# I pit double standards in race crimes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 23, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166 "2007-01-23T22:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/1 "2007-01-23T22:38:21Z")
Sorry if this has been done before but I did a search and didn’t find anything. In Long Beach on Halloween 2006 there was a case where a large group of black teens including about nine girls and one boy set upon and severely beat up three young white women merely because they were white, and apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. I won’t get into my feeling about them, but what really pisses me off is the way that the L.A Times and apparently other large media organizations decided to not really focus on the story and bury it in their back pages. Apparently I’m not the only one that feels this way because David Mills, a black, former Washington Post writer [stated](http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/long-beach-hate-crime/15346/) that “You don’t have to be a card-carrying Klansman to point out that the L.A. Times surely would be treating this story differently if three black women had been attacked by 30 white teenagers hurling words like ‘F— black people.’” This just gets to me on a slightly personal level because I find it very hard to believe that anybody could think that only white people are capable of committing hate crimes, as some people are positing in this case. Growing up as the only white kid on my block in DC I did occasionally have to endure crap from ignorant people, although nothing near what these young ladies went through. Is this the prevailing sentiment amongst everybody here? That only whites can commit hate crimes?? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/2 "2007-01-23T22:43:56Z")
[QUOTE=Cowboy8467] I won’t get into my feeling about them, but what really pisses me off is the way that the L.A Times and apparently other large media organizations decided to not really focus on the story and bury it in their back pages. … Is this the prevailing sentiment amongst everybody here? That only whites can commit hate crimes?? [/QUOTE] You do realize this is the Straight Dope Message Board, and not the LA Times message board, right? ---
**Author:** ![aclubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@aclubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aclubs)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/3 "2007-01-23T22:54:30Z")
I’d hazard a guess that most folks here would agree that racism is not exclusive to white folks, and that anyone, regardless of race, can be racist. (Malcom X, before he converted to Orthodox Islam and repudiated racism, said in an interview, “Thoughtful white people know they are inferior to Black people. Even Eastland knows it. Anyone who has studied the genetic phase of biology knows that white is considered recessive and black is considered dominant.” This is racism through and through.) There are some definitions of racism that, to paraphrase, describe it as “The systematic dominance of one race over another in a social system.” In this construction, racism expressed by a member of an oppressed race against a member of an oppressor race doesn’t exist. My opinion? Anyone can be racist against anyone else. In American society, however, the “traditional” direction of racism (“white” against “nonwhite”) is probably more prevalent than the reverse. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/4 "2007-01-23T23:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=aclubs] Malcom X [snip] said in an interview, “Thoughtful white people know they are inferior to Black people. Even Eastland knows it. Anyone who has studied the genetic phase of biology knows that white is considered recessive and black is considered dominant.” This is racism through and through. [/QUOTE] That doesn’t even rise to the level of racism. It doesn’t even rise to the level of stupidity. It’s somewhere down in the bottom level of the brain stem. I wouldn’t tell this one to a biologist lest they have a heart attack from laughter. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/5 "2007-01-23T23:42:14Z")
Bigotry does not discriminate. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/6 "2007-01-23T23:43:12Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Bigotry does not discriminate. [/QUOTE] Good one. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/7 "2007-01-23T23:45:45Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Bigotry does not discriminate. [/QUOTE] Considering the OP, and the fact that Malcolm X is still celebrated by many historians, I’d say that while bigotry may not discriminate, reportors of it do. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/8 "2007-01-23T23:50:06Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] Considering the OP, and the fact that Malcolm X is still celebrated by many historians, I’d say that while bigotry may not discriminate, reportors of it do. [/QUOTE] Well, Malcolm X did a lot to redeem himself, though he was still a bit of a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/9 "2007-01-23T23:57:59Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] Considering the OP, and the fact that Malcolm X is still celebrated by many historians, I’d say that while bigotry may not discriminate, reportors of it do. [/QUOTE] Actually, Malcolm X didn’t get a lot of good press when he was alive. He was the bad cop to Dr King’s good cop. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/10 "2007-01-24T01:04:32Z")
Maybe we have different definitions of focus. First, it is local news, so it gets put into the “local news” section, which is typically not on the front page. Secondly, it’s [not as if they put out one article and forgot about it](http://www.latimes.com/search/dispatcher.front?target=article&Query=bixby+knolls+hate). And as for David Mills, “former Washington Post writer”, while that sounds distinctive, and would tend to lend some weight to his opinion in some people’s minds, he was a movie/book reviewer for them. I’m not sure why his expertise on a paper’s coverage of a topic is to be given any credence beyond that which would be given to anyone else, although with his former position, I guess he does know about being buried in the back pages. As for the issue itself, it sure sounds like a hate crime to me, based on what has been made public so far, but I’m not privy to the trial transcripts. If it’s shown that the attacks were motivated by the color of the victim’s skin, then I have no issue whatsoever with them being charged under hate crime legislation. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/11 "2007-01-24T07:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=Cowboy8467] I won’t get into my feeling about them, but what really pisses me off is the way that the **L.A Times** and apparently other large media organizations **decided to not really focus on the story and bury it in their back pages**. [/quote] Wrong. I just did a Lexis/Nexis search, focusing on the _Los Angeles Times_ for the period in question. Here’s a list of the stories i found on the first attempt: > [@](#): > > More suspects sought in attack; Long Beach police have arrested 10 youths in the assault of three women at a Halloween party., _Los Angeles Times_, November 7, 2006 Tuesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 4, 420 words, J. Michael Kennedy, Times Staff Writer > > 8 youths are charged with hate crime in Long Beach, _Los Angeles Times_, November 23, 2006 Thursday, Home Edition, MAIN NEWS; Metro Desk; Part A; Pg. 1, 1190 words, Hector Becerra and Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writers. > > Long Beach beating trial has slow start; Judge moves case to a new courtroom to accommodate the large number of defendants, attorneys and spectators., _Los Angeles Times_, November 29, 2006 Wednesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 837 words, Nancy Wride, Times Staff Writer. > > Witness says she saw youths attack women on Halloween, _Los Angeles Times_, November 30, 2006 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 570 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Witness in hate crime trial errs; Woman misidentifies one of the defendants charged in an attack on three women., _Los Angeles Times_, December 1, 2006 Friday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1, 776 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer > > Victim testifies at hate crime trial; The white woman says a group of black youths beat her and two friends, yelled racial slurs., _Los Angeles Times_, December 2, 2006 Saturday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1, 741 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Punish bad acts, not bad thoughts, _Los Angeles Times_, December 3, 2006 Sunday, Home Edition, CURRENT; Editorial Pages Desk; Part M; Pg. 2, 980 words, Michael McGough, MICHAEL MCGOUGH is senior editorial writer for The Times. > > Key witness wavers on stand; At the Long Beach hate crime trial, she now says she could not clearly see what defendants did., _Los Angeles Times_, December 5, 2006 Tuesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 532 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer > > Witness cannot ID attackers, _Los Angeles Times_, December 6, 2006 Wednesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 144 words, From a Times Staff Writer. > > Witness’ vehicle is rammed, police say, _Los Angeles Times_, December 7, 2006 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 4, 289 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > An unusual order in Long Beach hate trial; After a woman’s car is smashed, judge allows witnesses and victims to testify anonymously., _Los Angeles Times_, December 8, 2006 Friday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1, 813 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Victim tells about attack details; Among her testimony is what one of 10 youths who allegedly assaulted her was wearing. The judge alters his ruling on anonymous witnesses., _Los Angeles Times_, December 9, 2006 Saturday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 584 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Two beating victims might not testify; The prosecution of 10 black youths may rest largely on the testimony of only one of the three women hurt in the Halloween attack., _Los Angeles Times_, December 14, 2006 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 4, 889 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Judge bars evidence in Long Beach hate crime trial; A DNA analysis that matched blood from a victim and a stain on the clothing of defendant will not be allowed, a source says., _Los Angeles Times_, December 15, 2006 Friday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 7, 683 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Long Beach leaders call for healing after attack; Councilwoman Rae Gabelich suggests workshops to help the city deal with the Halloween assault on three women., _Los Angeles Times_, December 17, 2006 Sunday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 657 words, Deborah Schoch, Times Staff Writer. > > QUESTIONS STILL SHROUD LONG BEACH ASSAULT; Black youths injured three white women. But as the trial unfolds, little else is certain., _Los Angeles Times_, December 19, 2006 Tuesday, Home Edition, MAIN NEWS; Metro Desk; Part A; Pg. 1, 1451 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Vowing unity, seeking to heal; Long Beach turns inward in bid to defuse tensions and complex emotions over racially charged attack., _Los Angeles Times_, December 20, 2006 Wednesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1, 1092 words, Louis Sahagun, Times Staff Writer > > In Long Beach attack, witness could be key; Marice Huff testifies he saw whites being beaten on Halloween. But the defense questions his memory of the incident., _Los Angeles Times_, December 20, 2006 Wednesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 6, 650 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Evidence in melee case withheld, defense says; A witness in the Long Beach attack says police recorded an interview with him. That was news to defense attorneys., _Los Angeles Times_, December 21, 2006 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 7, 369 words, Jessica Garrison, Times Staff Writer. > > Key witness in beating is pulled, _Los Angeles Times_, December 22, 2006 Friday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 5, 682 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > D.A. rests hate case; A doctor testifies two of three victims were drinking on the night they were allegedly attacked by 10 black youths in Long Beach., _Los Angeles Times_, December 28, 2006 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 602 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Teen’s defense says hate motive is not proved; Attorney in Long Beach racial beating trial seeks to have the crime enhancement dismissed., _Los Angeles Times_, December 30, 2006 Saturday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 682 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Defense motions denied in attack case, _Los Angeles Times_, January 3, 2007 Wednesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1, 851 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > New charges sought in beating case; Defense attorneys ask the judge to reject an attempt by the prosecutor to file new counts in the Long Beach attack., _Los Angeles Times_, January 4, 2007 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 612 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Lawyers in hate case get testy; A defense attorney and a prosecutor in the trial of 10 black youths hurl accusations and shout., _Los Angeles Times_, January 5, 2007 Friday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 441 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Witness didn’t see fight, says friend; Testifying for the defense, the woman says Kiana Alford couldn’t have identified the assailants in the Halloween night attack., _Los Angeles Times_, January 6, 2007 Saturday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1, 948 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > 911 tape suggests black men behind Long Beach attack; A homeowner who called to report the Halloween night assault said he talked to victims., _Los Angeles Times_, January 9, 2007 Tuesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 731 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Defendant says he came to victims’ aid; Anthony Ross says he grabbed a skateboard from a male who was beating a white woman., _Los Angeles Times_, January 10, 2007 Wednesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 1, 727 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Defendant stays calm in hate-crime case; One of the 10 accused in the Long Beach beating trial thwarts the best efforts of the prosecutor, who sought to establish a Crips gang connection., _Los Angeles Times_, January 11, 2007 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 3, 762 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Long Beach hate-trial lawyers rest their cases, _Los Angeles Times_, January 12, 2007 Friday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 5, 538 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > KEY TACTIC IN HATE-CRIME CASE ASSAILED; Long Beach trial turns largely on an ID method that experts say is inherently fallible and rarely used in isolation., _Los Angeles Times_, January 17, 2007 Wednesday, Home Edition, MAIN NEWS; Metro Desk; Part A; Pg. 1, 1444 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Hate-crime case witnesses called heroes; In closing arguments, the prosecutor lauds one for breaking up the Halloween attack. Two defense attorneys also present summations., _Los Angeles Times_, January 18, 2007 Thursday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 6, 861 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Defense in hate case criticizes ID process, _Los Angeles Times_, January 19, 2007 Friday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 8, 553 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Lying alleged in hate crime trial; Defense attacks a victim and a witness, urging judge to have a ‘backbone of steel.’, _Los Angeles Times_, January 20, 2007 Saturday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 11, 300 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer. > > Parents say their children innocent in Long Beach assault case; About 100 people attend a forum held to give the adults a voice and gather support for the youths accused of beating three in a racial attack., _Los Angeles Times_, January 21, 2007 Sunday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 4, 584 words, Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writer. > > Judge receives hate-crime case; Victims discuss intense reactions to trial and the attack. A verdict is expected Friday., _Los Angeles Times_, January 23, 2007 Tuesday, Home Edition, CALIFORNIA; Metro; Metro Desk; Part B; Pg. 4, 627 words, Joe Mozingo, Times Staff Writer That’s just what i found with a very basic first search. Refining search terms may or may not produce more results. By my count, that’s 36 stories, totaling over 25,000 words, in the space of three months. Of those 36 stories, three articles totaling over 4,000 words appeared on the very front page of the paper. Virtually all of the other stories appeared in Section B, which, as noted by **DMC** is pretty much where you expect to find local crimes. Of those, seven stories appeared on page 1 of Section B. The only story that didn’t appear in either Section A or Section B was an editorial, appearing in Section M, in which the _Times_’s Senior Editorial Writer uses the Long Beach incident as a springboard for arguing against hate-crime laws in general. Of course, mere volume doesn’t really tell us _how_ the paper reported the story, and i don’t have time now to read 25,000 words and write an analysis. I’m sure there is room for debate about whether the story was covered the same as it would have been if the perpetrators had been white and the victims black. But to assert, as you did in the OP, that the _Times_ buried the story in the back pages, seems to me a mischaracterization at best, and at worst a completely transparent attempt at deception. Either that, or you just don’t bother checking your facts before repeating some crap you read on the internet. [QUOTE=Cowboy8467] This just gets to me on a slightly personal level because I find it very hard to believe that anybody could think that only white people are capable of committing hate crimes, as some people are positing in this case. Growing up as the only white kid on my block in DC I did occasionally have to endure crap from ignorant people, although nothing near what these young ladies went through. Is this the prevailing sentiment amongst everybody here? That only whites can commit hate crimes?? [/QUOTE] Why would you assume that’s “the prevailing sentiment” here? And, if you don’t assume that, then why poison the well by asking the question in this way? ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/12 "2007-01-24T12:31:57Z")
When Latino gangbangers start killing white people for walking down the street, and the newspapers neglect to report it, then we’ll have a double standard. If this was happening to white folks, it would be front page news every day, and they’d call in the National Guard. [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=723](http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=723) [http://alternet.org/story/46855/?comments](http://alternet.org/story/46855/?comments) ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/13 "2007-01-24T16:05:24Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Wrong… …But to assert, as you did in the OP, that the _Times_ buried the story in the back pages, seems to me a mischaracterization at best, and at worst a completely transparent attempt at deception. Either that, or you just don’t bother checking your facts before repeating some crap you read on the internet. Why would you assume that’s “the prevailing sentiment” here? And, if you don’t assume that, then why poison the well by asking the question in this way? [/QUOTE] Excellent response. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/14 "2007-01-24T16:50:14Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Wrong. But to assert, as you did in the OP, that the _Times_ buried the story in the back pages, seems to me a mischaracterization at best, and at worst a completely transparent attempt at deception. Either that, or you just don’t bother checking your facts before repeating some crap you read on the internet. Why would you assume that’s “the prevailing sentiment” here? And, if you don’t assume that, then why poison the well by asking the question in this way? [/QUOTE] I came in to say the same thing. I read the LA Times every weekday and there was a shitload of coverage about this story. I believe it was on the front page a couple times. I know for sure it was on the front page of the California section a few times as well. Now that I’ve read your list of stories from the Times website, this story was on the front page no less than 3 times and on the front page of the California section 7. There have been 82 days since this happened and even if the 36 times the story has been talked about in the LA Times are all of them that is an average of an article every 2.27 days. We seem to have very different definitions of burying a story. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/15 "2007-01-24T17:22:52Z")
I’ve ranted about this before (recently, even), but it continues to fuck me off how easy it is for people to perceive bias in media organs. When I worked at the BBC, many days I could guarantee a particular type of complaint just by scanning the front page of our news site. Should a particular murder be reported (the killing of Jody Dobrowski, a gay barman, for example), I could be assured that a litany of complaints would arrive in my inbox, concerned that the BBC was demonstrating lamentable heterophobia by _daring_ to report the murder of a gay man. Should we happen to mention that a black child, such as Anthony Walker, had been viciously murdered with an axe, endless would be the lamentations that had this been a _white_ child, we wouldn’t have dared report the news. Fuck these people. Fuck them in their stupid asses. I hated them with every fibre of my being then, and I hate them still. For they view the world through their own private filter, seeing only what they wish to see, adding more besides, and ignoring all that is inconvenient to their world view. These people don’t see the reporting of Tom ap Rhys Price’s murder, in which two black men stabbed to death an innocent white man. They ignore the reporting of the terrorism trials. They see only that a national news outlet _dared_ to mention that a black man or a gay man had been wronged, and find this repulsive. I say again: fuck them. I wholeheartedly await the day that I don’t have to worry that the mere reporting of facts becomes a biased choice. I wholeheartedly await the day that we can look at a story and worry merely about the crime of the wrongdoer, rather than the worthiness of the victim. OPs like this make me worry that that day is a fucking long way away. ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/16 "2007-01-24T19:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Badger] I’ve ranted about this before (recently, even), but it continues to fuck me off how easy it is for people to perceive bias in media organs. [/QUOTE] It’s easy to perceive a media bias for mass media. I can see someone thinking that the BBC or CNN has a media bias, ESPECIALLY the American media. What gets to me is that I get accused of media bias on a daily basis - and I work for a small town newspaper. Our newsroom consists of four editors, five reporters, and me, the newsroom clerk. There’s not enough of a conspiracy to have a media bias - we’re struggling just to do our jobs. There’s enough of a division in opinion here that we can’t call ourselves a libreral or a conservative paper, because our staff is roughly half and half. I have no idea how a large paper like the LA times runs things, but it strikes me that calling even an individual newspaper biased is stupid. The only thing that’s biased in news is the advertising budget. Everything else, you just get individual people slanting things in their direction - individuals, not a mass conspiracy. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/17 "2007-01-24T19:35:38Z")
[QUOTE=tashabot] I have no idea how a large paper like the LA times runs things, but it strikes me that calling even an individual newspaper biased is stupid. The only thing that’s biased in news is the advertising budget. Everything else, you just get individual people slanting things in their direction - individuals, not a mass conspiracy. [/QUOTE] But not if all of the individuals working for a paper are liberal. Then you don’t need some mass conspiracy to have bias. You just have it occuring as a result of the bias of all those individuals. It’s fair to say that the SDMB is biased to the left. That’s only natural since mostly liberals are posting here these days. It’s not some massive conspiracy. It’s just the natural result of having one viewpoint over represented. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/18 "2007-01-24T19:37:23Z")
The LA Times may be reporting it, but I personally have not seen mention of it on any of the nightly news programmes. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/19 "2007-01-24T19:58:17Z")
[QUOTE=tashabot] It’s easy to perceive a media bias for mass media. I can see someone thinking that the BBC or CNN has a media bias, ESPECIALLY the American media. [/QUOTE] Undoubtedly, but my point is that some people view even the mere _reporting_ of a certain fact as indicating bias. If someone can see reporting of the axe-murder of a completely innocent teenager as being indication of some shocking anti-white bias, then there is no limit to the bias that can be perceived. In my time at the BBC I was accused of being biased in favour of gays, against gays; in favour of blacks, against blacks; in favour of Barnsley Football Club … you get the idea. My point is that perceived coverage of a particular story is possibly the most malleable of personal perceptions. As handily demonstrated by **mhendo** , the story referred to in the OP has been _massively_ covered in the LA Times, and yet the OP seems convinced that it is somehow being effaced. It’s so easy to claim bias, when what one is really observing is a failure to reflect one’s personal foibles. When this misperception is applied to a debate as important as this, it makes me spit nails. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166/20 "2007-01-24T22:08:12Z")
Yes, I think my OP came across the wrong way. I was focused more on how it wasn’t national news because the first that I heard of it was when there was an article about it in yesterdays Washington Post. Regardless of where it was placed in the L.A Times I get the distinct feeling that had the races been reversed then it would have been all over the national airwaves. I focused on the wrong part of the story and for that I apologize. My other main contention was simply that there were some people who felt that it isn’t possible to charge black people with hate crimes, or that it wasn’t right, and that’s where I had an issue. I wasn’t insinuating that this was the prevailing sentiment here on the SDMB, as I know this online community is by far the most intelligent I’ve ever come across. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-double-standards-in-race-crimes/389166.md?page=2)