iReport: Black and Brown Gun Violence In America with Special Investigative Reporter, Jim Crowe

Unequivocally tragic is an understatement of the catastrophe at Sandy Hook. As a parent, I did as a majority of us did Friday; prayed, and hugged my son. Now that the shock has left my system, and I've had time to examine some of the factors in this case, I'm left with some critical questions aside from the obvious. In my professional life, I explore issues of race and media all the time. The politics of race and representation pertaining to the Newtown incident must be addressed.
We have yet another White male assailant who's gone on a murderous rampage; this time with babies. Observing that the attack took place at a school that looks racially homogenous, and a majority of the victims were White, I fear that had the racial variables had been different, there would not be a national charge to address the growing epidemic of gun violence in this country.
According to Guncrisis.org 55 people were killed in Philadelphia over a two week span, post the Aurora, Colorado shooting. In Chicago, there were 48 homicides in July. Where was the national media challenging this culture of violence when it was hemorrhaging in the urban metropolitan communities? When Black and Brown babies are violently killed, the quick media frame is one that problematizes the victim while at the same time castigating the assailant. There are no arm chair psychologists, medicalizing the deviant behavior. Instead there is the familiar verbiage, "gang banger, drive-by shooting, suspect-a Black male." In my media and diversity class, students where stunned by their observations when asked to compare and contrast the news coverage of two local homicides; Eve Carson and Denita Smith. Both victims were college students and both victims were dispatched by gun violence. However, when they probed the cases critically, Smith, who was Black, did not make national news, nor did the four local affiliates block programing to cover her funeral. Are we experiencing Jim Crow news coverage at our local and national levels when Black and Brown people are the victims of crime? No parent should ever have to endure what happened at Sandy Hook, but equally important, no parent should ever have to suffer the indignities of justifying the victim status of their dead child as do the parents of Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin.

W. Russell Robinson