Why is race indicated on criminal related posts?

[dustyb]

Read the newspaper, it is rarely ever mentioned. When you dig deeper you do find a trend in certain areas of town, not being racist, simple facts. Reporters go out of their way to not mention race and especially ignore it if they are illegals.

I have noticed the same thing, especially when the criminal is on the loose. Apparently political correctness trumps public safety.

[FlynJay]

If you are white, then your ancestors owned slaves...or they looked the other way while their neighbors owned slaves, so that makes you a rasict!
(at least this is how the liberals in the black community spin it)

You would be hard pressed to find a person on this planet that at some point in history their lineage did not own slaves or support slavery in some fassion. Slavery has been an intergral part of human history. Does it have a place in a modern society? In my opinion, no. Broadly defigned, a prision inmate in a work program could be defigned as a slave.

Back on Topic.
I think race is an important fact when giving the description of a suspect that is on the loose, along with description of vehicle, clothes, etc.
I don't think race is important when describing a crime that has been commited and the perp is in custody. It could lead to strengthing of styerotypes for some people.
If you look hard enough, most of the time you can find some remarks that could be taken as racist. Who is the racist, the person who wrote it or the person who pointed it out?

[Purplehood]

I imagine that it is not PC to point out who was selling the slaves to the Europeans and Arabs...

To get back on topic, I think that if we mention race, gender, etc. for one, we should mention it for all. I see absolutely no use to eliminating the specification of such "facts" when it comes to dispatchers and others that need all the help that they can get in identifying who needs help or who needs to be looked-out for.

[Charles L. Cotton]

My opinion is that too much importance is attached to the inclusion of race and gender in a perpetrator description, but that importance is being attached by those who object to the idea of including the information in the reporting.

Worrying that including the information may serve to perpetuate stereotypes is a valid concern, but that still doesn't mean that the information is not useful. What that means is that some people are bigots and will assume generalities about race and gender. However, those people are likely already bigots, and the information only serves - in their eyes - to confirm their suspicions. But that still does not mean that the information is not useful. The solution is to deal with the bigotry, not to suppress truth.

My view is that it is journalistic dishonesty not to include all the facts in reporting a story. None of us likes it when the media misreport gun "facts." Why should we like it when they hide or misreport other facts? Truth is what it is. If people have difficulty with the truth, then they need to deal with that instead of trying to suppress it.

So, how do I see that being applied in terms of this discussion? Well, I think it is perfectly legitimate, for instance, if a Member A posts about an "interview" he/she had, and mentions that the "interviewer" was of a different race or gender than Member A is. The reason it is acceptable information is that it helps Member A to draw a picture of exactly what was going down. Maybe there was some racial tension involved. If so, then that is relevant information. However, if Member B steps in and says "well, that's just typical of purple people," then Member B deserves to get slapped down for making a bigoted remark. So, it's not really the information that is at fault. It's what the viewer does with that information that can be a problem if it is not appropriate.

In other cases, maybe Member A really is a bigot him/herself, and that bigotry will become apparent in their opening post. But I don't think that the inclusion of racial and or gender descriptions is what makes them a bigot. Rather, it is the way in which the information is included that telegraphs Member A's real heart.

Very well said.

I think all of us, moderators and members, here at TexasCHLforum do a good job of stepping in when statements about race go from information to bigotry.

Chas.

[KBCraig]

There are a couple of reasons why race is mentioned.

Probably most often, it's mentioned when reporting incidents, because the writer is trying to be thorough in the same way he would when giving a police report. It's relevant to the people trying to catch a criminal on the loose.

And somewhat too often, it's used as confirmation bias: "They were Mexican, by the way..." confirms, in some minds, that the perpetrators must have really been bad and the writer must have been justified.

I have no problem using race when it's relevant. A BOLO alert is useless without a physical description, and skin color or ethnic type is usually (not always) one of the most obvious distinguishing characteristics. News reports that are "PC" to the point that they won't mention such important information nor show a picture, are just silly. On the other hand, I do have a problem with mentioning race when it's irrelevant, because it only serves as confirmation bias as I mentioned above.

[shootthesheet]

Rockrz

You are right about Liberals. White = bad...Black= good is their rule. They have the same old racism but now it is directed toward those who do not bow to their plan of control. Fact is, to me, they don't stand for anything but their own power and wealth. If they cared about people of all races they would support the full Second Amendment civil rights for every law abiding American. Instead everything they do is to deny people of their rights with promises to take away peoples responsibility for their own actions. A big reason, in my opinion, whey so many of this nations poor choose a life of crime instead of seeking the American Dream thru the same methods the rest of us choose to.

Give a man a fish and he will steal another. Teach a man to fish and he will feed the village.

[function12]

You know when they stop mentioning race in crimes here in Houston in the news? After Katrina. I wonder why? Before that is was no big deal???

[DoubleActionCHL]

You know when they stop mentioning race in crimes here in Houston in the news? After Katrina. I wonder why? Before that is was no big deal???

Nah... the media has been avoiding race in criminal reports for years, presumably due a majority of the suspects belonging to one race or another. While I'm certain that there is at least one badge-wearing racist out there, we have to face the fact that larger numbers of crimes are committed by people who fall into certain groups that, coincidentally, fall along racial lines. It's not a difficult concept; just one many people refuse to accept.

[casingpoint]

Failure to report the suspect's race is not at issue here, although it seems hardly necessary in view of the evidence:



"The New Orleans Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in the identification of an unknown, African-American male, wanted in connection with vandalizing one of city's crime cameras. The incident occurred on August 14, 2008, shortly after 8 a.m., in the Treme area."

Crime galore in New Orleans. And guess whattup?
'Nother hurricane!!! :
http://www.nola.com/crime/

[Jason73]

Political Correctness in reporting:

"Dallas police are on the lookout for a person. Suspect is about that tall and weighs about that much. Suspect was last seen wearing something. Suspect is considered armed and dangerous......"

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense does it? If a crime happens in my area and the suspect(s) are still on the loose I want the news to report every detail possible INCLUDING gender and race. That way if I see the person(s) I can call the police.

This whole business reminds me of how different American society has become in the last 20 years and imo its not good. Racism has become an obsession with certain parts of society and certain political parties. Its used as an excuse, a crutch, etc.

Makes me want to vomit to be honest.

Now, what exactly does this have to do with CHL's - I seem to have missed the connection?

For the record, if this board is going PC I wish to be addressed as an Gravitationally Challenged German Italian Polish Norwegian French American.

Thank you for your support

Jason

<sarcasm off>

[03Lightningrocks]

Political Correctness in reporting:

"Dallas police are on the lookout for a person. Suspect is about that tall and weighs about that much. Suspect was last seen wearing something. Suspect is considered armed and dangerous......"

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense does it? If a crime happens in my area and the suspect(s) are still on the loose I want the news to report every detail possible INCLUDING gender and race. That way if I see the person(s) I can call the police.

This whole business reminds me of how different American society has become in the last 20 years and imo its not good. Racism has become an obsession with certain parts of society and certain political parties. Its used as an excuse, a crutch, etc.

Makes me want to vomit to be honest.

A couple months back a nut job was driving around Garland taking random gunshots a people. The darned media would only refer to him as driving a black honda. There are only about 60 gabillion black hondas driving around the metroplex. I guess you were suppose to duck everytime you saw one. The clown was an asian...but we couldn't say that until after he was caught. Might cause folks to profile asians...LOL. This kind of stupidity with the liberals made it next to impossible to know who to look out for.

For the record, if this board is going PC I wish to be addressed as an Gravitationally Challenged German Italian Polish Norwegian French American.

Thank you for your support

Jason

<sarcasm off>

Since that would be alot to type...could we just shorten it a little and refer to you as that fat pollock poster with the funny accent? J/K...

[lws380]

I've noticed a disturbing trend of describing the beed of dogs in numerous post. Is it really necessary to desribe the breed of dog? For instance I've read postings similar to:

[quote][/quote]Report this postReply with quote Re: Dog shot in city park
by BigBlueDodge on Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:07 pm

I googled "poodle attacks" and came up with 632000 hits. I say we shoot threatening poodles too!![quote]

So I ask, why do we feel that breed should be indicated on the posts when referring to a canine event?

[Elsie Pea]

Worrying that including the information may serve to perpetuate stereotypes is a valid concern, but that still doesn't mean that the information is not useful. What that means is that some people are bigots and will assume generalities about race and gender. However, those people are likely already bigots, and the information only serves - in their eyes - to confirm their suspicions. But that still does not mean that the information is not useful. The solution is to deal with the bigotry, not to suppress truth.

According to you, I'm a bigot. I find it interesting that you know how our minds operate. We bigots don't need to have our suspicions confirmed. They were confirmed PRIOR to becoming bigots. The facts speak for themselves. As far as crime is concerned, certain groups of people tend to commit a disproportionate number of certain crimes. To me, if a White man were to murder a black family, I would be just as outraged as if a black man had murdered a White family. I would just be more surprised to hear that the White guy killed an entire family of another race.

[G.C.Montgomery]

I've been a member for a short time, but have read a TON of threads, and I noticed a disturbing trend. I have read many postings that discuss a news event, or situation that occurred to the post, and the race is always pointed out of the attackers. For instance I've read postings similar to

"three BLACK males robbed the store"
"a HISPANIC male broke in to the house"
"a MEXICAN male pulled a gun"
"two AFRICAN AMERICANS stole some items"

When the event involves a white criminal, you generally don't see the poster indicate that attacker was white. So I ask, why do we feel that race should be indicated on the posts when referring to an criminal event?

For example, here are 3 post on the first page of this forum that I looked in

and then the two thieves, mexicans for the record, turned onto the paved

http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... =7&t=18237

Three armed black males, walked into

http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... =7&t=18374

The attacker was white, but was never pointed out
http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... =7&t=18236

Dude, you aren't the first to notice that trend and it's not a new trend. Minorities have complained of that issue for decades but, the majority tends to dismiss it as a “fig Newton” of our imagination. It is part of basic human logic to recognize patterns and the report of, or failure to report, race with respect to crimes is a recognizable pattern to anyone who chooses to pay attention. That’s not necessarily good or bad.

What is bad is when we don’t take that sort of thing into account and recognize that it can create subconscious bias. Nearly all of us have a pre-conceived image of a person connected with certain terms based on life experience and the images to which we’ve been subjected during our lifetimes. That image may include gender and race. As an example, what pops into your mind for the following terms:
Cop
Gangbanger
Priest
Pedophile
Pharmacist
Dealer
Doctor
Rapist
Lawyer
Robber
Judge
Criminal
Singer
Serial Killer
Supremacists

No need to post what come to mind here, it is just something to think about. But with respect to the original topic, I will say my observations are in line with those of the original post and I would agree that, at least to me, it seems race is reported more often when minorities commit crimes.

[The Annoyed Man]

I would just be more surprised to hear that the White guy killed an entire family of another race.

Why? Serial and mass murderers in America are actually statistically and proportionally more likely to be committed by whites than blacks. That's a fact. Because of that pesky fact, I would actually find it more surprising to read of a serial or mass killing committed by a black person than a white person, because that would be contrary to statistical probability.