Quote:
Originally posted by Gutterboy
I thought much the same when the Smart case was getting all that attention.
Hundreds (thousands?) of minority teens from poor neighborhoods go missing every year and it goes unnoticed, but let a 14 year old white chick from the 'burbs with millionaire parents get snatched and there is 24x7 national coverage for weeks.
Pretty sad.
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A nice thought, except that it's total bullshit.
Why do you know Amy Smart's name? Because she's one of the three or four cases per year that get a lot of press. Do you really think that only three white kids from the suburbs go missing every year? No, it's "hundreds (thousands?)" just like minority children. Every week I get one of those "have you seen me" cards in the mail. More often than not, it is a child from a minority group and even when it is a white kid, it's never anyone I've heard of. That's because, despite your ridiculous statement, missing white kids do not get some super-special media bonanza while missing minority children are just tossed to the wayside.
How about Precious Doe and Rilya Wilson? Both of these are missing _black_ children that have gotten TONS of publicity. Easily as much as Amy Smart ever saw. There's been public outrage, candlelight vigils, hour-long news specials, investigations, the whole nine yards.
Face facts, there's only so much airtime to go around. For a case to get special attention, it has to do something to catch the public eye. In the last year or so, we've seen three or four such cases and at least two of them involved missing minority children, as I stated above. To say that the media and the police ignore missing minority children basically states that all law enforcement, all broadcast news, all newspapers, magazines and online media outlets are riddled with hateful racists who don't care about children because of the color of their skin. That sort of blanket assumption is exactly as stupid as someone stating that all black people are gang-bangers on their way to rob convenient stores. It's ignorant.
Edit: Let me also add that "millionaire parents" are the real key. Of COURSE rich parents have more resources and get more action. Do you think a black millionaire wouldn't do the same? If you want to make an argument for unfair treatment due to class, that holds a bit more water.
SpaceAce