After two straight Sundays of stories on slavery and its aftermath, the calls were sure to come.
Callers who don’t want to read about slavery, saying it will incite “those people” and keep racial strife boiling.
Callers who get upset when there are too many black faces in the paper.
Callers who say this is part of a campaign to obtain reparations for African-Americans.
Callers who seek to minimize the effects of slavery, saying racial disparities don’t exist, that slaves didn’t suffer any more than other ethnic groups and the descendants of slaves are better off than some people in Africa.
“Delving into the past of black history is insufficient for this day’s paper,” one woman said. “People made mistakes back then, so what? I like to hear the good news, the positive news, not the negative news.”
Another reader said this coverage was making her prejudiced, though she hadn’t read the stories.
It’s not something all black readers want, either. As one black reader said, “Our bosses and managers used slavery to demean us publicly.”
Readers are not asking for the Times-Union to stop covering history. The complaints come when racial issues are involved. Race makes people angry or uncomfortable or resentful or guilty. So people would rather avoid the issue, deny the problem and blame the messenger.
Yet, the news value of slavery should be obvious, since this year marks the 500th anniversary of the institution in the New World. The impact didn’t end with the Civil War, nor the creation of a legalized underclass with Jim Crow laws, nor with the Civil Rights laws of the 1960s.
In fact, a majority of Jacksonville adults say racism remains a local problem, reported the Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. It doesn’t take long to find racial elements in all of Jacksonville’s serious issues: housing, schools, transportation, employment.
In essence, slavery and its aftermath involves the loss of freedom and opportunity in the land of the free.
That’s the defining conflict in American history. Therefore, it’s news.
Here are some related issues raised by readers:
- Why cover black history at all? African-Americans are both a racial and an ethnic group. So covering African-American heritage is no different than covering the legacy of Irish-Americans or Italian-Americans. In Jacksonville, however, blacks represent about 25 percent of the population and a higher percentage of public school students.
- Readers have legitimate complaints that negative news stories are sometimes over-emphasized. The Times-Union is seeking to address that. Concentrating on negative news affects African-Americans, too, because they are dealing with negative stereotypes.
- A St. Simons Island reader suggested a series describing how prejudice is transmitted from generation to generation. Start by examining people who have been disowned by their families for forming friendships with people of other religions, races, ethnic origins or sexual orientation.
Clarifying a news story: A news item last week said a financial advisor had misappropriated $31.5 million of a client’s money and was ordered by Circuit Judge W. Gregg McCaulie to pay restitution of about $1.5 million. Actually, the misappropriated amount was about $1.5 million, the same amount as the restitution.
Crossword fans: In the puzzle in Friday’s Weekend section, do you prefer the clues above or below the squares?
