What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry

melancholic romantic comic cynic. bi & genderqueer. fantasy writer. sysrae on ao3.

America Does Not Give A Damn When Black Children Are Shot

robot-heart-politics:

letterstomycountry:

Last night, 13 people, including a 3-year old boy and several teenage kids, were shot in a mass shooting in Chicago.  

And nobody cares.

When the Sandy Hook shootings took place, the nation mourned.  The next day, the country came to a standstill.  Every news station was talking about it.  The families of the victims were inundated with gifts and money from around the country.  The outpouring of material support was so overwhelming that Newtown had to decline further gifts because they literally had no place to put them.  They had so many donations that they had to give away much of what was given.

When the Navy Yard shootings occurred recently, again, it was front page news.  National news outlets were immediately analyzing the situation.  Timelines were established.  Profiles of the victims, as they became known, were run.  Profiles of the shooter followed.  The shooting dominated the 24-hour news cycle.

And yet when 13 people get shot in Chicago, the nation barely takes notice.  At best, it is relegated an interesting tidbit placed in the side-bar.

Here is the front page of NBC News:

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Fox News:

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The New York Times:

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The LA Times:

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CNN, to their credit, appears to be the only national news outlet which felt this story was worth front-page exposure, though I highly doubt it will be there for long:

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Why is it that when 13 people get mowed down in a Black neighborhood in Chicago, including a 3-year old boy who was shot in the face, it is not a national day of mourning?  Where is the outpouring of support for the families of the victims?  Where are the touching profiles by news anchors about the lives of the people that were shot?  Why is it a national tragedy when 26 people get shot in Newtown Connecticut, or 13+ people get shot in the Navy Yard in D.C., but the nation barely bats an eye when 13 people get shot in Chicago?

Perhaps it’s about expectations.  We expect people in poor Black neighborhoods to get shot, so it doesn’t shock us.  But when people get shot in a cozy white suburb, or in a military installation, it is a big surprise.  These areas are supposed to be safe, unlike low-income minority neighborhoods, riddled with idleness, crime, and violence.

But think about the implications of that statement.  This means that culturally, we value the lives of poor Black people less.  We simply don’t care when poor Black people die because we expect it to happen.  If only they had been lucky enough to be born White, or in a better neighborhood, they might be worth more sympathy.

Some might argue that people living in crime-ridden neighborhoods have only themselves to blame.  But mobility costs money.  Structural racism makes it difficult for many people in poor Black neighborhoods to lift themselves out of poverty.  And it’s not for lack of trying:  83% of children from low-income families have at least one working parent.  So the old “culture of poverty” canard does not explain the plight of people in low-income communities.

What’s really going on here is that America does not give a damn when Black children are shot.  Or about Black bodies in general.  There will be no national outpouring of support for the victims of the Chicago shooting.  The world will not stop turning in America today.  Radio hosts and news anchors have not set aside other news items to focus on the victims, or to ask tough questions about whether policy changes can prevent another tragedy.

Instead, they will keep talking about the Navy Yard shooting while 3-year old Deonta Howard, pictured above in some of the screenshots, sits in critical condition in a Chicago hospital with a hole in his face where his cheek used to be.

Race still matters in America.  If you needed any indication of that, look at the screenshots above, and ask yourself how many Black children would have to be shot for it to qualify as a national tragedy.  The number would probably scare you.  And it should.

Honestly, I’ve heard very little about the Navy Yard shooting either. I heard absolutely zero about this.

(via ladyloveandjustice)

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