I cannot believe this hasn't gotten more press

In My Humble Opinion
1

O.K. I’m the editor of a small town weekly paper in West Virginia (please no comments on hillbillies, rednecks, etc.) and I realize that my home state is not considered the bastion of liberal views or wide-range acceptance, but I’m in awe of this latest situation.

Several counties away from my portion of the state, a heinous crime occurred. I’m reading the newspaper article now and gleaning portions of it to use in my editorial. What I cannot believe is that the mainstream media, except this one A.P. reporter, has covered this latest gay/racist hate crime. See what you think.

–taken from an article written by A.P. writer Vicki Smith–

“A gay black man was still alive when he was run over by three teen-age boys, according to evidence that a Marion County judge used Wednesday in ordering the driver to stand trial as an adult.
Testimony from a witness to the July 4 murder of Arthur “J.R.” Warren indicates that David Allen Parker, 17, drove the car over Warren four times to disguise the deadly beating he and another boy had inflicted, the order from Circuit Court Judge Rodney Merrifield said.”

To paraphrase the article and the facts of the case: Parker, Warren and a juvenile identified by family members as Jared Wilson, also 17, were embroiled in an argument the night of July 4, said to have been caused at a suggestion that Warren would reveal a sexual relationship between himself and Parker. Later that night, another arguement culminated in Parker, Wilson and a third boy kicking Warren unconscious with steel-toed boots. After hauling him to Parker’s car, the boys went into the house, cleaned up the blood, burned or buried the evidence. They then drove Warren to a deserted country road (very late at night) where they then beat him with their hands and kicked him repeatedly. As he lay broken and bleeding in the middle of the road, Parker drove his car over the still-living Warren, not once, but twice. Then he allowed the boys to get back into the car and ran over Warren two additional times.
Warren’s body was found the following day and Parker and Wilson were arrested. Parker and Wilson have admitted to beating the black man and Merrifield’s ruling means Parker will stand trial as an adult not in the more lenient juvenile court. A 15-year-old witness to the beating has been charged as an accessory after the fact. Merrifield has not ruled on how Wilson will be tried.

I just cannot believe this has gone virtually unnoticed. Did the American public not learn anything about the Matthew Shepherd case in Wyoming? Have the teeming millions in the far reaches of the world heard about this (our larger papers in the state have failed to see this as “front page news.”) unbeknownst to most of West Virginians? What’s your take on the situation?

Do you think it deserves more attention?

2

He’s black and from West Virginia; of course there’s no coverage. Watch TV for a few days around a major city. A black guy gets shot, nobody notices–it might make the police blotter in the newspaper. A white guy gets shot, it makes every station in town. This needs to be plastered all over every paper in America, but unless somebody makes a fuss, it won’t be…

3

I considered that, but what I can’t understand, and please don’t take offense, is why the gay or black activist groups haven’t made a sound.
I don’t mean to sound like a redneck, but it seems to me that a crime as heinous as this would merit some pontification from high-visibility figures, if nothing more than just free press. I’ve only seen this story in a couple newspapers; the daily in my area has printed three articles on the crime and always in the back section.

I guess I’m just appalled that fewer news organizations have picked up on this.

4

What stories get picked up is completely dependent on the editors (as you know). Some stories play better than others. In the case you bring up, the slight twist is that the perpetrator knew the victim, so it could be interpreted that this was a crime of passion. Not quite the same as a Matthew Shepard type of case.

sheerah, if you’re going to ask about the injustice of unequal coverage, there are too many other stories we can pick on. Conservative talk radio loves to point out the example of the two gay lovers who kidnapped, then raped, sodomized and killed a young boy (I don’t recall where this happened; I believe it was in Arkansas), and contrast the coverage of that story against Matthew Shepard’s story.

Editors make biased judgements all the time and for some reason, they may have decided this isn’t a newsworthy story. Maybe it’s because they perceive this story to be about a gay child trying to kill his gay lover. Perhaps the story may get picked up if the teen had been raped by the victim. Who knows? Life ain’t fair. And news coverage of life ain’t fair, either. :frowning:

5

so how does one go about making a fuss in a situation like this? because it seems like a valid time to do so. do we call GLAAD or what other groups? i don’t know how you make someone pay attention, even in a case as heinous as this. it’s horrific and violent and the worst aspects of the human condition folded into one, but we can say prayers for the dead boy but we can’t start a national media crusade. can we? start e-mailing people the story. see what happens. i don’t know how else to go about it. thoughts?

6

It seems the sure fire way to get some coverage would be to claim it all happened in Mississippi. I live here, and not to sound cynical (Okay, I am) but if that had happened here, there would be everyone and his brother down here.

It’s odd the way it works. I dunno why. Guess West Virginia isn’t considered newsworthy. Be glad they are at least getting tried.

7

sheerah, not that it helps at all but I just wanted to let you know that the story did make the papers here where I live. It was a very small article buried near the back–this area is not quite a hot-bed of liberal ideas either.

8

Perhaps it’s not big news because

it’s not a good gay-bashing case (not that the Sheppard case was either). It seems to be more like a gay domestic violence case, and those are not popular at this point in time.

9

sheerah- this is certainly a brutal, heinous murder, but why is this a “gay/racist hate crime”? Was there any indication the victim’s race was a factor in the crime? Weren’t both the victim and the alleged murderer gay?

10

Actually, cnn.com has run the story at least twice a couple weeks ago. Also, at least one g/l/b/t has sent a representative to observe the case. (I think it was the Human Rights Campaign). Both advocate.com and planetout.com have mentioned the story.

However, what I am seeing is a certain cautiousness. No one wants to rush out and scream “homophobia” or “racism” just yet. In the beginning the details were really sketchy and it could have been any number of things…lover’s spat, robbery, etc. It’s the first time I’ve heard that the killing may have been motivated by a potential “outing”. I’m not doubting it’s veracity, just saying that the information has been slowly leaking out and teh press has been showing an usual amount of restraint.

I suspect that if it is revealed that this was a hate crime, that gay activists will escalate their attention to it and perhaps other mainstream outlets will pick it up.

11

Sheerah, I read about this tragic event in a large article in the San Francisco Chronicle. I didn’t realize it wasn’t getting press elsewhere, but it’s not surprising that the Chronicle picks up “gay-themed” articles more than other other areas, given the demographics of the area.

12

In Indiana, there was a case where 2 girls tortured a fellow classmate because one assailant, ironically named Loveless, was jealous about a lesbian relationship between the victim and the other assailant. So they lured her out of her home, beat her for hours, and eventually set her on fire.

And I was amazed at how little coverage that got, even HERE near where it happened. Not because of the juvenile angle or the lesbian angle, but the sheer horror of it.

I mean, why should sexual orientation of ANY of the parties make a damn bit of difference? I’m one of those who thinks “hate crime” legislation is anti-American and downright stupid. A horrendous murder is a horrendous murder, regardless of whether the assailant or the victim was black, white, Jewish, Lithuanian, Asian, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or asexual.

I also think that killing a cop should not merit any more or less time than killing a welder or a businessman. If you maliciously take someone else’ life, you should be behind bars until you die or put to death. Period.

Okay, I’m crawling down from my soapbox now.

13

Amen, PunditLisa. I mean, a brutal murder is a brutal murder.
I mean, yes, we should find out the motive-trying to prevent such things from happening. But why should one life lost be worse than another simply because it was a “hate” crime?
Technically, ALL violent crimes are HATE crimes.

14

[Technically, ALL violent crimes are HATE crimes.
**
[/QUOTE]

Thank you Guinastasia!
It’s about time someone else figured that out. To me, the phrase Hate Crime is an oxymoron. I think the story should have gotten more press, but as someone just wrote, for the
sheer brutality of the crime.

15

Often in my editorials I address the issue of juvenile crime and how few times children are held accountable for their actions – as I did this week with this particular case. I agree the boys should be tried for murder because that’s exactly what the case is about. It’s not about being black or gay in W.Va. It comes down to a plain and simple blatant disregard for human life and the unaccountability “excuse” our justice system has bestowed on criminals under the age of 18.

i was unaware this story had run in some of the larger metropolitan areas. Our nightly news and daily papers like I said before virtually ignored the story and placed it on the back pages.

Yes, I agree editors do make the decisions concerning stories to be assigned and placement of them in the papers. However, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could ignore the fact that this young man was beaten horrifically, driven to a remote area, beaten again, and then run over by a car, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times by these violent children.

A few years ago, the politicians batted around the phrase “family values,” as having a substantial amount of influence on how our society evolves. What do these values say about society in America. Especially when the story has basically been ignored.

Just my thoughts.

16

According to a figure I just saw yesterday there were over 755,000 “hate” crimes committed last year. (Think that figure was correct.) Doesn’t suprise me in the least that we actually hear about very few of them.

Oh and BTW…people under the age of 18 are called “children” not criminals. Children should not be held to the same level of accountability as adults. That’s why we call them children. Children do not belong in jail with adults or on death row. As for your story, if these boys have indeed been guilty of a hate crime then perhaps their parents should be accepting some responsibility for this crime. After all “children”, even children who commit crimes should have some kind of adult influence at home. I personally am all for laying some of this responsiblity where it really lies, with who ever is responsible for these “crimminals” at home.

Needs2know

17

criminal (n): one who commits a crime.

There’s no age criteria in the definition, Needs. Criminals can be adults and yes, criminals can be children. Our legal system makes a distinction only to determine how to try the accused criminal in court and what punishment criteria it uses. But make no doubt about it, children can be and are criminals.

18

Salon has a column on this situation that you can find here.

One phrase that particularly pertains to the OP:

“And that history may very well have played a part in the development of Jason’s latest identity: as a key character involved in the alleged murder by white teenagers of a young, gay black man that has drawn intense national media attention.” (emphasis mine)

19

Wow Ob, thanks for the link to the article. Interesting read.

If you haven’t done so already, I recommend you take a gander.

20

The story has been covered in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I don’t watch local TV news, so I don’t know whether they covered it.