Have no idea if this is observed in other cities. Perusing the obituaries I note that, in proportion to the demographics here in San Diego, very few African Americans are “featured” in the obit. In fact, it’s very rare I see an AA obit.
Anyone see this in other cities? Any idea as to why this might be?
A lot of times obituaries are paid for by the line so can be expensive. Usually there is some requirement of at leas a death notice, something that usually just says they died and when and where.
In my old small hometown, the obits from the funeral homes with mostly Black clientele tend to be very curt, with the bare minimum of information.
We need to define our terms here. By “obituary” are you talking about the newspaper death notices which feature postage-stamp photos of the deceased and all have the same weird phrases (“asleep in Jesus,” “gone to eternal rest,” etc.)? Or are you talking about news stories about the deceased that talk about their impact on the community and include quotes from business associates or friends?
Because the death notices are paid advertisements by the funeral home, and are billed back to whoever’s paying for the funeral. The basic funeral package may include some bare bones, 20 words or less type notice.
Not referring to news stories, but the family-paid for death notices. They may or may not feature photos. They are indeed somewhat expensive.
Since the OP is asking for personal opinions and anecdotes, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I work for a large regional newspaper and work every day with paid funeral notices, and I don’t know the answer to this. It is true our notices are expensive, at least partly because of our regional circulation.
We don’t go out soliciting for paid funeral notices, they just come to us as people see the need, so it’s not something we’re doing as far as I can tell.
I wonder if the reason for this phenomenon is also cultural, as well as possibly financial? For example, we don’t print in foreign languages so a lot of Chinese and Latino notices go in the smaller local papers printed in those languages.
Perhaps African-American churches handle the funeral arrangements for their congregations, and their traditions don’t include a printed notice?
When I started writing this I thought that I would be the person most likely to be able to answer the question, but now I realize I’m not. We need someone who knows about African-American funeral traditions, and that’s not me.
Roddy
Note that things that have historically been viewed as luxuries that few could afford tend to be not accepted later when money is no longer an issue. If someone’s grandparents didn’t go for something costly, you might not. So current economic status may not be the main thing.
When my father died in Oceanside I bought an obit for him in the paper up there, and looked at one in the Union. They are indeed expensive - running pictures even more so. If no picture, how would you know?
I can only speak for my area (Cleveland) but this typically applies to African-American funeral traditions in northern cities:
Funeral arrangements are largely handled by one of the long-standing black-owned funeral homes in the city. The actual service is usually held in the church where the deceased was a member - if they weren’t the church-going, tithe paying sort then the service is held in the funeral home itself. When able, money is usually spent on the casket and the funeral program. The funeral programs can be fairly elaborate - photos, a detailed biography, favorite hymns, quotes of condolences from family and friends, etc. Funerals are family/friend affairs, when somebody dies, the family and friends will know about it, a death notice/obit in the newspaper typically isn’t needed. At most there may be one of those short two line notices as part of the funeral home’s package. If you see a large, detailed obit in the newspaper, then the deceased was very likely a highly regarded public figure (pastor, politician, business owner).
A quick scan of teh Atlanta Journal/Constitution obit with pictures shows a representative sample of blacks and whites.