The media helps to perpetuate systemic racism, treating white criminals time and again better than black victims like Trayvon Martin.
As Salon’s LaSha points out, journalists spend years researching a white killer’s life, trying to find some redeeming quality in the accused. Witness Sue Klebold’s apologetic and tearful interview with Diane Sawyer or the ardent reviews in the press of her recent memoir chronicling life after her 17-year-old son, Dylan, took part in a deadly plan to murder dozens of his schoolmates at Columbine High School in 1999.
Then, take a look at the media’s coverage of black victims, like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.
