This is in regards to the yesterday’s shooting in Wilkinsburg (Pittsburgh). I grew up in that area, so I was naturally interested. I read several internet articles on this. The gunman was quoted as saying:
and also saying:
(the above was taken from http://www.msnbc.com/msn/376472.asp
Do you think for ONE FUCKING SECOND that any of the things he said were mentioned on local TV or radio coverage of the incident? FUCK no. If it had been reversed, and some crazy-ass cracker had gone around saying how he hated black folks, and was gonna go kill a bunch of black people, this would be a fucking hurricane of news coverage and civil rights leaders denouncing the violence and starting the healing process and all that other feel good shit. This fits the definition of “hate crime” to a T. You think anyone lobbying for hate crime legislation will bring up THIS issue? I’ll eat some crow if they do, but I doubt it.
I’m not even sure that if the roles were reversed (angry white shooter), that I would want it reported on like that (pulling the race card) , but I wish that the media could be fucking consistent. Wishful goddamed thinking, I know.
Please, don’t take this rant as me being some bitter white guy. That’s not the case at all. I’m just pretty fucking bitter at news bias.
I just want to preface my post by saying that I believe the problem lies with the media, not with either race.
Remember Bufford Furrow, (that was that Nazi’s name wasn’t it?) that shot up the Jewish daycare center? They went on and on about the racist element for WEEKS after the shooting.
I also noticed the race of the 6 year old shooter and his family were played down. I think this is a tradgedy no matter what the color of the skin, but I do think that the race would have been mentioned if a 6 year old white boy had shot and killed a 6 year old black girl.
Then…
we could bitch a little about how the press treated Bush’s visit at Bob Jones, but how they ignore the crap coming out of Sharpton’s or Jackson’s mouth. I promise you there will not be one little comment about Hillary meeting with those bigots.
I guess I am a little jaded by now. I’m waiting for everyone to rush in a call anyone who agrees a racist.
I have to agree with this one. I went to read the story at CNN, noticed an obvious lack of the complete story, so I clicked on the Geedback option near the top of the page. I wrote my 2 cents, basically why must I look to international or non-mainstream sources for the full story/double standard/etc.
If I get anything back on that (Understandable if I don’t, CNN probably gets their fair share of mail) I will post the response.
Back in high school, our football coach was stabbed to death by his son. Reporters swarmed the school and basically harassed students just to get a sound bite or a reaction shot. They would poke their microphones into a car window asking endlessly stupid questions. It was then I realized how vapid and pointless most (not all) reporters and reporting is. Since then, I am more than a little jaded. I take what they say with a grain of salt, with my BS meter on high.
And, I now am left with very little respect for the profession since it seems like the promise of unbiased and open reporting seems to have gone the way of the Yugo.
Wow, that might be my biggest issue oriented rant in quite a while. Felt pretty good.
Voted Rookie of the Year in MPSIMs and the Pit, along with Best One-liners.
And I don’t plan on keeping this as my sig for long, just until the winning buzz wears off.
Hmmm, I heard the comments about how this guy didn’t like white people in his apartment, and how he was going to kill all whites on the CBS News with Dan Rather. It doesn’t sound like they are trying to hush it up to me.
“You can be smart or pleasant. For years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant.”
Elwood P. Dowd
Well, Pundit…you have one news source that mentioned it. I have seen several that have not. Would you agree that this would be a violent shitstorm of news coverage had things been reversed?
If you check the MSNBCNews, NY Times and Washington Post’s website, they don’t have the story on the main page (although most have the “Clinton pushes gun laws” story). CNN has the story but doesn’t mention the race angle. CBS and ABC both have the story and specifically mention the racial factor. All prominently feature the 6-year-old being shot in Michigan.
I’m more bothered by the lack of consistency than anything else.
Well, looks like they are starting to report on this. Last night, local news and several internet reports I read did not mention it. I guess I have nothing left to be mad at.
FUCK!
I hate when I can’t be mad anymore.
Between this and me prematurely flying off the handle in the “When are N***** gonna learn to stop running from the police” thread, I think I need to call it a day for the SDMB.
Yes, I think it would have been handled in a similar fashion had the races been reversed. What more do you want them to do? They have stated he is black. They have stated he targeted whites. They have stated that he said racist things. They have said he had racist writings in his apartment. How much more can they say about it? As far as I can tell, he was not a member of a black equivalent to the Klan. I haven’t seen any background on him yet, so I don’t know if he has a background of racist crime, I suspect if he did it will be published and broadcast.
This was a sick racist bastard that snapped. Sick racist bastards can come in any ethnic group extant. I just don’t see what else the media could say about him. What exactly do you want the media to do?
I wanted them to do what they are starting to do now. Last night and this morning, there was little mention of it, and that’s what I was pissed about. They seem to be getting their asses in gear, so if you didn’t read my above post, I’ll repeat it for you.
Sorry, for some reason my connection is taking forever to load and send things. I did not see the intervening posts above. But I will say again, I heard on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather last night that the shooter had targeted whites and told a black woman he was going to only kill whites. Now the CBS News is not known for its conservative views…
Sorry, for some reason my connection is taking forever to load and send things. I did not see the intervening posts above. But I will say again, I heard on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather last night that the shooter had targeted whites and told a black woman he was going to only kill whites. Now the CBS News is not known for its conservative views…
[sarcasm]No, there WOULD be a difference in the media’s coverage if the races were reversed: we would be subjected to Rev. Al Sharpton on his soapbox, as if he’s not busy enough with two NYC shootings. But who do us honkies have standing up for us, huh??[/sarcasm]