Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: The Sakia Gunn Project
When it comes to police dramas, I’m old school in my taste. Want to hear me yammer all night? Say Hill Street Blues. Out of all the perfect episodes there is one I keep going back to. A nun is raped and murdered. As expected, the police go in overdrive to find the culprits. On the same day the owner of a grocery store is murdered in his place of business. While tragic, the police of “The Hill” are not getting pressure from their bosses and the media to solve that crime.
The owner’s wife comes to the station to wonder where are the detectives who were supposed to come and ask her questions. Of course they are working on the death of the nun.
Our American mythology of equality is belied by the crimes we pay attention to. Young white girls killed in a Caribbean paradise will get the Nancy Graces of the world on “steeds of justice,” while the murder of brown teenagers gets relegated to page 7. Their names known only by family and friends
We like to talk about community and such, but our own our gay victims of violence are placed on a hierarchy of attention. Everyone reading this knows the life and death of Matthew Shepard. Hard not to really. Mainstream press attention. A play. The murder of this blond young man in the outback of Wyoming was perfect grist for the media maw.
Make no mistake please: no one is trying to minimize the tragedy of the boy’s death; however, the murder of Sakia Gunn was just as tragic but her short life, and death, lack the national resonance of Shepard’s. In 2003, the 15-year-old was stabbed in downtown Newark by an older man whose sexual advances were not returned by Gunn and her friends.
Chas Brack, the director of a new documentary about Gunn, notes that one of the reasons why the young woman’s death failed to strike much heat in the media world was because of access, or the lack thereof, to the media. That’s too fair by half. The Gunn story is not going to get a reporter or writer a plum assignment or some ducats on the speaking tour. Speaking in eloquent tones about murder in the heartland though? That’s the express lane to editors and those in charge of the ink.
The media exist to make money, to sell TV commercials, and in this case newspapers. Whether the stories made the front page or not is not important. Not really if you think about it. That is part somebody’s ego. Nothing can bring them back. What is important is to make sure no more events such as this occur. How such could be achieved in America I do not know.
I find it interesting that some are unwilling or unable to acknowledge that there’s a continuing difference in the way issues that face Black Americans, Gay Straight Confused, are addressed in relation to identical issues White America.
After reading some of the responses on this site over the past few months, I’ve sadly become to believe the Gay community is far more racially divided than I thought it was.
That saddens me.
James your article makes a very good point in that crimes committed against black gay/lesbian people rarely makes a ripple, much less a wave in mainstren media coverage. I also agree the black community seems to receive more media coverage when the news is negative and less when it is something positive and uplifting. As another posted pointed out however, much of what gets labeled “news” these days is only done so in the loosest sense of the term. Unbiased and honest journalism has been replaced by a media-circus profit-generating machine that reports the “news” in such a manner that is best for the corporate bottom line. Integrity has taken a back seat to the Benjamins.
The SCC Community, indeed the whole of humanity (in a perfect world), should be outraged at the senseless crime committed against Gunn. Even though there are difference in circumstance between the Gunn & Shepard murders, the bottom line is still that two young people lost their lives due to hate and we should use every one of these murders as a warning and a rallying cry for more proactive advocacy in our community.
James while I do concede your point in general, I do feel the need to point out that the Shepard case seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Matthew’s death rightly received the media attention it deserved, it is the others who have not received their due, and many of these others are white too. Ryan Skipper died less than 20 miles from my house by violence that would compare to Gunn’s and he also did not receive the media coverage that Shepard did, even though Skipper was also a pretty white boy. There are other white, asian and latino gays that die without fanfare every year as well.
I think the thing that set Shepard’s case apart from most others is that his murder was done in such a way that it made a statement that went beyond our community by the extreme circumstances by which it was committed. I think that if Matthew had simply been shot outside a bar or some other “common” occurance, then he also would have been little more than a sidenote in the news.
I didn’t even see this story on the news. Anything bad black people do is all over the news but when blacks are victims they do not get much if any coverage. Notice when black women go missing…you don’t hear about it on the news. White women…all over and a report was actually done on that. Unfair media bias.
My partner did an article on the death of Michael Sandy titled “An American Tragedy”. Michael, an AA gay young man was lured to a remote site to be robbed from Craig’s list and then chased into oncoming traffic and killed. It barely made the news.
There is total neglect on the part of the media when it comes to this type of thing.
We drown in Caleys, Haighleighs, and Jonbennetts and completely miss all the true tragedy befalling those who are already going through tough times.
In Laramie, a Costco park bench with a plaque remembers Matthew Shepherd. One of the largest news stories of the decade and the best Laramie could do was dump a $49.95 bench near a bus stop downtown. The fact that a crime against a gay person even got this big is amazing. So while I agree about the lack of coverage I think his story did warrant the coverage. They all do.
Instead of hearing about real black Americans and the crimes commited against them we get to hear about Chris Brown and Rihanna, or Pac Man Jones’ exploits at t*ttie bars. Not that they shouldn’t be covered also in the entertainment news but real stories about real people get “whitewashed”.
This is what we want you to write about James. This is why we read these stories. Thanks.
this story breaks my heart, and perhaps explains why some of we lesbians of colour do not come out until later in our 30’s and forties, perhaps with a strong supportive group of glbts friends who are now family, i am still afriad at times, here in “liberal” seattle, it is still true if your white your story just may or defintely be paid attention to if you are murdered or attacked, i was attacked just walking down broadway on seattles famous capitol hill, also known as the glbt neighbourhood, i was slapped across the face for rejecting a comeon from a straight man my jaw was broken, i heard alot of “oh how awful” but not until my friend whom i was with spoke out did anyone seem to listen or care, she is not from this country and is from spain, i was made legitimate by her olive /white skin, i am considered bi-racial, i hate the lables but believe me when one is of colour no one seems to care much unless one is backed up by a white woman or man, i am not saying that it makes me feel any less pain when a white sister or brother is harmed it just make me wonder why even those in out community back away from we of differnet backgrounds i dont understand it, and the press is a joke, it is clear from them that a glbt person of any color , well our lives arent as valueable, especially those of us who are black, hispanic, native, it hurts so much, we are all human, some us though are seen as more worthy of life by the media than others. it sickens me so much, a true heart ache. peace to all my glbt faily throughout the world and especailly the united states of “a-scaria”
I appreciate this story very much. I think people like Nancy Grace are extremely guilty in telling people who can glance at a tabloid who to care about and who not to. Their soul focus is on the attraction that a murder case can garner and hold and with that kind of judgement going into a journalist’s decision making on a national show, it’s hard to wonder about those who have lost their life to reckless and callous people.
Also, people like AG need to be banned from leaving comments anywhere on the internet. The kid obviously didn’t understand the intent of bringing up Shepard in a story like this.
One of your better entries Whithers.
As someone that works in Newark (only two murders on my block in the last year) I know how dangerous it can be.
When I first heard of the murder it was in the news but not much. It fell off as a news story quickly. So sad to see when this is clearly a case of “I’ll murder her to teach that Dyke a lesson about turning me down”. There was no drug deal gone bad or even a robbery, just plain murdered her because of her sexuality.
As a trustee of the states pride center I can tell you she is not forgotten nor will she ever be by the community she belonged to. She is in our minds and our hearts forever.
Apologies, I misspelled “Shepard”
James, you’re welcome. Send me your e-mail and I’ll send you the corrections you’ve missed.
AG: Calm down, you’ve missed the point. Crimes against gay people are relegated to third or fourth place in the world of “news”, and crimes against gay and/or female people of colour are relegated to the bottom of that pile. On the other hand, violent crimes involving young men of colour hit the front page and the headlines regularly. In my opinion, these stories are intended to keep stoking ‘white fear’ (read: prejudice) in major urban areas while the loss of Princess the Poodle is considered ‘human interest’ and, therefore, more important.
Unfortunately, James, newspapers (and sites such as this one) are less about reporting what goes on in the world and more about selling product. In manipulating what is reported, one’s personal prejudices automatically filter the input, slotting what is learned into a priority list. In your case, as a blogger offering personal opinion based on stories covered (or not) by the mainstream press, such filtering is less important than, say, The NY Times filtering out any mention of ‘gay’ meaning ‘homosexual’ for decades, or almost anything owned by Rupert Murdoch adhering to his personal filters. The reporting of news should be unbiased, accurate and should simply present the facts. Unfortunately, this rarely happens.
AG has a valid point – the murder of Matthew Shepherd was different from the murder of Sakia Gunn. Part of that difference, as you point out, was the colour of the victims. However, the Shepherd murder was more sensational, premeditated and cruel. They were both horrible and unnecessary crimes, and both stories deserved to be treated with respect and dignity. Unfortunately, the Shepherd murder sold more papers.
Withers, you ain’t squat but a soul-less shit-disturber. Many murders were more widely reported than Sakia Gunn’s. What point is made by sniping about Matthew Shepard’s? Your bile is unlikely to bring joy to Sakia’s OR Matthew’s families. In addition, the murders of those two young people scarcely compare, in that one was reportedly carried out by stealth and deception and the other by naked, public aggression and gay-baiting. The cherry on the top of your shit sundae is that you publish it here, where you’re preaching to the choir. That’s kind of hitting the trifecta of pointless and smelly commentary.
Rikk and md,
Thanks for your corrections. No excuse on my part.
Sincerely,
James
Not to mention “grist” and how to use commas and how to prevent run-on sentences. Your editing is usually much better than this, Mr. Withers
Dear Withers,
I agree wholeheartedly. This is the story and continuing tragedy of America. But please please learn the word “relegated”?