Posted on 03/12/2011 3:22:24 AM PST by reaganaut1
The story quickly climbed The Times’s “most emailed” list but not just because of the sensational facts of the crime involved. “Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town,” published on Tuesday, reported the gang rape by 18 boys and men of an 11-year-old girl in the East Texas town of Cleveland.
The viral distribution of the story was, at least in part, because of the intense outrage it inspired among readers who thought the piece pilloried the victim.
My assessment is that the outrage is understandable. The story dealt with a hideous crime but addressed concerns about the ruined lives of the perpetrators without acknowledging the obvious: concern for the victim.
While the story appeared to focus on the community’s reaction to the crime, it was not enough to simply report that the community is principally concerned about the boys and men involved – as this story seems to do. If indeed that is the only sentiment to be found in this community – and I find that very hard to believe – it becomes important to report on that as well by seeking out voices of professional authorities or dissenting community members who will at least address, and not ignore, the plight of the young girl involved.
Let’s consider the particulars:
The story by James C. McKinley Jr. reported that residents of the town noted the girl dressed “older than her age,” wore makeup and fashions “more appropriate to a woman in her 20s” and hung out with older boys at the playground.
The story also quoted one resident, saying, “Where was her mother? What was her mother thinking?”
Referring to some of the defendants in the case, the same resident was quoted saying, “These boys have to live with this the rest of their lives.”
(Excerpt) Read more at publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Don't bet on that. Many Hispanics in Texas are not really that fond of blacks who do stuff like this.
Pretty soon they’ll call for the 11 yo to be stoned to death for being rape. Full circle for evil.
It really is a shame; God help them. They are no better off than the last whites leaving collapsing neighborhoods when Newark and other cities fell.
As a grandmom trying to shop for my grand daughters, I testify that it is darn hard to find age appropriate clothing for little girls. I am reduced to sewing clothing for my grand daughters. How many women have the skill or time to do that?
And...Good point about the playground! The girl ( who is ELEVEN ) hangs out at a **PLAYGROUND** that is intended to be used by **children** who play.
The real question should be why are OLDER boys and MEN hanging out at a PLAYGROUND designed and built for CHILDREN!
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/news/local/channon-christian-christopher-newsom-murders/
People like the Rev. Wright (yes, that one) lay down a foundation for violence and hate....it is a cultural thing, race is only the excuse for hating people different from you.
Ping
Well put; the response up here to news blackout (pardon the pun) when it comes to perps is that they are assumed to black, and the segregation is widespread enough that they already stand out like sore thumbs. A similar thing happens with college campus crimes, and the stories are buried (along with their racial component) so that rich whites are comfortable sending their daughters and dollars to the schools. While leaving people unprotected by omitting such details is bad enough, to actually give out a number for tips while omitting them would be laughable if it didn’t involve such serious crimes.
People make their own deductions (based on these experiences), and their adjusted behavior is labeled racist. Oh well, better racist than raped/murdered/robbed.
Ping
You know FP, the NYT cares about the happenings in Texas like they care about a rat’s ass. Allison comes to mind. Ike comes to mind. When this state is hit hard you’d never know it. When they get a bit of snow in the NE or a mudslide in LA you’d think the world was coming to an end.
So when the NYT writes up a story about a crime in a little town outside of middle America, cow-town Houston, TX they are “not letting a “crisis” go to waste.”
The other day I was looking over stories in one of the Chicago papers and I went to a link that had all the mug shots of people booked into the local jails. It was darkly fascinating to click through the pictures. The number of murders and double and triple murders was instructive. I think the NYT should write something about the murder rate in Obama’s adoptive hometown.
Chief Moose
I’ve glanced at several feminist websites...they have been on this issue since the article from the NYTimes came out and have been nothing less than outraged.
Does McKinley Jr. have a sister or a mother......?
who are they mad at and why...?
They’re mad at the accused rapists, the townspeople who are questioning the circumstances surrounding the attack and the victim, and they are mad at the NYTimes article.
I’d say that I hope the staff of the NY Times gets raped that way, but they probably pay extra for that service.
If the site is dedicated to that. Or does it border on high schools?
huh, i guess even a stopped clock is right twice a day
I'm not sure but I doubt that Islam was the ancestral religion of most slave descended Black Americans, but it's being sold to them as such.
“... newspapers aren’t writing news articles in the straightforward, objective..”
I agree. It use to be: who, what , where, when , why and how. No opinion, no swaying the reader with what YOU think or some guy on the corner thinks. The reader was informed of the facts and they decided what they thought. Many newspapers have become like the general media/news and feel that they have to tell you what to think.
Louisiana did have the death penalty for child rapist, but the US Supreme Court found this a violation of the 8th amendment. As it stands right now, in no State in the Union can you be executed for the crime of rape, regardless of the victims age. If the victim dies in the course of the rape, then you can be charged with felony murder in most if not all jurisdictions, but rape alone will not get you the death penalty.
Texas is awesome but this is one area where we fall short.
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