Racist or Jaded?

The murder of Keighley Alyea is getting a lot of press, and with that coverage there is more than a little criticism, and much speculation from local blogs. Tony's Kansas City compares Alyea's death and the subsequent coverage, to the black on black crime that has become so commonplace it doesn't draw the same type of coverage. While many may take exception to his wording, he makes a good point. The point being, we tend to kill our own more often than not, and the media also tends to fall all over itself when the victim is white, while many murders on the east side receive scant coverage in comparison. To be fair, we don't hear about young white people killing each other as often in this city, simply because it doesn't happen as often. In the two latest examples, the death of Keighley Alyea, and the young father beaten to death in Independence, there is a common thread that connects the killers, they were young white punks.

More than a few people will, or already have, called racism in the disparity and tone of reporting when it comes to the race of the victim. Frankly, that's not a fair assessment of the situation, it's more than a little short sighted, and kind of lazy. The media is always going to over hype certain stories, they are always going to go for the pitch that tugs at the viewers emotions. They really do report differently when the victim is a young white woman, as opposed to another killing in the inner city or the troubled east side. Maybe the white reporters and anchors get together at night and burn crosses while laughing at Amos and Andy LP's, but it's highly doubtful. More likely, they just go with the story that will put asses in seats. If a Unicorn got hit by a car on Main street, it would be big news, if it happened every other day, year after year, people would lose interest. While there is no comparison to human life and fictional animals, my point is, the disparity isn't so much racism as it is commonality. And that's the rub, the ongoing murder and brutality happens with such regularity in the black community it's become business as usual. I'm not saying that it's right, or that it's fair, it just is what it is. The media may be jaded, they may not hype stories of the latest death of a young black person, with the same intensity as a young white person, and that's because the audience has become jaded.

There is a disconnect, white people in the suburbs can't relate to drive bys and neighborhoods that are tantamount to war zones, because that's not where they live. It may not be fair, it may show a bias, and for that the media is to blame, but the hard and unpolitically correct truth is, the media, and the white viewers, aren't to blame for the ongoing black on black crime that occurs with such tragic frequency that it no longer shocks the senses. That's the real tragedy, and there is plenty of blame to go around. Maybe the question shouldn't be; Why the disparity? Maybe the real question is; Why so much killing that it's become commonplace, almost non newsworthy? Now there's a story, sadly nobody in the media has the balls to put it out there.