ghemminger
04-14-2008, 10:40 PM
http://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/isms/a0000270.html
Another example of media bias in reporting...
http://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/isms/blackandwhite_title.gifhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/spacer.gifhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/spacer.gifhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/spacer.gifby Matt Kaufmanhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/images/emailicon.gif (javascript: openWindow())The scene was the parking lot of a mall in Biloxi, Miss., packed with young black people in town for an event called Black Spring Break. Suddenly, a shout went up from several male voices: "There’s a white girl! There’s a white girl!" Seconds later, the girl was under attack. The mob pressed in, hands clawed at her, and her top was ripped off. As she tried to cover up and buried her face in her hands, the crowd shouted, laughed, and jeered at her. Hands shot up in the air — some pumping fists triumphantly, others waving video cameras seeking to capture the girl’s trauma for more laughs later on.
The whole ugly scene was also captured on film by a photographer for the Biloxi Sun-Herald, which also reported the details above. Had the girl been black and the crowd white, those photos would surely have been splashed on front pages of newspapers across the country, and the story run in the first segment of every evening news show. The assault would have become a symbol of racism said to be rampant among a generation of white youth, remembered and invoked for months — probably years — to come.
Instead, the national media coverage was virtually nonexistent. The only reason I know about the event is because I first heard about it from a friend who happened to be visiting family in Biloxi at the time; that led me to look up the coverage in the Sun-Herald, which was extensive.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. In fact, judging by the stories and many letters in the Sun-Herald, Black Spring Break was a disaster across the board — even worse, by a good sight, than the anarchy that’s come to typify spring break in many other places. Numerous people told tales of other girls, both black and white, who had their clothes forcibly ripped off; of girls followed into bathrooms by men with video cameras; of both males and females stripping and having sex in public. One woman told of receiving a "hysterical" call from her 19-year-old daughter: "She was being harassed by a large group of party-goers as she sat in traffic. They were exposing themselves and videotaping her reaction to it. Groups of party-goers were having sex on the hoods of cars next to her. ... I asked if she could find a policeman to help her get off the highway. She said there were hundreds of policemen standing around watching." Indeed, police were largely impotent to handle the chaos created by the influx of at least 20,000 "partygoers." A stream of citizens reported racially based intimidation (a recurring line heard by local residents: "What you doin’ here, white boy?"). Business owners were robbed and threatened, and many closed their shops. Policemen reported that they frequently found cars carrying not only alcohol and drugs, but guns. (In one case, an officer shot a "partygoer" while another officer tried to wrest away the "partygoer’s" weapon.)
Another example of media bias in reporting...
http://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/isms/blackandwhite_title.gifhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/spacer.gifhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/spacer.gifhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/departments/Images/spacer.gifby Matt Kaufmanhttp://www.boundless.org/2000/images/emailicon.gif (javascript: openWindow())The scene was the parking lot of a mall in Biloxi, Miss., packed with young black people in town for an event called Black Spring Break. Suddenly, a shout went up from several male voices: "There’s a white girl! There’s a white girl!" Seconds later, the girl was under attack. The mob pressed in, hands clawed at her, and her top was ripped off. As she tried to cover up and buried her face in her hands, the crowd shouted, laughed, and jeered at her. Hands shot up in the air — some pumping fists triumphantly, others waving video cameras seeking to capture the girl’s trauma for more laughs later on.
The whole ugly scene was also captured on film by a photographer for the Biloxi Sun-Herald, which also reported the details above. Had the girl been black and the crowd white, those photos would surely have been splashed on front pages of newspapers across the country, and the story run in the first segment of every evening news show. The assault would have become a symbol of racism said to be rampant among a generation of white youth, remembered and invoked for months — probably years — to come.
Instead, the national media coverage was virtually nonexistent. The only reason I know about the event is because I first heard about it from a friend who happened to be visiting family in Biloxi at the time; that led me to look up the coverage in the Sun-Herald, which was extensive.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. In fact, judging by the stories and many letters in the Sun-Herald, Black Spring Break was a disaster across the board — even worse, by a good sight, than the anarchy that’s come to typify spring break in many other places. Numerous people told tales of other girls, both black and white, who had their clothes forcibly ripped off; of girls followed into bathrooms by men with video cameras; of both males and females stripping and having sex in public. One woman told of receiving a "hysterical" call from her 19-year-old daughter: "She was being harassed by a large group of party-goers as she sat in traffic. They were exposing themselves and videotaping her reaction to it. Groups of party-goers were having sex on the hoods of cars next to her. ... I asked if she could find a policeman to help her get off the highway. She said there were hundreds of policemen standing around watching." Indeed, police were largely impotent to handle the chaos created by the influx of at least 20,000 "partygoers." A stream of citizens reported racially based intimidation (a recurring line heard by local residents: "What you doin’ here, white boy?"). Business owners were robbed and threatened, and many closed their shops. Policemen reported that they frequently found cars carrying not only alcohol and drugs, but guns. (In one case, an officer shot a "partygoer" while another officer tried to wrest away the "partygoer’s" weapon.)