OPINION
Printing of photos not evidence of Emerald racism
Martin Fisher
"Okie use' tn wean you was
from Oklahoma Now it /ust
means you're scum Don't
mean nothing itself, it's the way
they say it."
— |ohn Steinbeck
If a picture is worth a thou
sand words, the throe photos
on the front page of Tues
day’s Emerald are worth a book
— or so you would believe,
judging from the response they
generated.
The photos in question were
of the three University of Wash
ington athletes arrested Oct. 31
and charged with first-degree
burglary and first-degree sex
abuse after an alleged incident at
the University Inn.
The publication of the photos,
according to some recent critics,
was simply another example of
the Emerald's racist attitude.
Recent letters to the editor sug
gest the photos served no gen
uinely newsworthy purpose,
and instead merely exacerbate
society’s pre-existing racial ten
sions.
1 He public.anon ot pnoios,
whim available, servos a number
of purposes, not the least of
which is to prevent potential
confusion as to the identities of
the story's subjects. For all any
body knows, there is another
Jason Shelley, Prentiss Perkins
or Douglas Barnes who attend
the University of Washington.
The photos serve to c larify their
identities.
The photos also servo as a
notice to the public that, if they
have any information regarding
the suspects, they should come
forward. If a person saw one of
the suspects on the other side of
town at the time of the alleged
incident, it is unlikely that per
son would recognize the suspect
by his name, but is more likely
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lo recognize the photo The
Mint! prim 1 pit* applies to poten
tial victims of crimes not vet
known to police.
But to suggest the photos pro
mote racism is ludicrous The
underlying supposition to the
charge is that had the suspects
been white, their photos would
not have been front-page mater
ial.
It is obvious, however, that
the critics either are new to the
University, have short or selec
tive memories or choose to
ignore the truth. In a letter
appearing in Friday's Emerald.
three writers claim. "There have
been students in this campus
convicted of rape and other
crimes, yet we are not warned
nor do we have printed pho
tographs of assailants of various
racial backgrounds."
A quick look back through the
past few years’ Emerald's
reveals no stories alHiut students
convicted of rape. However, we
should not forget the saga of
Michael Patrick Ryan, the Ti
year-old University student and
dorm resident who allegedly
raped a woman in the dorm's
weight room. Ryan fled Kugene
in a stolen car and allegedly
raped another woman in Boise,
Idaho, before killing himself in
Texas.
Yes. Ryan's photo appeared
on the front page of the Emerald,
and yes. Ryan was white. So
what's the point? Following the
publication of that photo, no
one bothered to claim the Emer
ald was suggesting white, in
year-old men who live in dorms
cannot be trusted because
they're rapists.
In April, the Emerald ran a
photo of a University freshman
and fraternity pledge who plead
ed guilty to intimidation charges
following the beating of a bisex
ual man. Again, there was no
outcry. No one suggested his
photo stigmatized young, white
males who are freshmen or fra
ternity pledges
Along the same lines, the pho
to in Thursday's Register-Guard
of Christopher Ray Mare, who is
accused of kidnapping and sex
ually abusing a two-year-old
Eugene girl, does not mean the
<>ilord is suggesting straggly
looking while men with long
hair are all potential kidnappers
and child molesters
The Emerald did not print the
three photos because the xus
pacts are black. It printed the
photos because they were avail
able The photos appeared the
same day in the Guard and the
night before on local television
news broadcasts. They. too. dis
played the photos because they
were available, not because of
the color of the suspect's skin
It’s important to examine the
photos in context with the story
they support. Charges of racism
would he valid if. for example,
the headline read. "Charges
against three black athletes
reduced.” or if the stors made
reference to black athletes, black
suspects or just black men
Obviously no such referent es
exist, either in the Emerald or
any other media In fait, the
only people engaged in race
baiting are those critic.s who
seek to apply racial overtones
wherever possible One letter
writer suggested the photos
"prejudic ml effect c Iearly out
weighs any beneficial effec t
The photos are not prejudi
cial Their publication is not
prejudicial The prejudic e exists
solely in the minds of those who
art* incapable of seeing beyond
the color of a person's skin and
who cannot think beyond the
most simplistic terms bla< k
men are bad men and printing
their photos proves it
Other critics have wondered
why the Emerald didn't print a
photo of a fraternity pledge who
was alleged to have raped a Uni
versity student following a party
last year Certainly it wasn't to
protect the identity of the
woman, who made her story
public in numerous letters to the
editor and commentaries on the
pages of the Emerald. So what
other reason could there have
been? Was it because he was
white, or because the Emerald
doesn't ( onsider rape a serious
enough event to warrant run
ning a suspect's photos?
In that case, the student was
never prosecuted, and thus his
identity, as well as his photo.
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aid Aik) although he may have
been prosecuted under the Stu
dent Conduct Code, those pro
i endings are confidential The
Emerald cannot print what the
Emerald does not know
In fact, during the past three
years, the Emerald has only
navr pnmuu m*' jmiuiu ui mmi
gious activists who appeared on
i atnpus more than it week ago.
because doing so simply rein
fort.t*s the notion that all C'hris
tinns art* bigoted hate mongers
who get off on condemning all
that doesn't meet their value
system.
The photos are not prejudicial. Their
publication is not prejudicial. The
prejudice exists solely in the minds of
those who are incapable of seeing
beyond the color of a person's skin.
printed photos of t riminal sus
pects three times, ond two of
those (mentioned above)
involved white susptt ts
The Emerald has printed a
number of stories involving both
current and former University
football players involved in
alleged criminal activity, hut
none of their photos were ever
printed Why1’ ltet.nu.su the
crimes of which they were
at i used were relatively minor
(civil disturbances, recklessly
starting a fire, ett ) and thus did
not warrant photographs
Many of the people involved
in those incidents also hap
pened to he bint k II the Emer
iild had some sort of rat ist agen
da. would it not have published
those photos as well7 What rea
son c ould the Emerald possibly
have fur not limiting those pho
los, considering the paper is ,i
"portrait in white racism"?
Perspective is everything
when trying to interpret a pho
tograph. For example, the sports
section of the Oct. iiH Guard
contained two photos, both of
black athletes. Should this tie
interpreted as meaning blacks
are good athletes, but not much
else?
Or perhaps the Nov 4 Guard
photo of u 78-year-old man, in
conjunction with a story about
eye disease, is an attempt to
stereotype the elderly as sickly,
weak and generally less than
perfect.
Maybe the Kitwrald shouldn't
Obviously these notions can
ini stretched into infinity until
the only option is to avoid print
ing any photographs Informa
tion should not ho withhold
from the public because some
one considers it offensive
On Tuesday, fliers labeling
the Kinrrnld as riu ist appeared
around i ampin Someone with
a little too min h time on their
hands created a collage of finer
aid headlines, letters to the edi
tor and photos ol various staff
members, yours truly included
The fliers i ailed the Hmemld
a portrait m while rai ism" and
i ailed for firing Fmrmld Kditor
lake Borg. The fliers art- harm
less. so far as the i.turniltl and
those labeled "racists" are i on
iernud
However, the same is not true
for the three men whose photos
.ir*> uni suo|et i c>i mu controver
sy Thu fliur also displays their
photos in a rnthiir gratuitous
mnnnor. using thuni only
because they aru him k Thu fli
er is rat ist to thu t ore in its por
trayal of hlai k men for the sole
purpose of race hailing
I lie problem lies with people
who act without regard for the
consequent es of their actions. It
does not lie w ith the media that
report those actions. Reality is
rarely as black anti white as
some people would like you to
believe.
Martin Fishrr is a columnist
for the Kmerald
invitation to IhtJ,
Grand.
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