Equality for Black and White murder victims

[newinnm]

We all know that there is no equity in rewards funds for people of color when they are victims of violent crimes. Also, we know that the press does not treat them the same way. I was talking to a neighbor of mine who suggested that there be a national crime victims reward fund that could be used to offer rewards for information leading to the safe return or arrest of a perpetrator of a violent crime. The fund would set a standard amount allowed to be offered for reward and would means test the offer. For families who can afford to post the reward, they would be responsible for it and for those who couldn't then the reward would be paid for by the fund. No one would be allowed to go above the established amount. Also, news channels that use the public airwaves would have to show that there was equity in how they covered these types of events for people of all color.

Any thoughts?

[slackmaster]

1. I must have missed the hard data that everyone besides me all knows

We all know that there is no equity in rewards funds for people of color when they are victims of violent crimes.

That sounds like an interesting topic that I might wish to comment on. Please provide a link to some data to support your initial sentence.

TIA

[Old Hank]

4. FBI: "Blacks killed at a rate 6 times higher than whites"

2005 statistics: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm

Now ask yourself: "How many black girls have I seen in Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc., in the past 10 years or so?

They are quick to cover white girls in Aruba who go missing (unfortunately), but you never see Laqeeda or Roshonda in these media outlets.

[slackmaster]

8. Thanks for the link, but it does not provide the information I requested of the OP

:hi:

[newinnm]

9. Can you tell me again what kind of data you are looking for?

[slackmaster]

16. I'm looking for verifiable information that supports the first sentence of the OP

"We all know that there is no equity in rewards funds for people of color when they are victims of violent crimes."

I can't get past that without something concrete to back it up. You say "We all know...", but frankly I don't know.

I am under the impression that most victims of violent crimes receive no "rewards funds" at all.

[newinnm]

18. I don't have verify able information

I only know that there is ancillary evidence to suggest such. But I also know that there is no way on earth that a poor black kid that turns up missing is going to have anywhere near the same level reward offered that a rich white child that turns up missing would.


nnnm

[slackmaster]

20. Why are you invoking race when the real issue is obviously financial status?

:hi:

[newinnm]

21. Because I dont believe its financial status.

In my heart of hearts, I believe it is racial not economic.

nnnm

[slackmaster]

27. Do you think anyone puts up reward money to help a poor white crime victim?

Do tell.

[newinnm]

28. Um yeah Caylee Anthony

http://www.wftv.com/news/18285004/detail.html
http://crime.about.com/od/current/qt/caylee_july23_e.htm
http://cayleeanthony.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/reward-for-caylee-anthony-raised-to-200000/
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/7/21/grandmother_thinks_mother_may_know_caylee39s_location.html

nnnm

[slackmaster]

38. OK, that's one

For every Caylee Anthony there are hundreds of victims you will never hear about.

[Raineyb]

24. Because the issue is race

Why do you insist on pretending race has nothing to do with anything?

[slackmaster]

26. Nice straw man you've put up there

Why do you insist on pretending race has nothing to do with anything?

I've never said any such thing.

[Raineyb]

32. When you say that the real issue is financial ability while poo pooing the discussion of race

you most certainly are saying exactly that.

[Rage for Order]

34. LOL

Slackmaster, this is like watching you teach a remedial course in Logic

And don't you dare try to tell me that my post has nothing to do with anything!!! :rofl:

[stray cat]

2. The equality is that they are both just as dead -

but it is likely true that the homeless, prostitures, and criminals and areas enriched with more crime are often harder to clear cases and get less attention and more people refusing to risk their life to speak up.

[Number23]

15. I must be reading this wrong

Because surely you aren't suggesting that the widely known fact that black murder and kidnap victims don't get nearly as much media coverage as white ones is because "homeless, prostitures,(sic) and criminals and areas enriched with more crime are often harder to clear cases and get less attention and more people refusing to risk their life to speak up."

So the reason black crime victims don't get as much media as white ones is because the homeless, prostitutes and criminals are less likely to speak up and let the police or media know what's going on?? Are homeless black people, black prostitutes and black criminals the only ones who are the victims of crimes????????

??????????????

[Raineyb]

25. What exactly are you trying to say?

Because it damn sure looks like you're equating all black crime victims to homeless, prostitutes and criminals.

You need to check yourself.

[Old Hank]

3. I have seen a total of zero black girls in the front-page of a national media outlet

When it comes to kidnappings or unsolved murders.

Zero. I cannot recall any Hispanic or Asian girls or woman, either, in the same circumstances.

[msongs]

5. If you haven't seen it it doesn't exist. hmmm nt

[newinnm]

6. Its impossible to prove a negative

So lets just keep assuming that its true. Lets assume that there is equity.

[dustbunnie]

7. Of course there should be equal time given to missing children and adults -

or those who are victims of violent crimes, regardless of race or other factors. It's something to work toward, and people need to keep hammering away to get the media on board.

The rest of it is ridiculous. It's grotesque in fact. You can't obstruct people from doing everything in their power to locate a loved one, or find the murderer of a child. What else besides putting up a reward should be off limits? Hiring a PI? Quitting work to focus on finding the missing loved one? These would require funds not everyone can afford to spend as well, and fair is fair, right?

[newinnm]

10. I agree fair is fair.

The rich have been getting the majority of the focus for far too long. Its time to level the playing field. Is the poor black little girl not worth the amount of money spent on the rich white girl? Do her family not love her as much. Why shouldnt she get the same advantage?

nnnm

[dustbunnie]

11. What an incredible post.

Are you really saying that no one should be allowed to spend any of their own cash in order to find a missing child, or apprehend the murderer of a loved one? In which case, hiring outside help like a private investigator or selling your house to fund your time off to search for a missing child is a no-no as well. Basically, you'd be saying that people should not be allowed to help in the investigation at all. Is that it?

If so, I guess the mother who puts up her house in order to finance a campaign to get an innocent child out of prison should be targeted next. After all, there are a number of innocent people in jail, and not everyone has a nice mom with a house to sell in order to fund the effort to vindicate them.

Too funny.

[newinnm]

12. I'm capable of saying what I think.

I don't need you to speak for me. I said what I mean and if you insist on going to the ridiculous and then to the sublime....so be it. There must be social justice.


-nnnm

[newinnm]

13. I answered your question..You answer mine.

Is the poor black little girl not worth the amount of money spent on the rich white girl? Do her family not love her as much. Why shouldn't she get the same advantage?


-nnnm

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Egalitariat]

17. Whose taxes should go up to fund this proposal? Or should we borrow the money?***

nm

[newinnm]

19. All of our taxes should go up to fund it.

Would it bother you if you have to pay 2 or 3 dollars more a year in taxes?


-nnnm

[Egalitariat]

22. $3 per person equals $1 billion total. If I made a list of things I'd like funded that came from

incremental tax dollars from me -- a reward fund to help find criminals wouldn't make my list of the top 1000.

[newinnm]

23. We all have our own priorities

[dustbunnie]

29. It's like this -

My post was deleted because I implied the poster wasn't sincere. Fine, I accept that. Should have worded it differently but I really don't think the poster is sincere.

So here it is in better dem words.

-There are already funds in place that urge people to give up info for a few hundred bucks. It comes out of our taxes. Good. Check out the missing child sites since all you're banking on is peoples' emotions but no hard factoids.

-There are lots of white children who come from parents that have no money to post, so they're pretty much fucked like all Asian, Black, Hispanic kids who come from po. Same goes for adult victims. The "issue" is not about race, but about class. Or, about who has life savings and enough to sell to get special attention.

- The idea of limiting resources or funds from one class to the next below, basically allows pedophiles, rapists, murderers etc...another loophole. If some rich family can pay a reward, it means someone might be apprehended, and the next victim, a black, hispanic, asian or white child, might be spared. In the case of rapists and serial killers it might be my black next door neighbor, or white me who is saved. I don't think my dying breath at the hands of a POS serial killer would be, thank god we didn't fund getting you apprehended cause the last victim was white.

- I don't give a shit who posts a reward, as long as it implies future victims are saved. And also, if it happened to my family, I would sell every last thing I owned to find my child. You can't put a cap on that. Nor would my black neighbor. But do on about race because it's just so funny to cut off nose to spite face. :bounce:

- The idea is not to drag people down to the lowest common dominator, but to bring everyone up to the same level of decency and justice. You propose to bring people to shit.

[newinnm]

30. Its also like this.

I am sincere. All people are equal but some are more equal than others. Its reasonable to assume that if one lives in a violent neighborhood then they are certainly more apt to be a victim of crime than those who don't. However, that same person's family is much less likely to have access to money to offer any incentive to finding and prosecuting the perpetrator of violence. So we can either sit back and do nothing or we can help remedy the issue.


nnnm

[dustbunnie]

31. If this was your ha skool thing idea, you failed. n/t

[Rage for Order]

36. Yep

I can imagine him running over to his other sites, pointing his friends to the thread he started here at DU and the whiny liberal responses that ensued. Lame. :eyes:

[newinnm]

37. Oh for the love of Peat.

[JonLP24]

33. More important then f'in rewards is who gets the Death Penalty

You're 5x more likely to get the death penalty if your victim is white then if your victim is black.

[slackmaster]

39. Thanks for putting a sane perspective on this discussion

Or at least trying to.

[proteus_lives]

35. Iffy.

Might increase false claims.