Death is Not About Color; It’s About People

Note: This should have been published on Tuesday, and I just realized it wasn’t. So, here it is.

 

I had a conversation with someone who said that  although she is saddened by the shooting in Connecticut, she cannot really feel bad because kids getting shot in Chicago don’t get equal coverage. Are you frickin’ kidding me?

Twenty-six lives have been taken and you can look at color?? Really???

Death is NOT About Color

If you have have read any of my views on race and gender in America and mainstream media practices, I am one of the first people to spotlight differences in story coverage based on race. However, my heart grieves for the families, students and faculty in this situation. However, I do have a few comments on that person’s comment.

Can you imagine being in that school when the gunman came through spraying bullets like he was on a war battlefield shooting at innocent people and killing babies? I don’t care how old they were; they were somebody’s children.

Can you imagine the trauma those people have to live with for their rest of their lives? Especially the children that lost brothers and sisters?

Can you, as a parent, imagine sending your child(ren) to what used to be a safe place and then learning that there was a shooting?

Can you imagine being a parent waiting outside for your child to WALK out with their classmates only to discover you would never see your baby or babies again?

Can you imagine burying your baby who’s life has ended so soon? Most parents don’t expect to bury their children.

What does that have to do with color??

 News Coverage of Black Children Killed By Guns

First of all, if black people don’t care about these stories not being told, then media outlets definitely won’t. We have accepted deaths of our children as the norm. We hear a news story, mourn during that whole 30-minute segment, and forget about it until the next death unless we knew the child personally.  Other than Kids Off the Block, Black Star Project and Father Pfleger from St. Sabina, we don’t hear anything else after a child has been killed in Chicago.

So, why should news sources care when we don’t?

Ok, we don’t own media outlets, but there are many way we can spread the word about our dying children that are not reported on the news.

1. Blogs – traditional, audio or video
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. Instagram
5. Text Message
6. YouTube

But here’s the thing. As usual, people want to complain but they aren’t doing anything about it – even with access to these tools.

If that person was that upset about unreported deaths, she should be figuring out how to spread the word instead of just jabbing her jaws. When I told her about the options, she looked at me like I had two heads. Really???

Alright, I’m done now. Just had to vent.