06.30.05
Posted in culture at 12:00 pm by
After our responses here and elsewhere to Ingrid’s article about Natalee Holloway, I thought it might be prudent to bring some actual facts to light. In this country, I think the real tragedy involved with missing persons is not so much that their father’s have dropped the ball. The real tragedy lies more fundamentally in the missing person cases that DON’T get the national attention.
The news media tells stories about victims that are ‘likable.’ Particularly, police departments and news agencies go ‘ape’ when a white woman goes missing. Jean Benet Ramsey, Lacy Peterson, and now Natalee Holloway just to name a few. These white women are our highest priorities. However, the black woman looking for her sister has to repeatedly contact news agencies in the hopes of generating enough buzz so as to attempt to arouse public interest in finding her family member.
Perhaps it’s because we only feel compelled to care about ‘attractive’ white women, I don’t know. And, lest you think that it’s simply a case of more white women disappearing–try these stats on for size:
In this country, 12 percent of the population is African American. However, 29 percent of all missing persons are African American, 53 percent of all missing persons are male.
Do these folks just matter less to us?
I sure hope not, but I suspect so.
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Posted in culture at 12:00 pm by
After our responses here and elsewhere to Ingrid’s article about Natalee Holloway, I thought it might be prudent to bring some actual facts to light. In this country, I think the real tragedy involved with missing persons is not so much that their father’s have dropped the ball. The real tragedy lies more fundamentally in the missing person cases that DON’T get the national attention.
The news media tells stories about victims that are ‘likable.’ Particularly, police departments and news agencies go ‘ape’ when a white woman goes missing. Jean Benet Ramsey, Lacy Peterson, and now Natalee Holloway just to name a few. These white women are our highest priorities. However, the black woman looking for her sister has to repeatedly contact news agencies in the hopes of generating enough buzz so as to attempt to arouse public interest in finding her family member.
Perhaps it’s because we only feel compelled to care about ‘attractive’ white women, I don’t know. And, lest you think that it’s simply a case of more white women disappearing–try these stats on for size:
In this country, 12 percent of the population is African American. However, 29 percent of all missing persons are African American, 53 percent of all missing persons are male.
Do these folks just matter less to us?
I sure hope not, but I suspect so.
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Travis said,
June 30, 2005 at 12:57 pm
Great observations. I think the problem is that our culture assumes that things like this will happen to African-Americans. For the white-dominated media, bad things happening to white people is news, but when they happen to black people, they seem to not be surprised. A sad case of our still lingering white supremecy and racism.
Streak said,
June 30, 2005 at 2:41 pm
I was going to mention this the other day. Glad you brought it up. It never seems to fail, when an attractive white woman is missing, the media just eats it up.
ol cranky said,
June 30, 2005 at 7:18 pm
Let’s just say even NPR hasn’t noticed our skewed priorities (especially in reporting)
Ian McGibboney said,
June 30, 2005 at 11:16 pm
I feel exactly the same way. Kudos for being one of the apparently few others to notice this bias at all.
Layla said,
July 2, 2005 at 9:57 pm
Your observations are obviously well researched which makes them even more tragic - your not just sharing your opinion. I have noticed the same thing over the years and it’s amazing that it’s still happening - it’s not polictically correct and you think someone (Jesse Jackson?) would be making a bigger deal over it.
Little Light said,
July 4, 2005 at 11:54 pm
I’ve wondered what would happen if I ever went missing. Would my white friends be able to drum up enough attention or would the story go missing as well?
Debbie Fleming said,
November 11, 2005 at 1:46 pm
I do agree that some cases do get priority over others but, I not so sure it is a racist issue because I have a Uncle John Victor Dial missing since 1966 and it took me 45 years to
get this police report because my grandparents never did and don’t know why unless they did not know who to contact because he was in the military and living oversea’s. I got the police report filed Feb 2005 and have had to hit alot of stumbling blocks in the road from the police depart because they did not want to enter his name into the National Crime Information Center Database they tried to tell me
to many years have passed so I called Texas Public Safety and was told he did not know what he was talking about so they called and got it done for me and then was told they are not actually out looking for my Uncle. I
did contact the American Embassy at Washington DC and after a 4 month investigation it was determined he is not in Panama so still alot of unanswered questions so I am writing my state rep in my home state of Arkansas and going to in Texas also requesting a investigation be opened in this case since this case was never officially opened as I said feel is on the back burner and my Uncle is a white man after all this did not get filed until Feb 2005. Please write your
state rep requesting this case be opened for a investigation. Our family
needs closure some sort of answers to what happened. Go to the website for details and along with photo of him taken in 1966 and the age progression.
Thanks
Debbie