Racism in News Reports: Tulsa, OK Shooting

Facts:

Within a few hours late Friday night/ early Saturday morning, five African-American men were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Three of the men died, and the other two are hospitalized in critical condition. Earlier on Friday, the shooter, Jake England, posted a status update on facebook that referenced his father’s 2010 murder. In his post, he referred to his father’s killer, an African-American man, in the most offensive and derogatory slur possible. Authorities consider the post as evidence of England’s motive and proof that the shootings were hate crimes. 

Before I begin critiquing the issue, I must express my disgust. Above all else, this is a horrible, senseless, and despicable crime.

Critiques:

1.     In all the articles I read about the case, not a single one mentioned anything about the victims beyond their names and ages. Instead, the painful history of the killer, England, was broadcasted and discussed at length. The media seems to be simultaneously damning the shootings and justifying the killer’s motives. Why is the man who held the gun being given more sympathy than the innocent victims? I see this as being one aspect of racialized reporting, an aspect that gives faces and voices to white people and nothing but names and ages to black people.

2.     In England’s facebook post he said: “Today is two years that my dad has been gone shot by a f------ n----- it's hard not to go off”. While all of the articles I read referenced England’s facebook post, all sources censored the word except for one of the major news sources. CNN censored the “f-word” but left the “n-word” in its entirety. I was extremely surprised and disappointed that one of the leading news sources chose to do this. At the top of the article they included a warning: “Editor's note: This story contains language that some readers may consider offensive.” They’re right; it is offensive. You know what else is offensive? The editor says that only “some readers” may consider it as such. Everyone should see that as offensive, ugly language. When a word is censored, it indicates that it is offensive, unacceptable, and prohibited. So why did CNN feel the need to censor out a common and victimless word and keep a word that is saturated with decades of hate, violence, and dehumanization?

3.     One last note: The man who murdered the killer’s father was an African-American man. The cops were unable to prove that he was definitively the person who killed England’s dad; however, he was still imprisoned for a gun related charge. Yet George Zimmerman was never arrested despite having confessed that he killed Trayvon Martin. 

Sources:

 CNN 

DailyMail (yes, this one is probably less credible, but it is also extremely detailed)