Shaun King: Racism has found its way into the Cincinnati Zoo saga

[gollygee]

He endorsed Bernie, so people aren't going to immediately dismiss what he says, right?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-racism-found-cincinnati-zoo-saga-article-1.2655860?


As you have likely heard, on this past Saturday a 4-year-old boy fell into the gorilla habitat at the Cincinnati Zoo. A gut-wrenching decision was made by the zoo to shoot and kill the gorilla to protect the boy and rescue him from the habitat.

The fallout over the incident has taken a decidedly racist turn as the public has now discovered that the boy and his parents are black.

Laura Collins, in Cincinnati writing for the Daily Mail, published an absolutely despicable piece on the young boy’s parents, including every detail of his father’s criminal history.

The actual lede and headline for her piece was all about how the young boy’s father, Deonne Dickerson, had committed crimes before.

Buried deep in the story was the fact that he is gainfully employed and appeared to be a loving father from the myriad of photos found on him. The story, a hit job on Dickerson, has already been shared over 26,000 times on Facebook. Their tweet about his criminal history was one of their most popular of the day yesterday.

What Laura Collins and the Daily Mail fail to share is that it does not appear that the boy’s father was even at the zoo with his family on Saturday.

Why then mention him at all? Why name him? Why spell out every mistake this man has ever made if he wasn’t even at the zoo when this happened?

Even if he was there, do you sincerely think anyone would be talking about his criminal history if he was white? I don’t.

Last year, a child fell into the cheetah exhibit at the Cleveland Zoo. The child and his parents were never identified.

A leopard mauled a young child who scaled a fence at the Kansas Zoo. Not a single report mentioned the criminal history of anyone involved.

In 2014, two jaguars mauled a toddler who fell into the jaguar exhibit of the Little Rock Zoo. The child’s identity, the identity of his parents, and their criminal history was never mentioned.

Fifteen years ago a child fell into another gorilla exhibit and was rescued. The criminal history of the parents was never mentioned.

At the Pittsburgh Zoo, a child lunged from his mother’s arms into the African spotted dog exhibit and was mauled to death. The zoo actually settled a wrongful death suit with the family. I searched all morning to see if any media outlets mentioned the criminal history of the family. They didn’t.

A tiger at the San Francisco Zoo mauled a 17-year-old boy to death. A drunk family member was witnessed taunting the tiger beforehand. The zoo settled with the family. Again, not a single story was written on the criminal history of anybody in that young man’s family.

Did anyone in the media even think to search the criminal histories of these families? It sure doesn’t look like it and that’s a good thing. It’s irrelevant.

So why in the world is the criminal history of this young boy’s father in Cincinnati being spread all over the world other than the possibility that racists saw an opportunity to do what racists do? Even if the young boy’s father was there, is the suggestion that he had criminal intent by allowing his son, who he is shown doting on all over social media, fall through the enclosure?

People often ask why guys like me “make everything racial” as if we made the system this way. We didn’t. Race and racism are obviously deeply entrenched in this ugly world and stories like this are required to fight back against it.

This young family could’ve lost their son. They experienced the same type of accident that white families have experienced for decades, but instead of being shown mercy or compassion, they are now enduring unthinkable attacks on their character.

America. 2016.

[yardwork]

1. I remember both those previous incidents, and the columnist is correct.

The racism around this case is ugly.

[yeoman6987]

28. This story never should have gone national

It was a city zoo and should have stayed as city news story.

[yardwork]

49. No way. An endangered gorilla was killed.

[yeoman6987]

56. In a city zoo.

[ToxMarz]

66. By hosting that endangered animal the zoo was charged with both protecting it

And the taxpayers and visitors it was soliciting to fund housing it. I believe everyone involved had the best intentions and something went wrong. All anyone seem interested in is blaming and ostracizing someone so they can get Internet thumbs up and move on to passing judgment on the next high profile situation that makes their small insignificant lives seem important. No one else ever seems to care what they say.

[FourScore]

71. Exactly. n/t

[skamaria]

207. Perfect response! N/T

[mdbl]

216. Agreed. The zoo failed to protect the habitat from intrusion and the mother

probably wasn't aware of the dangers, although you don't have to be a rocket scientist to make sure your kids don't get too close to exhibits with wild animals. The criminal histories or race have nothing to do with it.

[NaturalHigh]

106. Are you freakin kidding?

Zoo shoots gorilla because moron mom lets her kid get down into its habitat and you think it should stay local like some sort of arts and garden show?

[1StrongBlackMan]

127. She didn't "LET her kid", do anything ...

the kid went on his own ... after being told "No" ... when the mother was distracted.

[NaturalHigh]

129. Some mother. Maybe a few parenting classes are in order.

[NaturalHigh]

149. The mom is somehow the victim in all of this?

Gee.

[NaturalHigh]

155. Do you have some sort of proof that the child was "nearly killed"?

You do know that this whole situation could have been avoided if she had simply watched her kid, right?

[NaturalHigh]

168. I can manage to "value the life of a child more than the life of an animal"...

while still decrying the loss of that animal, one critically endangered in this case.

I'm guessing we have different ideas about how reasonable a certain level of attention from a parent is.

[NaturalHigh]

177. If she often "loses sight" of her kids in public places...

maybe she shouldn't be hanging out by gorilla habitats.

[NaturalHigh]

186. "(T)he enclosure was not sufficient"...

God help me...I agree with you on something.

That's yet another reason this woman should have been watching her kid.

[1StrongBlackMan]

144. Do you have a child? From your comments, I suspect you just play a parent on the internet.

[NaturalHigh]

148. Two - youngest just graduated. Thanks for playing though.

[1StrongBlackMan]

152. If you have two ... Then, you know that you don't "let" a child ...

or any other sentient being, do anything they want to do ... Nor, can you stop them, when they really want to do it..

[NaturalHigh]

156. I guess we are from two different schools of parenting.

Maybe mine is a little more proactive.

[1StrongBlackMan]

159. Your kid(s) never did anything stupid? You're special and should be rich!

[NaturalHigh]

163. Sure they did, but we prevented them from jumping into gorilla habitats.

It's really the least a parent can do.

[1StrongBlackMan]

173. Funny ... I never faced that gorilla habitat problem, and I doubt you have, either ...

but I have had to go into a swimming pool after my daughter, after having told her she couldn't go into the pool. What about you?

[NaturalHigh]

175. No, can't say that ever happened to me.

[1StrongBlackMan]

182. You are fortunate, or full of shit ... Kids are always doing ill-advised/dangerous stuff ...

after being told, "No" ... we're lucky if our kids are smart enough to not do it a second time.

[NaturalHigh]

185. I never said my kids didn't do some ill-advised stuff.

Nothing this stupid, though.

[1StrongBlackMan]

187. A 4 year old has a different understanding of stupid, neither of which include ...

going into a gorilla habitat, a tiger cage or jumping into a swimming pool.

And, "parenting classes" won't change that child's understanding of stupid.

[pnwmom]

213. You have no idea of the near-misses that your children experienced

while your back was turned. The time a child behind you did not run into the street. The time a child didn't fall down the stairs. The time a child didn't push a chair up to a counter and grab a knife from the sink.

You, like most of us, are lucky. But you aren't any more capable of giving 100% of your attention 100% of the time to 100% of your children than anyone else is.

[pnwmom]

211. dupe

[pnwmom]

210. Oh, right. Because no good parent EVER gets distracted for a few moments

with other children.

This could never happen to someone as superior as yourself.

[AtheistCrusader]

196. And what do we think of parents that allow children to access guns?

Pretty sure the 'negligence' and 'criminal' words start popping up.

[1StrongBlackMan]

206. We? or I? ...

If the gun is in a lock box (or even a shoe box) in a closet, out of reach of the child ... the word "tragic" and "horrific" accident, "If feel for the parent's pain, as they will surely blame themselves.

[AtheistCrusader]

225. Allowing your child opportunity to climb into a zoo enclosure is akin to a locked box or a open box?

I take my kid to the zoo. This is not a possibility. He's seven and he wouldn't make it over a wall before I could stop him. How the hell does a four year old do it?

That gorilla, a creature pound for pound seven times stronger than a human, and completely undomesticated, was in an open air enclosure with elevation and a railing as the only protection. This is akin to a gun stored in a night stand, not a lock box. It requires DIRECT adult supervision to even pretend to be some measure of safety.

I can leave my child alone in my room with all of my firearms secured in lock boxes/safes when he was four. Because he lacks the capacity to break into them or defeat the locking mechanisms. (I am aware of the drop-vulnerabilities of some safes, and have chosen mine accordingly.)

I cannot leave my then-four-year-old in a room with a firearm stored in a night stand. Same is true of the gorilla enclosure. Under direct supervision, safe. (Though I would argue, inhumane to the animals, something I have taken more recent notice of after delving into the mistreatment of orcas in captivity, and the capacity for thought and communication by other advanced species, but I digress) Without direct supervision its a FUCKING DISASTER.

As a parent, I alone control the conditions that arise in either state. The firearms in my safe cannot be quickly accessed in an emergency. I accept that, because leaving them more accessible to me, is a recipe for disaster around children when my supervision is not present. That gorilla enclosure was meant for adult supervision. It was not designed to be proof against a four-year-old without supervision. Like my nightstand.

[Zen Democrat]

192. The Cincinnati Zoo is responsible for public safety around their animals.

Why was there a way for a 3-year old to get in there? That should be corrected immediately. The mother is in no way liable.

[pnwmom]

209. The zoo had an enclosure that was easily circumvented by a small child.

That's where the fingers should be pointing. Poor enclosure design and/or maintenance.

[NaturalHigh]

237. I agree with you on that point.

[AntiBank]

121. this isn't the 1600's any more

[LisaL]

2. This mother was identified because she posted about an incident on face book.

And regarding San Francisco zoo incident, there were a lot of stories blaming the men for what happened. Including the men's history.

[ecstatic]

15. They're weren't white, IIRC. So the fallout was consistent with

the points raised in the article.

[LisaL]

24. The article claims their history wasn't reported. Which is clearly

false. And how do you know what the races for the rest of the people in other incidents were, if they were not named?

[intrepidity]

83. I noticed the same

I recall the SF event and all of the news stories that followed. There was plenty about the family history. Finding one example that I know to be false makes me wonder about the other cases that are cited in the story, unfortunately. Journalism 101.

[doc03]

3. I have actually heard some of the Trump types say they should have

shot the mother. I am leaving out the expletives and racial slurs.

[a la izquierda]

31. Jesus

If he becomes president, I'm overstaying my visa (wherever I happen to be).

[kdmorris]

200. I never read internet comments

But I was dumb enough to do so today and saw many racist assholes saying that they should have shot the kid instead of the gorilla.

I was sick... I can't believe people say such vile shit.

[doc03]

212. Wow that is just sick. I think this country is going out of its mind. I mean in my

wildest imagination I wouldn't believe anyone could vote for Trump but they are.

[kdmorris]

217. Yeah, it's kind of scary how insane people seem

And I guarantee no one would have said that if it had been a little white boy.

[treestar]

4. There have been a lot of incidents too

Still rare probably.

No excuse for talking about the father at all - he was not there.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Thank you. I was just about to post this. Shaun has a series on twitter, also.

https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/737722618611040256

What we have here is the criminalization of Blackness - such that a family nearly loses a child and the father's past is an issue. A MESS.

[glinda]

6. Human-Centricism will kill the Planet.

This story makes me weep.

[Coventina]

7. Um, have to disagree on the San Fran tiger case. Plenty was written about the previous criminal

behavior of the "victims" and their family.

Having said that, going after the father in this case is racist bullshit.


on edit: clarity.

[LisaL]

8. I remember all these articles.

There was a lot written, and a lot of blame directed toward the men (even though clearly a tiger shouldn't be able to get out of the enclosure).

[Coventina]

9. I 100% blame the "victims" in that case. They broke into a closed zoo, drank themselves silly, and

taunted the tigers until one was so infuriated it came after them, making a jump that no zoo had ever dreamed possible.
That's how pissed off she was.

I'm just sorry she didn't finish the job before the cops got there.

[LisaL]

11. You can blame them (or not).

My point is, the author of the OP is clearly wrong that there was no information about history of the men involved.

[Coventina]

12. Agreed. They were exposed in the press for the low-life scum they were. n/t

[maxsolomon]

17. IIRC the SF zoo wasn't closed

it was a very quiet day (thanksgiving?), and very close to closing time. so they were alone at the tiger exhibit.

we're on the same page regarding the tiger's actions - it killed the one kid who'd been trying to get the others to stop. and wasn't drunk.

[LisaL]

18. That tiger was a "man eating" tiger.

It previously attacked her zoo keeper. It seems she hated people.

[Coventina]

23. Did she have any reason NOT to hate people?

Tigers are solitary creatures.

While zoos are necessary evils, they are not a good environment for tigers under the best of circumstances.

[LisaL]

26. She likely had very good reasons to hate people.

But that is neither here nor there.

[Coventina]

136. I was asking because the other poster mentioned that the tiger hated people.

As if that were somehow a character defect.

I don't see it as making any difference myself.

A tiger isn't obligated to like people, and it would be against their nature to do so.

[Coventina]

20. And those creeps had the nerve to sue for their injuries, when they KILLED their friend.

And, at least one of them was arrested for SHOPLIFTING while his lawsuit was going through the system.




I wonder whatever happened to those wastes of oxygen?

[Coventina]

137. I never said that, but nice try.

[Coventina]

143. I sure as hell am blaming the creepy cowards who intentionally pissed off a tiger they thought

couldn't fight back.

I just wish she'd been able to finish them off.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[Coventina]

146. You stated because of SHOPLIFTING. I don't think people should be killed by tigers for shoplifting.

[Coventina]

151. Oh please spare me. They were throwing rocks at her, while drunk and high, and the zoo was closed.

Yeah, I'm not sorry for how I feel.

[Coventina]

154. No, I don't. They brought on themselves. n/t

[Coventina]

158. I've already outlined why I feel as I do. They purposely stayed behind after closing time to

torment Tatiana.

They didn't just make faces at her, the rocks they threw were found in her enclosure after the incident.

They were drunk and on drugs.

If you are asking me to feel sorry for them you will be asking for a long time.

I really don't care what you think.

[Coventina]

165. Hell yes I value Tatiana over those creeps!!

[Coventina]

171. No, you said I thought they should die for shoplifting. But whatevs.

You are going to make up whatever it is you think I said.

People can read through this thread and come to their own conclusions.

[Coventina]

180. Yeah, sure, all they did was make faces.

Are you using the royal "we" or do you have a mouse in your pocket?

[Coventina]

184. I invented nothing. The title of your article states the tiger was provoked.

"We" agree on nothing, so I don't know why you think "we" have reached any conclusion.

[BuelahWitch]

233. I remember that one too, Coventina

The tiger's name was Tatiana. I was very upset by her death and how people felt sorry for the lowlifes who taunted her, called 19 year old guys "children" (this place really pisses me off sometimes).

Totally agree that the father's criminal history had nothing to do with the death of Harambe. It was part accident, part neglect, but Dad had nothing to do with it.

[Coventina]

235. I'm very glad to know that I'm not alone in remembering and honoring Tatiana.

I don't feel a bit sorry for those creeps and I never will.

[ecstatic]

10. This explains a lot. Up until today,

I didn't know the race of the people involved. It seemed like a no brainer that the gorilla would need to be stopped by any means necessary once a child--or anyone of any age was inside. I really didn't understand why it was a controversy or why anyone thought the zoo should have rolled the dice with a 3 year old's life. It should be common sense that even if a 450 lb gorilla means well, it can accidentally do a lot of damage, especially to a 25-30 lb toddler. Now I get it. SMMFH.

[Fast Walker 52]

52. well, I know a lot of people were upset cause of how few of those gorillas are left

in the world, and I never heard anyone say anything about the race of the kid or family until this.

[Nay]

117. I'm with you, ecstatic. Had no idea the family was black, and I came to the same

conclusion you did -- to save the kid's life, the gorilla had to be shot. After the kid has been rescued, the zoo needs to rethink/redo the enclosure, because a 3 yr old should never have been able to get in there. Kids get lost at zoos all the time, so blaming the parents is not sensible, unless they were doing something stupid like sit the kid up on the fence.

My opinion remains the same after finding out they are black. And going after the father, who wasn't even there? WTF?

[JimDandy]

13. On the other hand, in an officer involved shooting, the victim's race IS important to know

as a gauge for how, or if, police departments are reacting to the critical public eye that is now focused on these shootings. Yesterday, a Tucson PO shot and killed a black bicyclist. None of the media outlets mentioned the man's race, and only a couple of them mentioned his name: Osee Calix. A google search was the only way to find out the info on his race. I hope this is not a trend for the media to not disclose the race of victims of officer-involved shootings. That would be disturbing, if there were a concerted effort by local media to do so, in order to reduce or eliminate public backlash against their local PD's

[gwheezie]

16. I've spent part of the day asking fools

If the little black boy had been killed by the gorilla, did the mother get what she deserved? I've read several eye witness accounts that do not blame her or claim she was negligent from people who were standing next to them. One minute she was taking care of her crying daughter in the stroller packing them all up to leave and the little boy had his hand in her pocket and the next she was calling his name. She didn't see him because he crawled into bushes. She was looking for him. People who saw him said he was so fast they couldn't stop him. And then he fell off the ledge.
Fuck the racists. how many times do white people leave guns around and their kids kill themselves and it's a terrible accident but let a black family make that mistake and some young black male gets arrested. Or the same with kids who die in hot cars. Let it be a white hospital administrator and oh, the poor family has suffered enough but some black woman leaving her kids in the car and they don't even die, gets arrested. Or some white kids pull a prank, and a black kid gets shot.
Fuck the racists.

[nyabingi]

122. I agree - great post (nt)

[maxsolomon]

19. Fucking up knows no color

To be honest about my biases: when I first heard the story I thought "stupid hillbillies".

Prejudice against Appalachians is still prejudice.

[MrScorpio]

21. America never passes up a chance to be anti-black

I serious doubt that it will ever stop showing its own ant-black biases.

[ladjf]

78. I read everything that I could find about this incident.

IMO, racism played no roll in this situation.

A real question is where were the care takers that deal with this gorilla on a daily basis? The gorilla was
raised from infancy to the age of sixteen by one handler and for his 17th year by the handlers at Cincinnati.

To my knowledge there have been on four incidents of children falling into gorilla enclosures in the U.S.
In the first three incidents, the gorillas purposefully assisted in the rescue. The tapes of the Cincinnati
incident did not show that the gorilla had any malicious intentions toward the child. At one point, the child was sitting down facing the gorilla and was petting the animals' arms.

Apparently, none of the handlers that worked with him on a daily basis were present at the time.

But, the fact remains that the enclosure was NOT safe although the zoo had the gall to state otherwise. The engineering obviously had overlooked the fence setup to some degree. And, the mother
should not have let the child out of her sight especially since the child said he wanted to get into the pond.

The zoo might get sued for there engineering error. On top of that, the gorilla was worth several million dollars. Everyone lost in episode.

[MrScorpio]

81. Did you even bother reading the gist of Shaun King's article?

Other than these parents' skin color, why bring up any trouble with the law at all?

And what did the father's supposed criminal past have to do with his kid falling into that gorilla exhibit in the first place?

[ladjf]

84. I did "bother" to read a dozen or so articles and watch

as much video as I could find. Never heard a word about race of the father's law problems. But, since you have mentioned, I still don't think that race was an issue. You know, does have some problems that aren't related to racism.

[MrScorpio]

98. That information didn't come from either King or myself

The press made a point of exposing it, as they did not thing for all the previous white victims. Racist commentary has all but blew up the Internet about. Just look at Facebook and comment sections, check out right wing hate radio.

You also never saw a flurry of racially infused blame and hatred against the previous parents, as we've seen recently. Much of that showing way more concern for the animal, than an endangered black child.

The racial component to this Cincinatti Zoo story should be all too obvious to anyone who has paid attention to it. I'm not even close to being an expert on it and it's all too apparent to me. Of course, Shaun King was right on the money.

Your lack of savvy about what can or can't be construed as racist isn't my concern. Unlike most whites in this country, we can ill afford the luxury of not being keenly aware of what impact that our own skin color has on any situation we find ourselves in. Especially because that impact routinely has negative consequences for us.

I've had too many conversations about race with too many whites that only centers on their discomfort about the subject which only centers on their feelings. Black people in this country don't live in a bubble of white normality.

It would be nice if more whites were self-aware enough to realize that fact.

[ladjf]

113. If there is anything I don't need is a lecture on racial awareness.

There is no way that you could accurately asses my attitude toward racial issues from the few comments I made regarding the Cincinnati Zoo incident.

As I told you previously, I read several accts. as I was quite interested in the case.

In my opinion, the zoo was at fault for an inadequate design and the Mother was at fault for not
watching the child closely enough. According to the accounts I read, the mother was quoted as saying that the child had more than once stated that he wanted to get into the pool where the gorillas were.
I'm a parent and if my child had stated such an intention, I most definitely taken him somewhere else.
Another thing, from the video, it never occurred to me that the child was a person of color.

I believe that you are selling a lot of white people short based on your conversations with a limited
sample of white Americans.

You have lumped me in with a group of people to which I don't belong. Presently, I care for all Americans who are being robbed by billionaires. I am sick of the brutal treatment of POC, especially young males. It is most definitely true that POC in America are being discriminated against far worse than White Americans and that must stop.

The original mistake made by the American Government was failing to specifically outlaw slavery in the Constitution. France had already outlawed slavery in the 1790's. England followed suite in the early 19th Century. Note America did outlaw the slave trade in the early 19th Century but not the ownership of slaves.

If you would like to converse with me, feel free to send me a note in my DU mailbox.
You might be interested to hear about some of the civil rights activities of my family.

[Democat]

100. Anti-black, how about pro-endangered species?

I doubt that 1% of the people who hate this family have any idea what race they are.

They got an endangered species killed by being stupid. That has nothing to do with race.

[NaturalHigh]

107. I had no idea the family was black until this article.

[Mosby]

124. The Daily Mail is a RW British tabloid

FYI.

[gollygee]

161. Shaun King is very progressive, if controversial

So it's someone fairly left wing whose writing is appearing in something fairly right wing. I think they published the story just because it's controversial, not because of whether it's right or left.

[jalan48]

22. It's always easier to blame someone else.

[Texasgal]

25. Racism and sexism

all rolled into one!

[gollygee]

27. Yeah there's that too. N/t

[awoke_in_2003]

29. Black or white, here's an idea

Get the fuck off your phone and pay attention to your child. How hard is that?

[gollygee]

30. Do you know she was on her phone? N/t

[gwheezie]

32. Some eyewitnesses said she was taking pictures

With her phone at some point, because ya know no one takes pictures at a zoo.

[gollygee]

33. That's not "on the phone" like having a conversation and ignoring your kids

If you're taking pictures of your kids with your phone, you're paying attention to them.

This is such a sad story. This mom does something a good mom does - takes her kids on a fun and educational day trip - and a horrible accident happens, and she gets blamed for it. I have kids and I have one who was a runner, an escape artist, and a climber. I know how easily they can get into trouble. Also, I don't think it would occur to me that one of my kids would even be capable of getting into an enclosure with a gorilla.

I think the attacks on the mom are totally off base. I don't see looking for blame anywhere. The gorilla exhibit has been there for long enough without incident that I don't see blame for the zoo either. Sometimes, horrible things just happen.

[gwheezie]

37. I agree with you

From my 1st post on this incident I said I didn't blame anyone. It sounds like several people saw the boy crawl through the bushes but he was so fast they didn't have time to stop him.

[uponit7771]

75. delete

[awoke_in_2003]

40. Judging by what I see every day

Yes. People today are so absorbed by their smart phones that they have gotten fucking stupid.

[gollygee]

41. We're not talking about "people today."

We're talking about one specific person at one specific moment. She shouldn't be blamed for what generalized "people today" do.

[awoke_in_2003]

42. She wasn't paying attention to her kid

or it wouldn't have gotten into a gorilla pen. How do you not see what your kid is doing? One way is to be so self absorbed that you don't care, until it's too fucking late.

[gollygee]

43. I think the majority of parents have not seen what their kid is doing

At some point or another in their kids' lives. The vast majority.

And that's been true throughout history, including before cell phones.

[skepticscott]

59. Exactly..lots of parents, probably almost all parents

have lost sight or control of their kids at one time or another. That their kids were not also injured or endangered in those brief moments is a matter of pure luck and not better parenting.

[nini]

47. Here's another idea

The zoo never should have a barrier a kid could get through at all - and at the very least that fast.

[ieoeja]

188. She was taking care of her crying daughter. But, you know, that's just like a fucking phone.

Proud of yourself?

[pnwmom]

214. She was trying to comfort another crying child and packing up to go.

Have some compassion. How hard is that?

[Act_of_Reparation]

238. Before cell phones, parents were never distracted.

[retrowire]

34. what in the actual fuck. nt

[Travis_0004]

35. I don't think bringing up the fathers criminal record is racist

I think the news media generally searches for anything they can find, and in this case, they just happened to find a criminal record. Its irrelevant, but if he was white, I'm sure it would have still been reported.

[gollygee]

38. I think you're fooling yourself

His criminal record is entirely irrelevant as he wan't even there. And I definitely think they reported it because he was black - maybe not consciously, but they were playing up a racist stereotype.

[jack_krass]

79. I agree.

I watch lots of news, and I see criminal backgrounds brought up on white people just as much as I do on black people in sensational cases like this. If dirt is there, it will get dug up and reported, race be damned!

[gollygee]

90. When people are part of an incident, they sometimes do

However this father was not even there.

[pnwmom]

215. It's completely irrelevant because the father wasn't present. And it's further irrelevant

because the crimes were in his past and unrelated to the accident.

With that long list of other zoo accidents, I'm sure there had to be someone there with a crime in his or her past. It just wasn't reported.

[AngryAmish]

36. Animal rights mutters are nutty.

About ten years ago a mountain lion somehow wandered into Chicago. It found itself in Roscoe Village, very urban with kids everywhere. The cops had no choice and killed it.

So some animal rights butter attempted a mass murder by burning down the mayor's vacation home.

So these are not the sort of people who should be listened to.

[maxsolomon]

123. Actually they did have a choice

Same thing happened here in Seattle more recently. A young mountain lion came south down the waterfront train tracks and across the ship canal.

The cops told everyone to keep their kids and farty little dogs inside, chased it back across the bridge, and no one ever saw it again. They're not marauding berserkers, killing anything in their paths. They're scared and confused and looking for a way out.

There's always a choice.

[ieoeja]

189. Yeah, but this one was armed. CPD found a gun. n/t

[7962]

39. What a bunch of bullshit. From a fake black man who rips off black people

He's a loser and so is his silly opinion.
Even BLM has distanced themselves from him

[Fast Walker 52]

53. "fake black man"-- WTF?

[7962]

73. Yes, fake. First he claimed to be black, then biracial when caught in his lie

Then says his "real" father isnt on his Birth Certificate (both parents listed as white and are white). Looks like a white kid in childhood pictures, but now does his hair the way many black men commonly do. Not to mention he damn sure dyes it pitch black.
Raises money for "victims of police violence", but cant seem to account for most of it, causing BLM leaders to toss him. He even deleted 70000 tweets because of it. BLM leaders questioned him on the money, and his response was to block them & accuse them of infighting that didnt exist.
He's a scammer, a liar, and a race baiter. Always has been
But he's been making a ton of money pulling it off.

[Fast Walker 52]

85. fair enough, but I'm not sure how that negates any of the points made in the column

[7962]

87. His points are ridiculous. As many here have already pointed out

This is a guy who WANTS to find racism everywhere, so therefore he WILL find it. I've seen the uproar over this gorilla play out on FB and other places, and the main focus has been on the gorilla & why wasnt he tranquilized. A lot of basic criticism of the parents as well, but I never knew their race until THIS guy points it out.
I seem to remember the "affluenza" family getting blasted pretty good as well as many others who were white, because race isnt the driving factor, incompetence is. He mentions the people who got in the tiger display; people DID blast those folks. As well as the guy just a week ago who jumped naked into another tiger pit.
My thoughts on this gorilla deal, no one knows how the kid got away from the mom. Theres no film. A kid can slip away in a second.
If they dont shoot the gorilla quick enough & he slams the kid to death, King would be writing that the zoo didnt act quickly enough because the kid was black
Because thats what he does. And thats why many REAL activists have pushed away from him.

[gollygee]

91. He looked like a multiracial kid in his childhood photos

And there is no such thing as a "race baiter." That's a racist right-wing phrase.

[7962]

110. No, its not. Its a legitimate term used by both sides. Look it up.

unfair use of statements about race to try to influence the actions or attitudes of a particular group of people is race baiting. People on BOTH sides are guilty of it. This particular man has made a career out of it.

I dont see how this kid looks biracial. He didnt even have dark hair as a child. Now its pitch black & no way real. And his mom had a full head of curly hair as well


Plenty of other pictures out there of him as a child. Funny how the "missing father" never shows up and is never named. Nearly everything this guy gets involved with becomes tarnished.

[gollygee]

111. There's a little boy who lives down the street who looks very much like that

And who is biracial.

[7962]

114. And he's been known that way his whole life.

Not conveniently taking it up as a teenager. Nothing has backed his claims of having a black father. he could remove all the controversy if he wanted to, but he likes the attention
Look up the rest about this guy. The groups he used to be associated with now shun him. He's bad news & a fraud.

[romanic]

76. Google "Shaun King, black twitter and BLM"

He flip-flopped on his race alot and allegedly embezzeled money meant for families of police brutality.

[Luminous Animal]

218. Every accusation that you made originated from the right wing media.

[MrScorpio]

109. Who died and made you the arbiter of what is or isn't black? nt

[7962]

112. "What"? Dont you mean "who"? Biology is the arbiter, not me.

One or both parents being black gives you the right to claim "being black" or biracial. How is that not obvious? He now claims his "real" father is black, yet refuses to back it up & nobody else can either. he goes from having curly brown hair to tight cropped, pitch black hair in just a few years? Should we ignore people Like Rachel Dolezal, who scam ACTUAL black people just because they may claim to "feel" black? Its an insult.
And this guy, who has been scamming for years making money off of black people? Ask the folks at BLM what THEY think of him. Google him & black twitter as well. Everything he touches becomes tarnished with fraud.
Ask DeRay Mckesson what happened when they began to question where money he raised was going. ALL of them got blocked & King began to defame them.
The guy is a fraud regardless of race. Too many good people out there doing good work out of the limelight to continue to let this guy tarnish it.

[TipTok]

44. Some folks will see racism in anything...

Talk about pole vaulting over mosquito shit....

Oh gosh... A writer wrote a story out of hundreds that doesnt meet this authors personal standards?

Whoop dee do...

[ryan_cats]

45. Of

Of course Rachel Dolezal Shaun King sees racism, he has made it his career to see it everywhere, such entitlement, almost like he has white privilege or something.

[Rex]

46. I've been saying since the first kid ever fell into the first zoo exhibit.

We shouldn't have zoos they are depressing places for the wildlife that was never meant to be there. Watching the rhino shit for 5 minutes is not really a wildlife adventure.

Free range. Anything else is a prison.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

48. After reading through the replies I can't even respond

it's pointless.

[Nye Bevan]

50. If not for this OP, I would have no idea of the race of the family.

And I've read quite a few articles about the incident.

But by you drawing attention to the Daily Mail's focus on this, now I know.

[gollygee]

54. Well it is all about you

And your ability to maintain ignorance.

If you personally didn't know, then of course no one could have been racist.

[kwassa]

61. LOL!

[laundry_queen]

74. Ha. +1 nt

[Democat]

102. The author is "making it about themselves"

This writer is making it about racism instead of making it about a family getting an endangered species killed.

That's "making it about them".

How about the gorilla?

[gollygee]

103. Why did they look into the father's criminal history when he wasn't even at the zoo?

Why was that right at the beginning of the story? It's irrelevant. He wasn't there at the zoo that day to do anything criminal.

THAT is what Shaun King is writing about. He sees a pattern.

[Democat]

166. Did you read the original story?

If the kid wasn't in the compound the animal would be alive today.

[7962]

88. No one I know or have read comments from did either.

And believe me, a LOT of people have been going crazy about them killing the gorilla.
Had they NOT killed him & he ended up killing the child, King would be writing about the zoo didnt act fast enough because the kid was black.
He's a scammer and a fraud. And he keeps making money off of it

[Nye Bevan]

104. Yep. "If the child had been white they would have shot the gorilla!"

Nailed it.

[niyad]

51. what that columnist did was absolutely despicable. and thank you for that horrific list of

incidents (I had another word in mind) at all those zoos. I had no idea they were so damned dangerous. how do people "fall into" the habitats? at the zoo here, about the only one where that might happen is the giraffe area, and that would involved climbing a fence.

and people wonder why I dislike them so much.

[Quackers]

82. That's already happened too.

http://ktla.com/2014/08/17/california-woman-kicked-in-face-by-giraffe-after-climbing-into-zoo-exhibit/

[niyad]

120. I can understand a child doing something so silly. hope nothing happened to the giraffe.

[Marrah_G]

55. assholes

[Peregrine Took]

57. Oh, Keeerist! You can go to the well with that one once too often you know.

That was one lousy ass mom and I felt that way loooong before I ever saw her photo.

[blackspade]

58. I had no idea the family was Black.

Doing a hit piece on the father who wasn't even there is despicable.

[melman]

60. "America. 2016. "

Hate to break it to you Shaun, but the DM is a British paper.

[kwassa]

62. and your point is?

[melman]

63. That the Daily Mail is a British paper

[kwassa]

65. Of course it is. How is this relevant to the information in the OP?

Why is this fact significant?

[melman]

68. Because the last line in the piece is

"America. 2016"

Things written on the website of a British paper don't actually tell us anything about "America. 2016."

[kwassa]

69. Why not?

Many British, and other nationality newspapers observe us quite closely, and with insight. They aren't blind or uninformed.

[melman]

72. Because when he says

"America. 2016", he means "This is where America is in 2016."

The offending article was written by a British person for a British paper. It has nothing to do with where America is in 2016.

Because it was written by a British person for a British paper.

[gollygee]

97. Shaun King is American and he wrote it about an American incident. N/t

[Mosby]

126. The Daily Mail is a right wing British tabloid

It's like quoting the National Inquirer if the National Inquirer was run by a bunch of right wing nuts.

And the NY Daily News is another tabloid, not suitable for LBN BTW.

[gollygee]

140. This isn't LBN

[AtheistCrusader]

198. So, that boundary matters, but the Atlantic Ocean doesn't?

The Daily Mail is a British paper consumed by a British audience. If the content is a reflection of the target audience, that racism you decried is an indictment of the people of Britain, not America.

[gollygee]

199. This is 2016

People read online content from The Daily Mail in the US too. It is an indictment of the people of America, just like it says it is.

[AtheistCrusader]

201. Prove it.

What's the US readership of DM?

I'll wait.

[gollygee]

202. Ok

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16746785

[AtheistCrusader]

203. This doesn't break out viewers by region but

I will accept this as supportive of your claim, and if I might suggest a cause; it's the link to DM off right-wing sources like DrudgeReport, and the scantily clad females the DM likes to print in very large pictures.

So I will generally accept your claim, BUT I still question if the US is a larger audience than that of the UK itself, for this particular piece of trash 'news'.

[gollygee]

204. I agree that it's a cheap tabloid and that it leans way to the right overall

However Shaun King, while controversial on our side of things, still definitely leans to the left. Right wing paper, left wing writer, whatever. I imagine they published what he wrote simply because it was controversial and would get page clicks, because that's what they do, but I still think it's worth discussion. I do think that, as he says, the reason the Cincinnati newspaper included the father's criminal history, and right at the start of the news story even, was because he was black. He wasn't even there. I used to be a newspaper reporter so I'm a news junkie, and I've read about this trend before - including criminal history when irrelevant for black people but not white people.

[AtheistCrusader]

226. I'm glad we discussed this.

I'm sorry I was angry with you over this thread and that specific claim you made at first. I feel you've substantiated the claim.

Until this morning, I had no idea that the parents or anyone involved, was anything but white, based on the video. I won't detail my opinion of what I understood to be the quality of the parents before this thread appeared in my feed, but I will say it was uncharitable, and has not changed for the better or worse. I view it as gross negligence. I based that on my experience as a parent, and the assumptions I made when the story broke and the video was first available, so I stand by that. My outrage ratcheted up, not with the details on race or the family, but on seeing people move to defend the parents, and the manner in which they did so. Not very nice of me, I'll admit. But again, as a parent, I have strong opinions on the stewardship we have over our children. I am a custodian of his safety, and a steward of his development. I don't own him. He's not mine. He is his own person, and I am lucky enough to be the person to guide him, and help him reach his potential. Failing in my task would bring about my self-destruction. Encountering parents with other priorities and worse, people that excuse it in any fashion is.... vexing to me.

That the narrative of the story nationally is shifting, and the focus landing there, on race and the common sordid details that yellow journalism couples to it, is troubling to me. It is, actually MORE newsworthy than the zoo/gorilla story itself. I hope you believe me when I say it is utterly deplorable, and honestly, it frightens me about the upcoming election. Public opinion is quite malleable, and can be turned in unexpected ways, by parties that are not easy to initially identify. That's incredibly dangerous. The web of media ownership, foreign and local, enables that state. I don't know what to do about it. They say sunlight is a disinfectant, but the sunlight shed by the story you cited... is it even a fraction of 'enough' to do it?

Edit: As a peace offering, I offer you this excellent work by Amanda Palmer, calling out the daily mail for it's bullshit. (NSFW)

[gollygee]

229. I'm a parent too

And I don't feel blame for the mom at all. My older child was cautious and stayed with me, but my younger one is a handful. She has no sense of danger, she likes to run, she feels free and safe everywhere and runs wherever her attention takes her without thinking about any consequences, and it freaks me out. She's gotten away from me before, and it wasn't because I didn't care about her safety or thought I owned her. She was determined to get away from me, and she was smart enough to manage it. I feel like I spent the first few years of her life keeping her from killing herself, and that wasn't an easy task.

I understand people are looking at this from two different angles, but please don't think those of us on the other side think we own our children, or that we don't care about their safety or our role as their stewards. We just see a world where things don't always go as planned.

And here's this, from a Unitarian minister:

My thoughts on the tragedy at the Cincinnati Zoo:

I am the adventurous child that feels safe enough in the world to climb over a fence and into the world of a caged gorilla at the zoo.

I am the gorilla that reacts with instincts that are at once tender and frightened.

I am the zookeeper that must respond quickly, with their best judgment, to the unfolding drama, in a way that serves the highest good.

I am the sharp shooter that pulls the trigger and releases the bullet that ends the gorilla’s life.

I am the parent of the adventurous child that clutches their racing heart and holds their churning stomach.

I am the bystander in the crowd that screams in fright and dismay, unable to look away.

I am the adventurous child that looks into the eyes of the gorilla and then feels their self being lifted, tossed, and dragged – their flesh being scraped and torn.

I am the gorilla that feels the flashing pain of a piercing bullet and feels the life force drain out of their body.

I am the parent of the child that watches, helplessly.

I am the zookeeper that must live with the consequences of their decision, being forever more questioned, and even reviled for their gut-wrenching choice.

I am the child whose life is now marked by a terror no one else will ever understand.

I am the parent whose life is now marked by a terror and a guilt no one else will ever understand, a parent whose life is now marked by public scorn.

I am the bystander that now must make sense of what I have witnessed.

I am the member of the public at large that now must wrestle with moral and ethical issues I had not considered before, issues of valuing one life over another, issues of freedom and individual agency, issues of responsibility for and protection of those entrusted to our care.

I am the person whose heart is broken open by a tragedy beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.

I am the person that rushes to judgment and finds some comfort in assigning blame.

I am the person that must live in this world where there are no easy answers, where people just like me are called to respond to circumstances that I have only visited in my worst nightmares.

I am the person that finds within myself a capacity for compassion and an embrace for ambiguity that stretches me into the fullness of what it means to be human.

--Rev. Diane Dowgiert, UU minister

[AtheistCrusader]

197. Because the UK is not inside the United States.

[kwassa]

232. .

deleted because this was covered in the discussion with gollygee.

[AtheistCrusader]

236. Yes, it is quite a bit less of a differentiation than I had previously thought.

DM has grown in popularity with right-wing US populations in the last few years.

[MFM008]

64. I don't care if he was Jack the ripper

The parents of this child should have had him in an iron grip at age 4. Not on phones not on a stroll not in an exhibit without him. No reason, no excuse , no COLOR.

[gollygee]

94. He wasn't there.

The issue is that he wasn't there, so his criminal history can't possibly be relevant.

[rocktivity]

67. Even TMZ had the decency to point out

that while "Cincy PD says they are reviewing 'the actions of the parents/family that led up to the incident'", the father was not at the zoo!


rocktivity

[coco77]

70. What in the hell

does Bernie have to do with it?

[gollygee]

86. Bernie has nothing to do with it

But there are a few people at DU who always dismiss issues of racism (and you can see them in this thread too) and most of them - but not all - are Bernie supporters. I am also a Bernie supporter so this is not a slam against Bernie supporters in general, but those few people all of a sudden became fans of Michelle Alexander and Shaun King when they endorsed Bernie. I found that to be disingenuous.

[7962]

89. I dismiss it here because its a STUPID ALLEGATION.

It doesnt help that King is a well known fraud & liar.
He sees racism behind every tree because thats how he makes his money
Screw him

[romanic]

77. Any case where the ones responsible are black

brings out the racists. This is nothing new really.

[cabot]

80. People doing what people do - assume

First, let me start off by saying three-year-olds are wily. They can be gone in a blink of an eye, if you don't watch them carefully. And even when you're watching, they are still pretty cagey. I'm happy the kid is alive...and unharmed. And the father's criminal history has no bearing on the story, and should never have been brought up.


Now..on #blacktwitter people were complaining that if the kid had been black, zoo keepers would have never shot and killed the gorilla. They would have let the gorilla hurt the child. Several people were saying that black parents would never let their kids get so close to an exhibit, blah blah blah. What makes me sick is that both sides seem to care more about the race of the child than the fact that the kid was in danger.

I don't give a shit if the kid was white, black, purple, blue, or grey....he was in danger. And the fact that some white people and some black people can't get past the race of the kid is pretty disgusting. Let's just celebrate the fact he's alive. Do the parents bear some responsibility? Yes. However, three-year-olds are as slippery as greased pigs. If they want to do something, they will wait for the right time and then *poof*...like keyser soze, they are gone.

[Blue_Tires]

92. He's 100% correct in this regard...

Doesn't erase the other batshit insane things he's been writing and tweeting lately, but that's for another thread...

[gollygee]

93. I don't follow him on Twitter

I know he's a Bernie supporter. Are his other things about that?

[Blue_Tires]

95. Somewhat related...

He's been screaming up and down about organizing all the Berniestans and starting a third party after November (good luck with that shit)...

[gollygee]

96. Well at least he doesn't want to destroy this election

He wants to wait until after November. There's that!

[Democat]

99. This family was hated for getting the animal killed before anyone knew their race

This is possibly the stupidest claim of racism ever.

Everyone hates a person for their stupid actions for a week. No one knows who this person is or what race they are.

A week later the world finds out the person is black.

A day later some idiot claims that it was racism that caused everyone to hate this unknown person.

Most Americans do not care what race this person is. Their actions led to the death of an endangered species. Trying to make it about race is excusing the murder of the poor animal.

[gollygee]

101. This is talking about the newspaper looking into the father's criminal history

IF they knew who the father was to look into his criminal history, they knew he was black.

He wasn't even there. His criminal history is irrelevant. Whey did they put that into the news story?

[NaturalHigh]

105. I'm going to continue to reserve my outrage...

for the poor gorilla who got killed.

As for the father - yeah, he shouldn't have gotten dragged into this shit if he wasn't even there. The mother, however, is an idiot.

[hughee99]

108. King is complaing about all the other incidents where the parents weren't treated this way.

But the point only holds up if those were white parents with criminal records and they got a pass from the media. It seems like King has no idea if this is true or not, but just assuming it so he can argue that it's racism.

He is completely right about the father's criminal history, though, as it's 100% irrelevant. He wasn't at the zoo, and even if he had been, it still doesn't have anything to do with what happened.

[Bonx]

115. King is a joke of a 'journalist' who has crafted his brief career from racial sophistry.

[hughee99]

116. Based on what I've read from him, your assessment seems to be spot on. n/t

[tularetom]

118. There are no words...

When I first heard about this incident I thought the mother should have been arrested for child neglect. But that was when I assumed she was white.

Now that I have learned the mother was black I have changed my mind. She is of course a victim and should be treated with respect.

I wish the news media would identify the race of people in stories like this so we know how we are supposed to react.

[gollygee]

119. I wish people would actually read the stories

So they could see that the issue is that the father's criminal record was what lead the story, even though he wasn't there. That is the issue Shaun King is taking with the story. What reason is there for including the father's criminal history, when it was completely irrelevant, and he was not even at the zoo

[nyabingi]

125. How about leaving the gorillas

in the damn jungle where they belong? The gorilla should have never been in Cincinnati to be in the position of being shot dead, but if a dollar can be made from charging admission to see an exotic animal, we can't help but exploit it.

There is a long and racist history to zoos (like the display of actual non-white human beings) that needs to be publicized and the existence of zoos really needs to be debated. Give money to the African governments whose park rangers fight to defend gorillas everyday, in their own habitats.

[bluestateguy]

128. It would just be nice if that mother would apologize for her negligence

She has yet to do that.

[gollygee]

164. She can't do that in our society

That would be admittance of fault and admissible in court as such. There's a huge financial liability involved.

[Democat]

167. She's a victim of society?

Or she's not going to apologize because she probably thinks she did nothing wrong?

You don't know which one it is, so either could be true.

[gollygee]

169. DO people not read before responding anymore?

If she says she regrets what she did, then it counts as admittance of fault in court, and she might be sued for a bunch of money.

[certainot]

130. your local rw radio station makes it 'acceptable'

because the left ignores it

[IronLionZion]

131. Black gorilla lives matter

DUers were acting as if children falling into animal exhibits never or rarely happens, yet this article lists several recent incidents.

If someone is claiming the father's criminal history is somehow relevant even though he wasn't even at the zoo, then they are probably racist.

But on DU, it's probably the bleeding heart belief that animals' lives matter more than people's lives. Even though the zoo's policy is clearly that people's lives matter more, and they will shoot to kill because tranquilizers take too long and agitate animals further.


But even though children NEVER go into zoo exhibits, here's a video from last year with a different outcome. A lot less death.

[IronLionZion]

135. Here's a white woman mauled by a white polar bear

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binky_(polar_bear)

In addition to people correctly blaming the woman, nobody killed Binky the polar bear because he's a white male born in America. No one talks about this white on white mauling

[Bad Dog]

174. You clearly don't know the Daily Mail.

Just because it's British doesn't mean it's at all reliable, our newspapers are nothing like our broadcast media. This is the newspaper that supported Oswald Moseley's blackshirts and Hitler in the 1930s.

And we've got a referendum coming up, with fear of immigration high on the Leave Campaign's agenda. A story about a criminal black man feeds into that prejudice. The fact that he's American and isn't affected by the referendum is irrelevant, it feeds into the underlying prejudice of the Mail's readership.

[Bad Dog]

179. Viz Comic's parody of the typical Daily Mail reader.

?

[ebayfool]

193. I 100% agree with Shaun King. What I do NOT get is why you were compelled to interject ...

political tones to the piece? Specifically - "He endorsed Bernie, so people aren't going to immediately dismiss what he says, right?"

WTH?

I have raised 2 daughters and 1 grandson. Kids are fast, even with constant vigilance. Every one in this story suffers - parents, child and not the least the gorilla. And yes, racist coverage and response is vile.

I am a Sander's supporter. I am insulted that you even contemplated, never mind DID, insinuate candidate support would be a factor on posting Shaun's piece and agreeing with him. Shame on you.

[gollygee]

194. No, that's not what I meant

And I explained myself elsewhere in the thread.

I also am a Sanders supporter. I'm not speaking about all Sanders supporters.

There are a few DUers, most of whom are Sanders supporters, but who make up only a small percentage of Sanders supporters, who regularly dismiss racism when it's discussed. But some of them all of a sudden became fans of Shaun King and Michelle Alexander when they endorsed Sanders. I find that disingenuous. But I'm only talking about those few people.

[ebayfool]

205. I'm glad to hear it. It does look like a mighty broad brush, though.

Esp clicking on the thread and BAM! Right there! If I'm not the only reaction to it, it's not getting the point you were making across and detracting from the message that King is conveying. If King and Alexander are becoming more widely known, even if it is because of their endorsement, it cracks those doors open and exposes a whole lotta people to a wider verizon. I hope after the primary, they continue to follow them. So late to the party or not, welcome them and offer a seat - yes?

This coming from an old white lady that don't give up her seat for just any ol' body ... !


I watched the video from this, btw. Mama was doing her damnedest to hold it together and stay strong for her son. Calling to him, trying to keep him calm so the gorilla wouldn't freak out. The gorilla was not being vicious, as far as I could see. Just curious and being a gorilla. But the child's safety had to be the priority. It just did. And I'm so sad that this magnificent animal had to pay that price.


And screw the asses that make it about race or children getting away from their parent. I know just how fast the little buggers can move!

[AtheistCrusader]

195. The daily mail is a british tabloid, not american.

Keep that in mind.

[Luminous Animal]

219. What are you talking about. The link is from the NEW YORK Daily News.

[gollygee]

220. Lol it's sad that I didn't notice that either

I want paying attention to where it came from. I was focused on the article.

[AtheistCrusader]

224. The racist material/focus/story narrative cited in the New York Daily News was published by the Dail

y Mail. Not the NYDN.

You had it correct before.

[AtheistCrusader]

223. Which you clearly did not read.

Laura Collins, in Cincinnati writing for the Daily Mail, published an absolutely despicable piece on the young boy’s parents, including every detail of his father’s criminal history.

The actual lede and headline for her piece was all about how the young boy’s father, Deonne Dickerson, had committed crimes before.

A writer for the daily mail published the racist material, not the New York Daily News. NYDN is reporting ON the racism, and the general turn of focus of the narrative of the zoo story, via 'news' sources like the Daily Mail.

This NYDN piece is ABOUT a Daily Mail article and the racist narrative thereof.

[Luminous Animal]

228. You clearly do not understand why Shaun King wrote the article.

[AtheistCrusader]

234. And you clearly do not understand who the author of the racist turn of narrative is.

The daily mail's reach is deeper into the US than I had previously thought (OP and I discussed it upthread). However, this remains primarily a UK based paper. It also specializes in printing incendiary bullshit, which is apparently quite profitable.

[pnwmom]

208. Great piece. Thanks for posting! n/t

[ChisolmTrailDem]

222. How the is it relevant that this dude endorsed Bernie? What does that have to do...

...with anything about the Cincinnati Zoo incident?

[gollygee]

231. I've addressed this a couple of times

Including here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7873598

[Silver_Witch]

227. I am sad and angry about the death of the Gorilla...

....frustrated that the zoo opted to kill the animal rather than try to tranquilize it. I was not aware what race the family was when I voice my frustration. I saw the video and didn't think the gorilla was trying to hard the child. It seemed he was trying to help/protect him and the adults above were out of control...it was a tragic and awful event and I wish the mother had better handled the child, knowing he wanted into the "pool".

And I wish the mother has said she was sorry about the death of the gorilla.

I don't think the father's history has shit to do with it and making it public knowledge is wrong.

Just like the attention given to missing white children and not children of color the media is wrong.

Then we know the media is wrong 99% of the time - evidence by its promotion of Trump.

Best not to watch, buy or listen to the media...then they will have to change to win us back.

[ileus]

230. Yup...if this proves anything it's that Black Lives don't Matter.