Northeast News
April 22, 2015

Dear Editor,

It is extremely disappointing and concerning to read another editorial written in The Northeast News, titled “Springtime violent flash mobs,” (published in the April 8 edition) which can be experienced as coded prejudice and racial bias. Various news reports stated that a few teens were taken into custody by the KCPD for vandalizing three parked vehicles in the Plaza last weekend (April 4-5). While this type of behavior is destructive and should be taken seriously, to label it “a violent flash mob” is sensationalism that seeks to incite undue fear. Gross misrepresentations of this kind are nothing new, particularly for African American youth. They are frequently and comprehensively burdened with negative assumptions based on the poor choices of one of their racial peers in ways White youth don’t experience. It is a tactic used regularly in mainstream society to maintain fear among the White majority, which causes over policing and unwarranted surveillance of the overwhelming majority of youth of color who only desire to enjoy a fun and safe outing with friends.

Hopefully, it seems [KCPD] Chief Darryl Forté doesn’t seek to perpetuate the same philosophy as the editor, based on his response to this incident on his blog last week. Then the editorial describes the parents in this way: “no doubt they were home with the remote control in one hand and a ‘double-deucer’ in the other, with nary a care in the world for what little junior and his band of roving, ner-do-wells are engaging in at all hours.” Verna Myers, diversity professional, says that “biases are the stories we make up about people before we know who they are.” Maybe the parents of the few youth involved were working a double shift in order to keep the lights on because their employer doesn’t value their efforts enough to pay them a wage that would allow them to provide for their family while working reasonable hours.

There could be many different scenarios, but choosing to perpetuate negative stereotypes of people you don’t know further dehumanizes and fuels greater division as opposed to creating unity and understanding. To invoke a lesson from my youth, if you only seek to tear down or harm, then it is best to say nothing at all…especially if it reinforces a system of inequality.

Respectfully,

John Tramel

NE Resident