Who's obsessed with race in America?
Here's an interesting look into the Chron's world: criminals must not be identified by race:
The implication that the Chronicle aids and abets criminals when we don't report the race of a suspect is off the mark. Readers sometime forget, the Chronicle's writers and editors are citizens, too, and are as concerned about public safety as our neighbors. As a former police reporter, I routinely tried to get as much information from police about a suspect in a case as they could give me. I drew the line at generic descriptions that did little but stereotype.
I understand that some readers like to keep score, particularly on matters of race. But when it comes to crime reporting providing readers with a detailed description of a suspect - identifying marks, hair color, clothes, etc. - is far more useful toward nabbing the bad guy than race alone. That's hardly "PC." It's practical.
But race must be a factor when it comes to Supreme Court justice nominees:
Bush's choice was a "letdown to the Hispanic community," said Hector Flores, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group.
"That we have no representation whatsoever in the highest court of the land — I think it's long in coming," said Flores, a South Texas native.
[snip]
Carol Alvarado, a Houston City Council member, said the nomination of a Hispanic was long overdue.
"It's unfortunate," Alvarado said. "There are plenty of qualified mainstream Latinos that are out there."
[snip]
The nation's Hispanic population exceeds 41 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. During the last year, Hispanics made up about half of the national population growth of 3 million, the bureau reported.
That growth is yet another reason to put a Latino on the Supreme Court, said Gabriela Lemus, director of policy at LULAC, which endorsed Gonzales as a nominee.
"As we grow so quickly, we haven't really had that kind of representation in the judicial system," Lemus said. "It's important to catch up."
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: The Chronicle reporting on Roberts that Anne links is yet another article that comes from the D.C. bureau, and makes me wonder why there is a D.C. bureau. Two reporters managed to get quotes from a number of Hispanics or women who say, SHOCKINGLY, that they would have preferred an Hispanic or female nominee.
A newspaper doesn't need an office in D.C. to come up with that, and one wouldn't think it would require two reporters.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/20/05 09:23 AM | Print |
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