Fight the Faux Pox
Consider another article in the Times-Standard on July 7. John Driscoll reported that Arcata police arrested a man suspected of sexually-assaulting a woman near the Arcata Sports Complex and were looking for a second man “described as a white or American Indian male.” “White” I understand. It is the color of skin and so is an accepted part of a description. But I don’t quite know what an “American Indian” description is. More important, to describe someone as white in a predominantly white community does not make every white male suspect. But to describe a suspect as American Indian in a community with a very small percentage of Native Americans could make suspect any and all Native American males in the community. For that reason, journalists are supposed to refrain from race in a description unless the description is specific enough to actually help identify a culprit.
In May, the paper ran a story without a byline, which likely means that it came straight off a press release, about two apparently unrelated home invasion robberies in Arcata. The story described the suspects in one of the robberies as three black men. Now, in that case, police described the men in some detail: “The first was about 6 feet tall with a medium build. The second was ‘average height’ with a medium build and corn-rowed hair. The third was about 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a medium build and dreadlocks.” And it said that they fled in a “newer blue Honda Fit.”
Here the problem was that a careful reading of the information seemed to suggest that the victims knew the suspects. If that were the case, the police could simply ask readers to help them find the specific people, rather than anyone who just looks like them. Failing to do that makes suspect any black man in the community who is of average height and has corn rows. The next day, the paper ran a follow-up story by reporter Matt Drange, in which police said they identified one of the three men, who turned out to be an acquaintance of one of the victims. So police did have names to the faces.
We live in an overwhelmingly Caucasian community. While political correctness often feels awkward and sometimes silly or stupid, I think we need to be more sensitive to the feelings of underrepresented people in our community. And efforts to be more sensitive, regardless of how goofy they are, should be toasted and not roasted.
Marcy Burstiner is an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at Humboldt State University.
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Today
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
Woodside Preschool's Rummage/Bake Sale
events / 8 a.m.-noon. Woodside Preschool, 900 Hodgson St, Eureka. www.woodsidepreschool.com. 445-9132.
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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13 Comments
Comment / By self.speaker / Aug. 6, 10:30 a.m.
george orwell disagrees with you, marcy. would you replace “gay” with “a man with unconventional relations”?
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 11:44 a.m.
Too much importance on how something is being said rather than what is being said. “Media”…the fucking lump sum word of all performance for now…is widening the disparage between thought, talk and action within “society”…the equally fucked lump some word of all people for now. The importance of words is growing to the point where all bases are thought to need covering in order to be understood, disclaimed, whatever. This is easily seen in larger lists of rules, stipulations, regulations, fine prints, etc. The metaphysical realm of our individual thoughts countains an active universe of words between people that has grown exponentially because of devices like cell phones and the internet, but the reality is reality proceeds with no complex interpretation necessary. I believe it’s very counterproductive.
The more intelligent the animal, the easier it is to train…
Comment / By Terrence McNally / Aug. 6, 11:49 a.m.
Man… that is so true, whatever it is you just said.
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 12:03 p.m.
Stick a fork in my eye, terrence, I agree with your confusion…sarcastic or not. When it comes to writing, I’m kinda like how Marcy describes herself. In re-reading my above…I could/should have written:
Too much importance on how something is said rather than what is said. “Media”…the lump sum word of all performance…is widening the disparage between thought and action within “society”…the lump some word of all people. The importance of words is growing such that all bases need covering to be understood, disclaimed, etc. This is seen in larger lists of rules, stipulations, regulations, fine prints, etc. Our thoughts contain a universe of words between people that has grown exponentially because of devices like cell phones and the internet, but reality proceeds with no complex interpretation necessary. I believe it’s very counterproductive.
The more intelligent the animal, the easier it is to train…
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 12:05 p.m.
hmm…guess that takes up about as much space. But it’s less wordy, therefore more open to being received. A right or wrong reception has a lot to do with a lot more. blablabla…..
Comment / By Terrence McNally / Aug. 6, 12:34 p.m.
Right-O. Reader response.
Comment / By self.speaker / Aug. 6, 2:58 p.m.
actually, writer, you could have simply said:
Too much importance is put on how something is said rather than what is said because of our tendency to scandalize and capitalize.
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 4:23 p.m.
“because”? I thought I was talking about the effect not the cause…that’s a whole nuther topic. Dang it, you misunderstood me! See what I mean?!?! DAMMIT I’M A FAILURE.
Comment / By Joel Mielke / Aug. 6, 4:35 p.m.
Why the would anyone replace gay with “a man with unconventional relations”?
And why does Self Speaker pretend to interpret whatever it was that Writer McGuillicutty said?
Comment / By self.speaker / Aug. 9, 2:31 p.m.
why would anyone replace illegal immigrant with displaced foreign traveler? it’s almost as cockeyed as joining the words pretend and interpret with the word to (joel, you moron, go turn the bravura into the bromide with another of your “cartoons”).
and writer, you aren’t a failure, but you’re not terse either. i simplified and amended. you didn’t really say anything after “Too much importance is put on how something is said rather than what is said”
Comment / By Joel Mielke / Aug. 9, 4:10 p.m.
“Self Speaker” is aptly named.
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 9, 7:05 p.m.
selfspeeka…I beg to differ (please PLEEEEZ let me differ!!!) The point of the article seems to be writers should be more considerate with their words to accomodate the listener. I suggest listeners should be less sensitive to the words of the speaker and more to the point they’re trying to make. The internet…a cespool of negativity (politically anyway)…is a prime example of why. The speakers outnumber the listeners at least ten to one. Not much real communication going on.
Listening…REALLY listening…with an open mind…not being afraid of words…is a big part of “enlightenment”…and all that jazz, dig?
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 9, 7:08 p.m.
…as I get on my own case about using “listeners” and “speakers” to describe readers and writers…