Last week, four college-bound Newark, N.J., friends were gunned down execution-style on a high school playground. They were made to kneel against a wall and shot point-blank in the backs of their heads. Three of them died at the scene. Their names were Terrance Aeriel, 18, Iofemi Hightower, 20, and Dashon Harvey, 20. Natasha Aeriel, 19, the only survivor of the execution and sister of Terrance, is expected to make a full recovery. Four life-long friends hanging out before heading off to college (Delaware State University) were snuffed out in a matter of minutes. How is it that since the initial reporting of this tragedy, there has been little to no coverage of this story in mainstream media?
These murders happened on a school playground in a middle-class neighborhood, located less than one mile from Seton Hall University. According to an Aug. 5 article published on WNBC.com, two of the three cameras installed on the school’s playground were not functioning, apparently those aimed directly at the scene of the crime. A school’s failure to properly outfit and maintain surveillance cameras, compromising the safety of its students on a daily basis, has contributed to the unsolved executions of these promising young students. How ironic is that?
School administrators failed to maintain these surveillance cameras, even after Newark teenagers led a rally against gun violence in May of 2006, proclaiming “enough is enough.” Many adults also lent their support, including Newark’s mayor-elect at the time, Cory Booker. Where is this story?
I am disgusted at the lack of coverage of these senseless murders in the mainstream media and the lack of outrage by our society. If these four kids were white, the coverage of this story would be non-stop. We would know every bit of minutia about these kids, the names of the administrators, and there would be story after story about the multiple failures that collided for this incident to occur. Instead, we get to hear how Mayor Cory Booker, who just took office, is failing at his job. It is the same old song. Instead of focusing on the real problems — our depraved and declining society, gun violence, lack of gun control and outdated everything at many inner-city public schools — the media focuses on the failure of the young, black mayor who is in his first term. Sounds a little Katrina-esque.
This type of disrespect by the media is not new. When pretty, white girls disappear or are murdered, we hear about it exhaustively. This is why the names of victims like Natalee Holloway, Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking and Elizabeth Smart roll off our tongues, as they should because their lives do matter. What about Stepha Henry, a recent college graduate and aspiring lawyer, who disappeared from Club Peppers in Ft. Lauderdale over Memorial Day weekend of this year? Do you remember Tamika Huston, 24, who was murdered in Spartanburg, S.C.? What about Latoyia Figueroa, 24, a five-months-pregnant woman who was murdered in Chester, Pa.? You don’t know their names because their lives and deaths do not matter, simply because they are black, like these four victims in Newark.
The same people who were calling Michael Vick a “murderer” last week are the same people who have been silent about these murders. What about the recent execution of Chauncey Bailey, the long-time editor of the Oakland Post? According to an article published Aug. 8 on MSNBC.com, Bailey was investigating a local bakery with criminal ties when he was gunned down while walking to his office. The bakery’s handyman Devaughndre Broussard, 19, confessed to shooting Bailey in broad daylight because of Bailey’s ongoing investigation. An upstanding member of the media community is executed in the United States, and there is barely any coverage of it? Can you imagine the level of coverage that would occur if the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle or The New York Times were murdered execution-style in front of their offices while working on a dangerous story?
The lack of respect and coverage of these stories speaks to the underlying issue, which is that our society does not value black lives. When our children and prominent members of community are murdered, it is the status quo and the world keeps on moving. Why aren’t they being covered seriously and consistently? Where is the outrage from the world community?
Perhaps these folks are too damned black. Black people. Black neighborhood. Black university. Black newspaper. Black cities. I guess only black people should give a damn. Because people have obviously forgotten, we are a part of this society; 400 years of free labor guarantees that. So, I hope and pray that these three kids in Newark and Mr. Bailey did not die in vain. They are black and their lives do matter, and their stories deserve the same level of coverage as anyone else.
Nsenga K. Burton is a Charlotte-based writer, professor and filmmaker.
This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2007.
RE: Nobody Knows My Name
The N Word column never fails to annoy me for the racist rants from this writer. She continually accuses non-blacks of perpetuating racism, as she pedals a slew of it herself.
Gee professor Burton, I guess you must have been out to lunch when all the (plentiful/national) mainstream media coverage of this tragedy was aired/printed, even by our local paper and news outlets. The only surprising thing about this event is that the perpetrators, for once, don’t appear to be black themselves. Perhaps you failed to take note of the media attention because you, like many Americans, have grown weary of the continual black on black, and black VS everybody else crimes committed. But no, we don’t want to draw any more attention to that, do we?
You conveniently fail to note that it’s not the media focusing on the “failure of the young, black mayor”, but rather, they were focusing on the outrage the BLACK community directed at him.
You drone on “Perhaps these folks are too damned black. Black people. Black neighborhood. Black university. Black newspaper. Black cities.” You left out the Black Student Union, Black Miss USA and other Black only societies.
You intone “Because people have obviously forgotten, we are a part of this society; 400 years of free labor guarantees that.” No, we surely haven’t forgotten you (Hooray for your hip hop generation!). Please tell us, when is the last time you, or anyone multiple generations back in your family worked for free? Name one. Did you forget that blacks were sold into slavery by blacks in Africa? It’s not like the Dutch swooped in with butterfly nets and scooped them up.
White people will remain a convenient scapegoat for the ills of black society as long as great thinkers like Professor Burton publish such drivel. There has to be someone ELSE to be angry at, it can’t be the fault of blacks that they commit a large percentage of crimes, have most of their babies out of wedlock, are born into and stay forever on welfare, fail to complete school etc etc.
Rather than point the finger at whitey, why not direct it at your own society that perpetuates crime, dependency on others, and illegitimate births and help fix your own problems?
Fed Up With Racists Of All Colors!
i’ve noticed that too, and i’m so glad that you said what everyone else is to afraid to say. Black lives and culture still are not valued
Devlin-you hit the nail on the head. Another black person with an axe to grind. The “N Word” in the case of the above article is “nonsense, Nsenga”. Or, more like bullsh!t.
Sadly, for our news to matter, we must take it upon ourselves to make it headline news! You’ve done your part; now, it is time for others to spread the word! Good stuff, indeed! ;o)
[SIDENOTE: Shayna Rudd, a featured writer for the NUBIANO Exchange, wrote about the disproportionate air time James Brown received, compared against Anna Nicole Smith. They both died around the same time; however, Brown, who undoubtedly contributed more to American society than Smith, was lost in mainstream media’s fascination with the death of a “blonde bombshell.” Check the article out here: http://www.thenubianoproject.com — “The Spirit of James Brown’s Soul”]
I’ve heard PLENTY about the Newark story in the news… I truly have no idea where this writer is coming from! She obviously has “issues.” There are many many white people killed by blacks (a friend of mine murdered for no reason at all last year by a convicted murderer out only 3 months from prison) and THEY get no press either, so just try to chill out with using race as an excuse for everything.
I certainly would agree that African Americans have received a raw deal and attempts should be made to eliminate bias and approach things with clarity to seek the Truth to achieve equality. But by simply getting angry and trying to “reverse” racism ends of obscuring the Truth and like in the OJ trial advocating freedom for GUILTY people as an odd sort of “balance” which truly IS not justice, just tit for tat, two-wrongs-make-a-right mentality.
To help all of us in society get together and aim for justice it doesn’t help, the kind of finger-pointing without any real evidence at race-motivation for things that AREN’T… You’ll never get racial justice that way… just another round of misguided attempts at “overcompensation.” Maybe it’s time to ease back on your (perhaps deserved) anger as it perhaps is ironically an IMPEDIMENT in a practical sense to achieving the justice you clearly want.
Playing victim at this point is really really annoying since it’s quite a stretch — there has been substantial coverage of the Newark case. In fact, maybe in light of all the black on black violence in the name of “justice” maybe you should speak out against all those in the black community now filled with hate-speech against the immigrant community in response to the arrests. But OH NO that’s not your problem, is it? Then I guess you’re not really concerned with justice for all…. just payback for blacks, huh?
Why should the average white American care anything about James Brown?
It’s sad that many whites were concerned with the life of Anna Nicole, but if your idea of entertainment is Entertainment Tonight, supermarket tabloids and, reality shows, then it makes sense that Anna Nicole would have been more interesting to the pop crowd. James Brown is too old, too “30 years ago” to matter much to them.
I believe we as Americans should look to the bigger issue, and look past taking sides. It doesn’t doesn’t matter which race is all right or all wrong. We should get to the place, where we side only with TRUTH.
The facts are laid out before us. Yes, there is too much black on black crime. Lots of un-wed mother(from both races), and crimes commited by whites on blacks and vice verse.
I don’t believe there is only one reason why our society has gone this far without resolution. And though the reasons why are important. It can no longer contniue to be our main focus. We have to stop choosing sides based on race, but instead on TRUTH. That means searching for a resolution, instead of only looking at the problem, and pointing fingers.
Every life MATTERS! White, Black, Red, Yellow. We all MATTER! We all have people that love us, and want us to survive. We should ALL do a better job, at making sure that happens.
Happy Days
I had heard about some of these issues but that was only through woc sites. I have heard no mention at all of the Jena 6 in local news. This should be a national outrage.
This wack job is just your typical diversity hire. Every week it gets harder to believe she’s serious. If she had to intelligently discuss anything other than the never ending struggle that is being a black person, she’d be a mute.
Who hasn’t heard about what happened in Newark? Everyone I talked to did. It was on CNN, MSNBC, local news, exactly what mainstream outlet are you adding to your ever growing more tiresome martyrdom? Maybe you should turn on the news occasionally while you’re watching Court TV (shock of the century, Vick’s guilty). I mean, you’ll have one less thing to whine about, which would severely limit your ability to ‘write’, but at least you might be able to sound like you know what you’re talking about. You also missed a couple of good stories that our media ignored. Specifically: the Carr Brothers, the murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, and the woefully typical Juneteenth celebrations this year. Oh and the ‘Jena 6’? They assaulted someone, they’re being prosecuted. That’s how committing a crime works and that’s why it’s not news.
This might really put a dent in what is obviously a deeply ingrained sense of being constantly wronged but blacks only make up 13% of the population. Media outlets make their money by selling advertising based on the amount of people that watch their news. Ergo, you put the stories up that people want to watch, you sell more advertising, you make more money. Sorry, bunch of black kids getting killed in the ghetto isn’t really Earth shattering news.
Are you really a professor, or did you go to the same school where Dre got his medical degree?
This wack job is just your typical diversity hire. Every week it gets harder to believe she’s serious. If she had to intelligently discuss anything other than the never ending struggle that is being a black person, she’d be a mute.
Who hasn’t heard about what happened in Newark? Everyone I talked to did. It was on CNN, MSNBC, local news, exactly what mainstream outlet are you adding to your ever growing more tiresome martyrdom? Maybe you should turn on the news occasionally while you’re watching Court TV (shock of the century, Vick’s guilty). I mean, you’ll have one less thing to whine about, which would severely limit your ability to ‘write’, but at least you might be able to sound like you know what you’re talking about. You also missed a couple of good stories that our media ignored. Specifically: the Carr Brothers, the murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, and the woefully typical Juneteenth celebrations this year. Oh and the ‘Jena 6’? They assaulted someone, they’re being prosecuted. That’s how committing a crime works and that’s why it’s not news.
This might really put a dent in what is obviously a deeply ingrained sense of being constantly wronged but blacks only make up 13% of the population. Media outlets make their money by selling advertising based on the amount of people that watch their news. Ergo, you put the stories up that people want to watch, you sell more advertising, you make more money. Sorry, bunch of black kids getting killed in the ghetto isn’t really Earth shattering news.
Are you really a professor, or did you go to the same school where Dre got his medical degree?
I greatly admire you Nsenga for your tenacity, courage and conviction. I’m a novice author and activist who has been writing editorials of truth for some time. Needless to say none have been published; they cross the grain of the “good old boy” political machine. I thank God that you have the mental toughness to ignore such idiotic comments by Sean,Devlin et all who only spews the venom inherited in the womb by most Europeans. There are many wonderful whites who “do” beleive in God, fairness and spirituality but also whose silence is deafening. There are whites who have died for us and continue to fight for us when we don’t fight for ourselves. Always remember that the bearer of truth is always a target of those who possess the mentality of the “pyschopathic racist”. He is totally incapable of feeling guilt and constitutionally incapable of apologizing for “anything”. I’m very disturbed at the absence of minorities who have not come to your defense but in reality I’m not. Charlotte has “never” had a history of any tpye of protest (civil, political or human rights). You have an admirer in me because I see greatness in you and you should be heralded amongst Nzinga, Hatshepsut, Dahia-Al Kahina the warrior Queens. Peace and blessings to you. Asante sana. Osei
Johnny Deer As long as you live and breathe, always remember this; it has always been, is and always will be about RACE.
It will always be about race, until the racists age out.
Devlin has some very valid points, imho I think he calls it like it is. I bet he’s seriously anti-Bush, loves it when blacks actually break the stereotypical mold. In my field
I must admit I’m much more likely to hire a African, than a so called african american.
I’ve had so many bad experiences with african americans who just don’t want to work, and so many good experiences with africans that excel, that I look for the first generation africans even with the thick accents. I know
there are great numbers of african americans that are fine and even great people. I hope that more succeed and turn around the status quo.
Racism sucks no matter what the color of your skin, but we’re at least 100 years away from it being non-existent. Raise your kids to be color blind when it applies to people.
The people at the Crime in Charlotte blog has collected a useful collection of photos documenting the thug life many of Charlotte’s youth live. Take and a look and try to tell me Pat McCrory wasn’t right. http://www.crimeincharlotte.com/2007/08/thugs-on-myspace-iii.html
Great link there DarthJesus. Nsenga and Kwame-Osei Moyo (who is really just Nsenga in disguise, a PITIFUL attempt to defend her defenseless opinions) are no doubt very proud of the diversity their culture display here. Violence, weapons and drugs. What a great influence black thug culture provides for our country!
Fact:
– The suspect is a Latino illegal alien.
– The suspect was out on bail for the serial rape of a 5-year-old.
– Newark is a “sanctuary city,” where cops are not to ask criminal suspects if they are in the country legally.
So the liberal black mayor of Newark, and the black liberal voters of Newark who support bail rather than imprisonment, and the liberals who support illegal immigration, are accomplices in this crime.
it is EXTREMELY disheartening to pick up one of Charlotte’s “liberal, progressive” papers and hear its “liberal, progressive” readers so willingly defend a racist institution. American media is VERY racially biased. If you can’t see that, then you’re blind. When matters of race are discussed, white people often get defensive (being that most oppression in America and the world was inflicted on various ethnic groups by people of European descent), because they make the statements personal, however, if you are not a racist person, then those comments are not directed at you, and you are seriously misguided for defending racist institutions. understand that white people view race COMPLETELY different than any other racial group b/c race has never been used to oppress and degrade whites on a significant scale. Please, put your ego’s aside so that real issues can be maturely discussed and thought about.
Dr. Burton,
I feel that racism and those who control the media are responsible for the lack of coverage on Black victims. The Mike Vick case is just another example of sensationalism that the media uses in trying to bring down high profile Blacks. The truth of the matter is that animals die daily. Now at this moment somebody is being raped, murdered, or kidnapped, and the gatekeepers don’t care because to them it’s not news. We should have had a paper on this at JCSU. Peace…
I agree it is shocking what happened and how little media coverage it got compared to other stories, but to make it a black/white issue is not valid. Its america – people of all colors live here. Please stop trying to stir up more hate