Turn on the news. Go ahead, turn on your local or 24hr cable news. More than likely there is a black male on the run from the law and a white female in trouble. We always hear about 15 year old Elizabeth Smart and how "brave" she was. She was kidnapped and taken to a house less than 6 miles from her own. The kidnappers left her alone for several hours and she never even tried to escape. Conversely, a 5 year old (yes, I said 5) black girl was kidnapped after school by some crackheads. She chewed through her ropes and was home by 6pm. No national coverage about her bravery.
What about Susan Smith? Killed her babies and blamed a nondescript black male. Everyone believed her. Can we catch a break? Watch "Bowling for Columbine", read "The Culture of Fear." Our nation cares not for those of darker complexions than lily white. Our media isn't fair towards our concerns or our issues. Even our own TV network (BET) is fucked up.
Let me put my general anger aside for this blog and focus on the most appalling issue of late. No, ITS NOT OJ!!! Travel with me to West Virginia. No wait, we better travel in packs if we are going there. Check out the
news on this issue. And the six accused of the crime will
NOT be charged with a hate crime (they have been charged with 108 crimes since 1991, how are they still out of jail). Megan Williams, a 20 year old black woman, was sexually assaulted and kidnapped for a week by six white people (including a mother and daughter AND a mother and son combo). She was repeatedly called a nigger (every time she was stabbed) and forced to do many despicable and demeaning things. Yet they are not charging the six with a hate crime!! The police are saying that she previously met one of the accused (Bobby Brewster, 24), but I believe that the crime was still racially motivated due to the fact she was called nigger while she was stabbed. This is why I must write this blog! It saddens me that this story is receiving minimal coverage while OJ is our media's top priority. Why is this? Do we not bleed the same blood if we are beaten and raped as our white counterparts? Has segregation and bigotry remained, while only changing its methods?
I would say YES!!
I am not saying that all whites are bad and all blacks are good (or vice versa), but there seems to be an inherent disconnect with victims from other racial groups than the majority. This disconnect is not in all whites, but if I were to judge the nation on the media's coverage of certain issues, then I would see that our media and the general population do not care about victims who are minorities. What can we do about this?
Its great to rant and feel anger towards "the MAN", but what will that accomplish? We need to be honest about our feelings towards these discrepancies in news coverage. Tell your fellow man how you feel. We also need to be honest with ourselves.
This nation needs a change. We can't always hide behind the banner of faux equality in our great nation. We need to expose these injustices! Wearing black or green may be a slight start, but I think we would be better served writing articles, organizing our community, utilizing our "BET" for social change, voicing our opinions on the national stage, choosing a true Black leader (not Al or Jesse), and being honest with ourselves.
