-warming-real-and-has-consequences-part-i) > [@Nordhaus](#): > > Yes, there are many uncertainties. That does not imply that action should be delayed. If anything, the uncertainties would point to a more forceful policy – one starting sooner rather than later – to slow climate change. > > The 16 scientists urge avoiding alarm about climate change. **I’m equally concerned by those who allege that we’ll incur economic catastrophes if we take steps to slow climate change. The claim that cap-and-trade legislation or carbon taxes would be ruinous to our societies does not stand up to serious economic analysis. We need to approach the issues with a cool head and respect for sound logic and good science.** As for the issue: nice to see Reuters and PBS not doing the AP “style” of cropping. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/18 "2020-01-26T19:21:51Z")
WHy crop it at all, weren’t all of the subjects standing in the picture the reason for the picture? IF they didn’t like it’s composition why use that picture. I don’t buy their nonsense really. At a journalism convention where attendees gathered, one white guy, Kevin Dietz, made a casual remark pointing out the chance for a black guy on the end to get cropped out of a group photo. IT made it back to the station and he was fired. I think it was taken out of context since it was an ironic remark made in jest to make a point. imho. [https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2019/07/02/wdiv-tvs-kevin-dietz-fired-after-racial-remark-to-black-reporter](https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2019/07/02/wdiv-tvs-kevin-dietz-fired-after-racial-remark-to-black-reporter) ---
**Author:** ![All\_About\_Venice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/all_about_venice/32/5453_2.png) [@All\_About\_Venice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/All_About_Venice)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/19 "2020-01-27T00:38:38Z")
> [@chela](#): > > WHy crop it at all, weren’t all of the subjects standing in the picture the reason for the picture? IF they didn’t like it’s composition why use that picture. I don’t buy their nonsense really. > > At a journalism convention where attendees gathered, one white guy, Kevin Dietz, made a casual remark pointing out the chance for a black guy on the end to get cropped out of a group photo. IT made it back to the station and he was fired. I think it was taken out of context since it was an ironic remark made in jest to make a point. imho. > [https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2019/07/02/wdiv-tvs-kevin-dietz-fired-after-racial-remark-to-black-reporter](https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2019/07/02/wdiv-tvs-kevin-dietz-fired-after-racial-remark-to-black-reporter) I completely agree. It’s ridiculous. With all the possibilities to fake photos, and even create situations that aren’t real and get it on tape and camera, one would think that a newspaper like theguardian would think again before editing and cropping a simple news-photo. For god’s sake, it’s just a documentation of five young activists, not an altar-piece. Journalists and press should be very careful not to destroy that very little confidence we still have in them. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998/20 "2020-01-27T01:00:28Z")
I don’t much care about the intent. This is a great example of intent vs. impact. It was a really foolish thing to do, and the photographer should know better. Simple unintentional erasure of people of color isn’t condonable. You gotta pay attention, dammit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-climate-activist-cropped-out-of-photo-with-greta-thunberg/846998.md?page=2)