Plum Crazy

Maybe Shepard's killing got more press because it was a hate crime, instead of for the fact that Shepard was white. No one seems sure what to make of Brazell's murder yet - was it a disgruntled lover, a hate crime, or for some other reason as yet unknown? Or it could be because Shepard was murdered in a rural area in the middle of nowhere, where such crimes tend to get more attention than, say, New Yahk. There could be any number of reasons not related to the race or financial status of the victim why this story hasn't been picked up by the mainsteam media.

Except that we all know that murders of upper middle-class white women and murders and kidnappings of white children get more press than those of black women and black children. I suppose there might be another explanation, but I seriously doubt that race is not a factor. We do not live in a color-blind society.

Right. Let's just go ahead and admit it, that can be the only possible explanation. What was I thinking.

"I suppose there might be another explanation, but I seriously doubt [it]" != "...that can be the only possible explanation", all sarcasm and hyperbole aside.

Look, I seriously doubt that race is not a factor, yes. I don't think it's a conscious factor, as in someone literally sitting there and saying "Forget this story; the victim's black", but I do think it is a factor. If you look at each individual story, you can always find other reasons why it might not have been covered vs. why a story with an upper middle class white victim was. But when you look at the overall trend, a consistent differentiating factor is race or socioeconomic status. When do you have enough samples to reasonably assume that race is the likely explanation? Do we just never reach that point?

Glad to see you doing your part to get the word out.It is obvious that the media does not care about young black men being brutally murdered so we must show them that WE DO.