The American Mugshot
These two men, Melvin Harris III and Chris Watts were charged with murder in August of 2018. Watts was charged with first-degree murder after killing his wife, who was pregnant, and their three and four-year-old daughters. Harris was charged with second-degree murder after fatally punching a man who followed his 16-year-old daughter into a public restroom while trying to enter her locked stall. Both are drastically different stories, with drastically different reporting headlines. Some of the biggest platforms for news in America reported Watts in ways that made it seem like what he did was "unimaginable," while the same can not be said for Harris. Using family portraits for white men who commit heinous acts against humanity has been an ongoing "joke" on social media for a while; it is indeed a reality. With Black Men, the platforms wait until the mugshots are posted and centered for them to make their news reports, even in the case of a father simply protecting his daughter from what may have been an unfortunate end. Don't get me wrong, murder is murder, but we can be genuine and honest about things sometimes. These situations are NOT the same, and they never will be, but why did Watts get the opposite treatment by the media compared to Melvin Harris? Why was the fact that Chris Watts was deemed someone who "would die" for his daughters an essential part to mention in headlines for a child murderer? I guess we will truly never know, or will we?
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Toyrese,
ReplyDeleteI've seen the Twitter jokes about using family portraits for white men who commit heinous crimes, and I'm glad you wrote about this week! The sad part is that it's not just family portraits. Media outlets will also use different rhetoric, such as calling white men, regardless of age, 'boys,' but Black and Latino are always referenced as 'men' even when it's a child. Interestingly attractiveness also plays a role in someone's perceived guilt. For example, if an accused is attractive, some people always doubt whether the person is guilty. Great post!
Toyrese,
ReplyDeleteQuite frankly I have never understood how white Americans could commit the most heinous crimes and they'd have normal photos posted of them on social media.But when normal photos depicting black criminals are posted they'd always attach a connotation under it like "this is evidence that he was always violent" and it could be a harmless photo. I'll never forget when Trayvon Martin was killed they would post harmless photos of him but try to depict him as a gangbanger. But when Chris Watts literally murdered his family the news posted a family portrait with the wife and kids that he murdered. Or how numerous school shooters have harmless photos of them posted even thought their mugshots are readily available. I agree with your statement "With Black Men, the platforms wait until the mugshots are posted and centered for them to make their news reports, even in the case of a father simply protecting his daughter from what may have been an unfortunate end." Considering how quick they are to depict a black man as a dangerous criminal by posting their mugshot.
I think the unpleasant image or mugshots that are being posted of Black men rather than this picture of a family man with his wife and children is to further dehumanize the Black man. The mistreatment of Black men has an origin of slavery and continues to be perpetuated through media with mugshots and the stereotypes they have to continue to live through. The media wants to continue to convince society that Black men are dangerous and belong behind bars. I feel like people who don't see the difference in how media portrays Black men, don't want to see the difference. I think this was a really good post.
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