The Friday morning caller was irate enough to say that the Defender is a racist newspaper. His charge stemmed from the front page of the Feb. 8- 10 issue that featured the memorials of two Black women who were killed in the Tinley Park Lane Bryant massacr
When the decision was made to put the two Black women’s memorials on page one, the only thought was Rhoda McFarland and Connie Woolfolk represented the community and the kind of people the Defender covers most. The caller’s sentiments are understandable û five women died in the tragedy and regardless of their ethnic background, they are inextricably linked to one another.
The caller rejected the explanation that condensing all five photos on that page would have made all of them tough to identify û with a newspaper or any product on which we print; we must deal with space limitations. And it was of no solace to him that the stories we ran covering the shootings discussed all five women. Someone in the background was egging the caller on about how racist the Defender was being.
Neither of them sounded like they’d spent much money over the years buying copies of the Defender. The Defender doesn’t and shouldn’t have to make apologies about our coverage. Dating back to the early days of the last century, when Black folk were colored, the Defender has covered news about Black people û our finest moments, as well as our not-so-proud ones.
Since shortly after the pilgrims landed in this country, there has been some sort of news outlet whose main mission was coverage of the white world. News about Black folk was either non-existent or focused on crime.
Black readers being honest with themselves will acknowledge that when we hear about a horrific incident and something unbelievably good, one of the questions in the back of our minds is, “I wonder if any of them are Black.” Someone with little or no history in our community probably isn’t aware of it, and may have a difficult time understanding our need to know.
Maybe it’s because being associated – if by nothing but color – there is a deeper grief, a more profound understanding of what the subject’s family is dealing with. There was a time when we didn’t ask that question because the thing that happened was something Black folk just didn’t do then û particularly suicide. But with our increasing assimilation, we have taken on some less desirable traits.
There were Black folk across the country expressing disbelief when the police revealed that the D.C. sniper was Black. We just hadn’t done something like that. The lone survivor in the Lane Bryant attacks has provided a detailed description of the killer and disbelief was the initial reaction. And since the killings, dozens of reasons have been tossed around as to why someone would do such a thing.
It is not that we are above such things, it is just when one checks the annals of multiple murders the names of Black folk aren’t prevalent on the list. But now that is changing. There is no doubt that whoever is responsible for such a heinous act will eventually be caught. And depending on the news of the day, his photo is likely to be on page one of the Defender.
What, if anything, will callers say about that photo? Friday’s caller was so positive that the Defender was wrong, he threatened to call other news outlets and report our sin. He was encouraged to do so. Fortunately, those in the news business understand that ours is a unique niche and we don’t and never have tried to appeal to all of Chicago.
The Defender will deserve to be chastised when we fail to give readers balance. When there is an unprecedented news story and readers only get a Black perspective while all other elements are ignored, then we should be called out. Hopefully, what more part-time readers will learn is the Defender does not lift up Black folk at the expense of others.
Our commitment is covering the news and we accept that some may not agree with how we do that, but they can’t rightfully accuse us of not covering it in its entirety. Black folk doing poorly, Black folk doing well, and Black folk just caught in unfortunate circumstances will continue to be the major element of our coverage. And anyone expecting an apology for that would be better served counting cars on the Dan Ryan.
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