Black Dopers, do you do this when watching the news, too?

In My Humble Opinion
1

When the Jason Blair story broke and they aired his picture, I cringed when they showed a black man. When the DC area snipers were captured and it came to light they were black, again, I cringed.

I live in Baltimore so it’s really a coin toss if the suspect they’re talking about on the news is going to be black or white. Just a few weeks ago, some guy killed his girlfriend and her parents and fled in a vehicle. The news reporters who gave a description (on the channel I watch, at least) didn’t indicate his race. They described almost everything but his race. When he was eventually located (he shot himself in the head when police officers found him) they showed his picture. He was white. My husband and I looked at each other and I know what he was thinking because I was thinking it too: whew, he wasn’t black!

There was another story a few months back about two men who killed a man in Annapolis and took his SUV. Again, they described everything about the two dudes but their race. When they were caught, the picture they flashed was of two black guys. Again with the cringing business.

During the coverage of Jason Blair, I asked my husband if white people go through what we were going through. I’m not sure why I asked him, as he’s not white, but I digress. He said they probably don’t because they have a better sense of individuality then most black people do. Hmmmm, I’m not sure what that means.

I started to think about black Americans, who are, for the most part, descended from slaves, and how their ancestors often relied on a sense of community to cope with daily life. Then I got to thinking, hey, so did Polish, Italian and Jewish immigrants. This, of course, led to me wondering if subsets of white people go through the same thing when they watch the news? Do Italian Americans in New York, for example, cringe when they hear about a gangland style shooting? Do they listen for the last name of the suspect/perpetrator and sort of sigh a little when it isn’t of Italian ancestry?

What about white Americans of mixed lineage who really don’t identify with any particular nationality? Do Southerners, for example, cringe when they hear about a black man being dragged by four white men? Do they listen for the location and cringe when they hear it took place in, for example, Mississippi?

Caveats
Even though I shouldn’t have to, I will state that I do not think all, or even most, black people are criminals. I don’t want this thread to veer into that territory, either. I also don’t think all black people think alike but it’s safe to assume, just like with any other subset of people, we do share many common experiences. I don’t think a crime is any less tragic because I white person committed it, either.

My questions are:

  1. Do other black people go through what my husband and I go through?
  2. Should we? Although the obvious answer is no, I ask if we should because I wonder if some non-black dopers who, upon learning of Blair’s race, have issues with him not because of what he did but because of what he did and the fact that he was black..
  3. Do white dopers go through this? Did white Texans cringe, for example, when the Laney story broke?

[sub]I should also add that I am purposely avoiding all stories about Blair. I may be wrong, but I’m sure someone, somewhere has already thrown his race into the issue. I’m almost positive race wouldn’t even factor in to many, if not most, discussions had Blair been white.[/sub]

2

JuanitaTech - Although not specifically covered by your OP, I do cringe and feel much worse when yet another Catholic story hits the news. Somehow I just expect my co-religionists to be better than that. However, people are peole no matter their race or faith. There are good and bad in every sector of the population.

StG

3

  1. Nope. Race didn’t enter into it for me.

  2. I’m white and I do not. My suspicion is that people cringe when somebody does something that helps perpetuate a stereotype. I’m from Alabama, and I cringe when southern whites do things that perpetuate southern white stereotypes (the negative ones, anyway).

4

I can’t speak for black Dopers, but I have noticed that my stepmother, whose parents were born in Sicily, cringes every time there’s a Mafia bust here in New York, because she believes that every publicized arrest of a mobster with an Italian surname perpetuates the stereotype that all people of Italian descent have some involvement with the mob. And for that reason, she detests mafiosi probably even more than the rest of us.

As to “white” people cringing when “white” criminals (suspects, I guess, would be a better term here) are arrested publicly, well, speaking at least for myself, and probably lots of others, I just don’t identify as “white.” I don’t even identify as Irish-American, even though my grandparents were from Ireland. “White” is too vague a term, for one thing, and for another, the last thing I want to do is associate myself in any way with the kind of person who makes a point of identifying as “white.” It somehow smacks of “white power,” or Christian Identity, or creepy stuff like that.

As to Blair, today’s New York Daily News has point/counterpoint editorial page columns on this very subject. Don’t know if you have access to the Daily News, but the analyses were interesting.

5

White boy here. I don’t have a preconception that your “run of the mill crimes” are any race, but I always expect mass murderers to be middle aged white guys (buzzer DC sniper) and terrorists to be middle eastern (buzzer Oklahoma City). Bank robberies, murders, carjackings, I never even think about it.

I do cringe when people from my area, like bup mentioned, get national attention. Thanks, Susan Smith.

6

I agree with bup. You don’t want a stereotype to be perpetuated when YOU know it is a stereotype only…
I am French… I am a good person… when I hear all the problems with the US and France lately, it scares me when I hear a French person did something “bad” as I know a lot of people are going to thin “SEE!! he is French, that’s why!”

7

My experience with white Americans is that most of them don’t have a sense of ethnicity. They see themselves just as people. It doesn’t occur to them that their particular world views etc. aren’t universal and actually are culturally derived.
When I was a small child, I thought ethnic meant the chinese and mexican food aisle in the grocery store. Only minorities had racial problems because white people didn’t have a race.
My parents didn’t teach me this. I just sort of figured it out in my little kid way.

It may be that this sort of an attitude is as hard to comprehend for someone who has been constantly reminded of his/her ethnicity as the idea of “white” ethnicity is for someone who has hardly ever had the need to consider his/her ethnicity.

8

I’m a Marine stationed next to the small community of 29 Palms. Not exactly covered by the OP, (and perhaps a little off course) but I cringe every time I listen to the radio news, Police responded to such and such crime. The suspect is Bob Smith, who is a Marine Corporal at the Combat Center. Seems like the local news will always throw that in just to further the Marine = trouble maker stereotype. :mad:

9

Juanita- just curious, do you also preen whenever people who are black get in the news for some accomplishment? Does the communal psyche only work negatively? Why is it that negative comments stay with people so much longer than positive ones?

10

I agree that it may have to do with the seeming reinforcement of a stereotype. I don’t cringe at a typical white person committing a crime, but I do cringe at many of the things “Christians” do.

If you are judged by what others in your ‘group’ do, I think you are more likely to notice it and cringe. Nobody seems to judge me based on crimes other white women commit, so I don’t really notice it. It does make me cringe sometimes when women reinforce other negative stereotypes, like “I’m so weak, I need a man to survive” kind of mentality.

11

  1. I didn’t know that Blair was black until reading opening this thread, and it doesn’t make a difference to me, but I guess it does to some people.

  2. If the perp is white and the victims aren’t, I do cringe a little. If all or some of the victims are the same race as the perp, I don’t even think about it race unless it has already been made an issue.

12

I sort of have the opposite assumptions that you do, JuanitaTech. When I hear about a crime I have sort of a vague, generalized assumption that the criminal is white. I guess I’m just playing the odds. It’s not because I assume whites are more violent, or that it makes me cringe if the guy’s white. So when they show a black suspect it sort of surprises me in a mild way.

I have an Italian name and my grandparents came over from Italy, so I do semi-cringe when there’s a mafia bust. I generally think that Italian = mafia steretypes are dying pretty quick. I actually think Americans with Italian names are the ones perpetuating it. It’s amazing the number of guys with Italian last names you meet that will claim their “uncle’s in the business” which is almost 100% guaranteed to be bullshit.

13

I think I can understand why you and your husband react that way. If you spend a lot of time reading and hearing news stories where people are claiming that that African-Americans are criminal types or lazy or whattheheckever, it’s always a disconcerting to hear or read something that “they” can use as “ammunition.” And we all know “they” are indeed always looking for more “proof” about the evils of black people, immigrants, women in business, etc. etc.

If you feel that you are someone not respecting your race, or selling people short, that doesn’t seem like a valid worry. When one is constantly accused of something, one gets a little skittish.

14

As a WASP, I felt a special anger towards the guys from Jasper. Not only were their actions unspeakably cruel but they also intimated the presence of a bias that simply doesn’t exist with most of us.

When Wayne Williams was captured after killing so many black children, I admittedly was relieved that it hadn’t been a caucasian commiting those crimes. The damage that could have been done to racial harmony could have been, to some, insurmountable.

15

No, I don’t preen when black people are in the news for positive actions, but that is a good question, GKW. I’ll be thinking this one over.

j.c., I think you hit the nail on the head. It is the ammunition-proof mentality that makes me cringe. That’s pretty much exactly how I feel!

TWDuke, I purposely didn’t click on the link you provided and probably won’t.

Zoff, I don’t assume the suspect will be white, black, Latin or Asian. I just kind of hold my breath a little, until they show the picture.

16

I’m white, and was reading the Jayson Blair story a few days ago. I was thinking “How could someone do something like that, glad they caught him!” Then I opened up the paper to read the continuation of the story, and there was a picture of him. My reaction was “Oh sh*t, he’s black!” and I felt bad thinking about all the bad PR that might come about in some circles because of his race.

So it was very strange, part of me feeling what a dishonest opportunist he was, and another part wishing he were white…

17

I cringe if a teenager is reported in the media as doing something wrong, because teenagers are stereotyped as being lazy, unrespectful etc, even on this board.
(I am an older teenager (19) but I am still (in my own way) doing what I can to break those stereotypes.)

18

I don’t necessarily cringe at the suspects, because I know that certain people will use that to reaffirm their beliefs or prove their points. There’s just not much I can do about that.
Oddly enough, what really pisses me off is when reporters interview a completely illiterate ghetto-bastard idiot just because they witnessed a story. So not only do the bigots and racists think we all commit crimes, they now have ‘evidence’ that even the ones who are innocent bystanders are dumb as a stone.

19

I’m mostly white (I’ve got a great-great who wasn’t, and the state I was born in doesn’t consider a great number of my relatives white either. odd.) and when I hear the news, I usually assume that which ever criminal they’re talking about is also white. It’s not a shame or pride thing, but simply because there are more white people, especially in this part of the country. I remember being really surprised last year when one news story (the one about the girl who hit the guy and left him to die, maybe?) turned out to have a black criminal involved. I save my cringing for dumb things other republican do.

20

Going slightly off topic, I hate it when there is a new story about a suspect who did something or other and is still on the loose, AND THEY DON’T GIVE HIS OR HER ETHNICITY. It doesn’t happen all that often, but when it does it’s positively glaring.

I think it’s irrelevant to list race in news stories where the suspect has been caught (who cares if s/he’s black or white or brown; s/he’s a rapist/arsonist/burglar/whatever?), but I think the whole racial sensitivity angle gets out of hand when race is a vital component. Nobody knows who to be on the lookout FOR, if race isn’t indicated.

Back to the OP, I think other posters have hit it right on the head: It’s a cringe factor when the race of the person in the story follows a stereotype for that race: Criminal black, ignorant southerner, self-absorbed “white”, mobbed up Italian, drunken Indian, lazy Mexican, rude Frenchman or whatever. I know I get bothered when any of my ethnic stereotypes get reinforced by someone else, and I don’t fall into many of them. I imagine it’s much higher when you belong to a group that deals with negative stereotypes every day.