You can see a couple of the news stories here & here .
This is the YouTube Post:
So, first of all... we all know that was pretty stupid of them. And we all know that gun violence is no joke and neither is crack cocaine addiction.
It is, however, unfortunate (but not surprising) that the news reports don't go near addressing anything beyond the surface story here. More than being scary or disgraceful (as much of the commenting on YouTube goes), it is SAD that this has to be the way that young black men have to be perpetually represented in the media. Sure... these dudes are criminals. It is, afterall illegal to conceal unlicensed weapons, and to deal narcotics... but this story represents some much bigger issues around race, class, unemployment, and community development. It COULD be a platform for discussing what really matters. Why is there a drug trade? If you just read the newspaper or watch the TV, you might think that these young men were bad people BECAUSE they were black and/or from the 'wrong side of Hoosick.' But when was the last time we saw a news story about the city government taking some steps to deal with the causes of poverty and unemployment which lead people to have want to sell crack. If you just watch the news, you also might assume that everyone who looks like those guys carries a .38 and hustles crack (because thats what images do).
Well, I am just not falling for it, and I hope other people aren't either. ..AND i wish that the media would KEEP us from falling for it INSTEAD of making us do so. I wish that the media could facilitate understanding and analysis instead of perpetuating stereotypes and fear.
For the sake of creatively imagining a democratic and useful media system - what would a real analysis of this situation look like?
Obviously Troy has got some issues. Could there be some mention of the employment statistics? That doesnt seem like a stretch... They mention drug deals... thats EMPloyment... what about UNemployment.
In the newstory the criminals are all black and the witnesses and authorities are white. Can i get a black 'witness'? How are black community leaders responding to this? I mean this is a blow to the whole community of Troy right? - not just the scared white people.
Don't get me wrong... I certainly don't expect any better from the corporate-state media.. but let's just imagine for a second.
Imagine if the news reports could actually catalyze racial understanding as opposed to fear and more segregation.
Imagine if the news reports actually sparked compassion instead of disgrace.
Imagine.
What would that look like?
Just some thoughts.
