COMMENTARY
Emerald policies illustrate ‘racist folklore’ of media
By Clarence Spigner
he ©vents of the past two
months surrounding the
Emerald's decision to
strategically pla< e on the front
cover — the mug shots of three
black University of Washington
athletes c harged with burglary
and attempted rape at the Uni
versity Inn [ODE. Nov 2)
prompts this response
fudging from some of the sub
sequent letters to the editor and
the Emerald's own reactionary
commentaries conveniently used
as a quick defense to protests
raised by the Black Student
Union (BSU). there exists n
pathological and frightening igno
rance about why main African
Americans and others in the com
munity are worried. The Nation
al Opinion Research Center
reported in 1991 that whites still
believed minorities to be* inferi
or Among its survey findings ti^
percent of whites said blacks
were more likely to be lazy; 5f>
percent said blacks were more
violence-prone; and TO percent
said him ks were less intelligent
[Register Guard. Jan 1.1991) It
seems the dynamics of white
dominance with journalistic arro
gance spawned the BSU's con
cerns, rather than any notion of
"political correctness" or cen
sorship
It helped little that the Enter
aid s editors and staff writers
responded so immediately to the
black Students by building strau
men and then demolishing them
Some took self-serving advantage
of in-house access to the press
and offered excuses rather than
explanations Still, the seeming
ly inconsistent manner in whii h
the Emerald applied the First
Amendment is perhaps in keep
ing with am student newspaper
in other words, writers are learn
ing to W> journalists A recent poll
revealed the publii rated news
journalists vary low in trust, vet
we must depend on them for (cor
rect) information The Emerald
should at least consider the
BSl s i mu urns instead of engag
ing in so much defensive pos
turing
Unless one is addicted to
watching reality-based police
programming on TV. there
seemed little justification for the
photographs in question There
was a "be on the lookout for peo
ple who look like these guvs,
since the people in question had
already been caught Hie fact that
the pictures were also embar
rassing probably mattered only
to African Americans and others
sensitive to the media's role in
rat ial stereotyping But embar
rassment is not the central issue
here nor should it (hi (though the
lower the class the more chance
of exposure to sin h public s< rule
ny: thus stereotypes i an lie exai
erbated)
The photographs and nature of
the story provided less substance
and more titillation for those still
hung up on race mythology, i.e
black men obsessed with m-v and
violence Hv itself, this observa
tion would be less valid exi ept
that the Emerald last year promi
nently featured another front
page story with an at company
ing photograph of a blai k man
a campus public safety offii er
accused of sexual harassment
The storv implied the irony of a
safety officer trusted with pro
tecting the public and made
broad bints to the Packvvood
affair Both stories were given stg
nificant spar e and placement but
included little substance And yet
another black man and athlete,
with a photograph and .1 story of
alleged sexual misconduct, was
given the front page treatment in
iho t'mrrald in fall. ltf'M) An
underlying assumption vv is that
readers were being informed
about whom to avoid
A likely < oiu orn here is that in
spite of the overwhelmingly
white population of both the l an
versitv and Kugene the funenifrfs
i overage seems to promote hlai ks
is the mo (or perpetrators of i rim
inal mts though in toot)
Afru an Aineru .ms made up only
I t percent of the i ity's popul.l
tion, and as of winter quarter
lfm.OllIv I t (leri eut of the l in
versity population The manner
of sui h news t overage fosters a
notion that i rimes, sexual and
otherwise, are committed ills
proportionately by blot ks
A perusal of past } nwmld i ov
er stories and photographs lends
some support to this i (intention
I’li tores tend to feature more
white people in benign human
islu and intellectual settings
moreso than pictures of blacks
A verv ret ent example is the big
10 mi h by 12 Inch full page pit
ture of a black football player on
the cover of the Nov 20 sports
supplement That "in vour face
photograph was designed to
intimidate, whu h was the pout!
And the Emerald's Nov 2 t edi
tion. which pictured him k stu
dents on the cover, dealt with a
protest What seems like selet
tive representation of \frican
Amerir .ms paints a very limited
pii ture of multiculturalism
Hie print media have the right
to publish what pictures and sto
ries they want Whether the
Emerald is fair or uses good judg
intuit (or exert isos journalistu
responsibility) is a question the
paper will have to answer I he
accusation of emphasis on sex
and violence regarding Aim an
Americans dednt es sue h alleged
behavior as representative of the
entire group liven if tfie [wimilOid
The stack of Emerald newspapers in a
refuse barrel on the comer of 15th and
Agate says much about race relations
and freedom of the press at this
University.... Such reactionism is exactly
why the press must remain free and
open to all.
delusions of a iinhi virulent r.u is!
inlet tod tin? t utnnton whm1 of the
Fnmrnld staff statistically. it
would still snout impossiltlt' to
legitimize siii It coverage of hlat ks
in the manner in question
Within ihi' present politit.nl.
ms ml and historically itlhiHH on
iric oitv ironmont. the HSt has
roquostoil not demanded as it
is likely to ho interpreted that
tho Fnwrahl, among othor things,
mi roasod its roprosontatum of
Afrii an Autoru ans on staff I ho
likely rationale! is that mom diver
site in tho newsroom might breed
more sensitivity in reporting
This is an assumption I wish
wore true Neither Afrit an Amor
ii ans nor .111 v other rai ml or eth
nic group (or gender) ex i upy a
moral high ground on olqec tiv i
ty Hus has linen proved tinio and
again hv the existing white (male)
status quo ftosiiios. then* is some
thmg w rung w ilh a news organi
zation that opporlumstit ally trots
out somofiiHiy with dark skin to
cover the "iai iai angle Sim o
whites do not have a gcmetic pro
disposition to greater intelligent e
(some think they do) it is sug
gested tli.it tin1 present Knu-rnld
staff develop bettor (or morv thor
ough) reporting skills
t hiless this i nmpus paper is
into some w«ird ns voting. tin*
star k ol Hint-raid new spnpers in
.1 refuse barrel on the corner ol
1 slli and Again just inside the
I la v w aril I ielil lem e says imu li
.iIkhi! rat e relations and freedom
ol the press at this University
1 he newspapers, which likely
came from a rack near by. were
tile Nov 23 edition, which lea
lured the MSI I peacefully protest
ing the Knit-raid's headline and
pit tore polit v m tpiestion The
trashing ol those papers i mild
likely mean someone is either
upset with the Kmerald antl 'or
lie or she doesn't (.are for the
him k protesters Sui h reai lion
ism is ev.n tly whv the press must
remain tree and open to all
Clnr&ncti .S/ugner is tin oasis
Inni professor in tin- nnthnifiolo
gy ilrfMIrtlllftll
COMMENTARY POLICY
1 he Orrgon Htuvrakl welt otoes < ommentarios from the
jmhlit. t uni eruini; It >p i< s of i i it ♦ * r**%t to the t mi varsity tinn mu
iu! v
(miiunwnhirios should In* between hOO and HOO words. loj^i
hh*. signed told tin* identilu atom of the writer must be verified
when the letter is submitted
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