That issue started getting sensitive on August 9, 2014, with the (since justified) police shooting of strong-arm robber, Michael Brown, a.k.a. “the gentle giant.”
The issue got a whole lot more sensitive in a 24-hour period beginning last Wednesday when seven people were murdered in St. Louis in six separate incidents.
Although several of the murders were committed by people the victims knew, several were not, most notably Scott Knopfel, 50, the manager of a Drury Inn who was shot and killed despite cooperating with a robber’s request.
Scott Knopfel
Knopfel’s Facebook page is still up.
It shows a smiling heavy-set white guy who likes the St. Louis Blues, Steely Dan, and the St. Louis Zoo among other things. Many of his Facebook friends were black as is his accused killer, Joseph Bowens, whose own mother fingered him as the man holding the gun in the surveillance video.
Needless to say, the media are silent on the race of the victims and the killers.
That only becomes an issue when the person killed is black and the person doing the
killing is white. The net result of this absurd coverage is that many blacks have grown increasing alienated thinking themselves on the barrel end of a race war being waged against them.
As to the victims in the black on black crimes, the media could not give a hoot.
Ditto, Jesse, Al, Eric, and Barack. from their perspective, black lives matter only when there is a payday involved.
Rich Steele is a citizen journalist and head of the NSAAS (Non-Smokers Against Anti-Smoking).
pretty tough comments.
but again ……where are the republicans now that they lead the country to
come up with common sense legislation to stop crime.
What are we to do. This scourge didn’t start in 2008….its been worse
long before than and this year the numbers are down.
May scott rest in peace…and may god show his family his grace during this
terrible time.
But what do we do? give some answers…a plan…something that can start
a conversation that can be agreeable…or we’ll continue to hear both
black and white americans dying for no reasons!
thanks steele…look forward to some ideas from you and Wilson/heaarne
glaze/mark smith/ I don’t think anyone has the answer….what the f**** do we
do?
Some guy gets shot and there aren’t stats on a website. This is your story? This is all you got? You couldn’t even muster a dozen paragraphs of spittle rage. This is some pretty weak race hustling, Rich.
You get an F. Add it to your collection.
Yeah, Steele is really off of the hook expecting taxpayer funded Law Enforcement Agencies and the Main Stream Media to be forthcoming with information and descriptions concerning murders in the metro. Public safety long ago took a back seat to the Progressive Narrative so Steele’s request for the local Commissars to dispense that same information is tantamount to Racism!
“Needless to say, the media are silent on the race of the victims and the killers. That only becomes an issue when the person killed is black and the person doing the
killing is white. The net result of this absurd coverage is that many blacks have grown increasing alienated thinking themselves on the barrel end of a race war being waged against them.”
This sure seems like false equivalency. You compare a man who was killed by a police officer to a man who was killed by a criminal. There is no doubt both murders were tragic but what exactly do you expect from the media? Do you want every single murder to be weighted the same and to be given the same amount of media coverage?
“As to the victims in the black on black crimes, the media could not give a hoot.”
This seems to be a theme throughout most of your articles. What are your suggestions on how to end violent crime in the black community?
“You compare a man who was killed by a police officer to a man who was killed by a criminal. [..] Do you want every single murder to be weighted the same and to be given the same amount of media coverage?”
Great point! We expect that criminals will commit crimes, we don’t expect officers to do so. And I am not convicting Darren Wilson, I am speaking generally about corrupt cops.
Our Borg Group Think Leaders have spoken! We hear! We Obey!
TV Show COPS
John Langley, creator and producer of the TV show COPS bragged to conservative columnist Ben Shapiro that he censors black crime.
Langley states “What irritates me sometime is critics still watch something and say ‘oh look they misrepresent people of color.’ That’s absolutely not true. Au contraire. I show more white people than statistically what the truth is in terms of street crime. If you look at the prisons it’s 60-something percent people of color, and 30-something percent of white people. If you look at COPS it’s 60 percent white and 40 percent, it’s just the reverse. And I do that intentionally, because I don’t want to contribute to negative stereotypes.”
Langley boldly admits to censoring black crime for political reasons.
Associated Press
Tom Kent, deputy managing editor for standards and production at The Associated Press recently admitted that the AP censors black crime.
Last March Kent said that race is not usually mentioned unless it is a “hate crime.” As you know, the media rarely declares black on white crime to be a “hate crime.” Only the extremely rare white on black crimes are ever considered a “hate crime” in the media.
Kent said that if the police are looking for an at large suspect they may mention race. However, Kent stated “but once a person is captured, it probably would not be germane to the story.”
In other words, unless the perp is white or the police specifically ask for it, the AP censors the race of black crime perpetrators.
New York Times
Philip Corbett, associate managing editor of the New York Times recently confessed to censoring black crime.
Last March, 18 black males aged 16-27 were arrested for allegedly gang raping an 11 year old Mexican girl in Cleveland, Texas. The radical New Black Panther Party actually held a rally at an all black church demanding the release of the perpetrators. Over one hundred local blacks attended the rally.
The New York Times ran an article that critics say blamed the victim and her family. It also expressed shock that members of the public were supported the accused perps.
However the Times completely censored the fact that the perpetrators are black. The newspapers also portrayed those who were supporting the perps as “Texans.”
There was a backlash against the New York Times for their insulting coverage.
The New York Times published a follow-up admitting their first piece “lacked balance.”
Philip Corbett, however, defending censoring the race of the perpetrators. He said that mentioning the race of a crime perpetrator does “not really providing any useful information and it could be sort of boiler plate.”
By “boiler plate,” Corbett means that it would be politically incorrect to inform the public the truth about crime in America. He feels that political correctness is more important than public safety.
Chicago Tribune
Last June Chicago Tribune senior vice president and editor Gerould Kern admitted the newspaper censors black crime in a rather nasty response to his critics.
Kern stated, “we guard against subjecting an entire group of people to suspicion because of the color of their skin.”
His admission of guilt came after a series of brutal racially motivated mob attacks against white people in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune censored the race of the perpetrators and concealed the nature of the attacks.
When critics attacked the Tribune for their coverage, Kern proudly boasted of the papers’ censorship and personally insulted the white victims. He ranted, “there is no evidence to suggest that the victims were singled out because of their race.”
Following the diatribe by Chicago Tribune Editor Kern, Chicago Tribune opinion page writer Steve Chapman, who calls himself “a minority of one,” stated the same thing and defended the practice.
Chapman, who is on the far left, states “It’s the newspaper’s sound general policy not to mention race in a story, whether about crime or anything else.” Chapman then got very nasty in his diatribe defending censorship. He states that people who advocate accurate reporting of crime stories “fear or dislike blacks.”
Chapman also decided to take a jab at the innocent white victims of black mob violence in Chicago. He claimed the race of the perpetrators was not relevant. Then he said stated “what good would it do to trumpet the skin color of the thugs? So pedestrians on Michigan Avenue can run away when they see two or more African-Americans?”
Obviously Chapman would rather see more innocent white people attacked than report the news accurately.
Washington Post
In August of 2010 the Washington Post Ombudsman Andrew Alexander stated that the paper censored race. He said that Weekend News Editor Robert E. Pierre supported the censorship.
The Post came under criticism by readings for censoring black mob violence on the local metro system.
Alexander whined, “The Post should always be sensitive to overplaying stories, especially if race is involved.” Keep in mind that Alexander is talking about a story that the Post was criticized for downplaying, not overplaying.
Pierre attacked critics of the paper’s coverage as “racial insensitive.”
LA Times
The LA Times was the first newspaper I ever noticed openly admitting to racial censorship. This was back in 2007. The paper made an online database of homicides. They offered a sort of apology for including the races of the perpetrators. They stated that it was normally their policy to censor this information.
On June 6, 2007 the LA Times made this official statement. “Racial information was once routinely included in news stories about crimes, but in recent decades, newspapers and other media outlets stopped mentioning suspects’ or victims’ race or ethnicity because of public criticism. Newspapers came to embrace the idea that such information is irrelevant to the reporting of crimes, and may unfairly stigmatize racial groups.”
By “public criticism,” they are referring to bullying by radical racial groups like the NAACP.