This will be quick, but I just wanted to show y’all an example of racism I had not yet seen previously. I’m very familiar with racial bias in reporting, mostly the very blatant examples where a white man kills his entire family and all of the photos are Happy Vacation Pics and a Black man will be suspected of anything and have his mugshot published. This is a very sneaky example courtesy of WDRB Louisville in their reporting on the mayor’s race.
Here’s a nice headshot of Craig Greenberg with a caption stating that he’s running for mayor.
Here’s a nice headshot of David L. Nicholson with a caption stating that he’s running for mayor.
Here’s random photo of Shameka Parrish-Wright on her porch and a caption that says she’s the head of two racial organizations, no mention of candidacy for mayor.
Here’s a random photo of Rev. Tim Findley, Jr. speaking to a reporter and a caption that says what church he’s affiliated with, no mention of candidacy for mayor.
Is it an accident or is it intentional?
If you asked me 5 or 6 years ago, honestly I probably would’ve said it was an accident, without totally absolving the organization of guilt. When I say “accident” with regards to something like this, what I mean is, nobody sat down and said “I’m going to publish two headshots of the white guys and state they’re running for mayor, and I’m going to publish two file photos of the Black candidates with a blurb about who they are.” When I say it’s an accident, I mean it’s more likely that implicit bias has blinded them to the fact that they are handicapping the Black candidates. Implicit bias means they see the Black candidates as less qualified, so it does not register to them that the announcements in their publication are unequal. Implicit bias means had it been four white candidates, you would pick four comparable photos and make four comparable statements because you would notice the discrepancies between four candidates who hold equal place in your mind.
That was years ago though. Today? In 2021? I do feel like it’s intentional. I’m at a point in my adult life where I do not believe most “accidents” are accidents. Someone made the very clear decision to look for and publish the two headshots of the white candidates and simply use file photos for the two Black candidates.
Plus, the About Us section of the WDRB website says this station is owned by Block Communications. If you’ve never heard that name, it’s perfectly fine. Who pays much attention to who owns what newspapers and television stations? I’d only heard of it because of the White Pride March on the Capitol, after which Susan Allan Block, former board member and part of the founding family, made a post on Facebook.
She calls Vice President Kamala Harris a whore in the blurred out part.
So do I believe a media company with these kinds of people in their ranks — not just deplorable, but so boldly and proudly abhorrent that they post about it on social media — would hire a staff that would intentionally pick and choose headshots? Yes I do.
After Rev. Findley pointed it out on social media, WDRB swiftly (in 8 hours) made changes to their post.
But the problem is how racism is so pervasive that something as innocuous as a mayoral announcement is an opportunity to sway public opinion in favor of White is Right. So that’s your morning reminder: be skeptical of everything. There are Susan Allan Blocks everywhere behind companies shaping public opinion, and being as bigoted as they can get away with.
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