The Tale of Two School Shootings: Separate and Unequal

Mr. Butler, wow, thank you very much for this article! As an African-American mother, this is my reality and the reality I have to teach my son. I don't live in California, but the drama is the same here in Jersey. We need to come see about our children! Mm...Can Dr. Gabriel Crenshaw get here? Mighty fine doctor! And He makes a lot of sense but, there is a need for personal responsibility too, right? 

I feel that these Kids in "financially depressed" areas should have vouchers to enable them to choose charter schools. The teachers and administrative staff are making nice salaries. They don't want competition from charter schools. I also think they should have absolutely a no tolerance policy for gang activities. Students shouldn't feel threatened to the point of arming themselves in school. I don't see why there's a racial thing being made about this. Severe punishment should be given for any gang activities, threats, violence on or near a school campus.

This is nothing new, in the media.  As a reporter, one's job is to report the facts free of bias and predjudice.  However the media has in many cases involving race and ethnicity have taken as stance via their presentation of a given incident.  For example in Hurricane Katrina, displaced people of color were accused of looting, whereas their caucasian counterparts where practicing survival techniques.  There is a saying that,  "it is not what people call you but what you answer to."  We as people of color need to teach our children to develop deaf ears when it comes to the media. 

Our people are suffering from this oppression! Our children especially, are in psychological pain for this "learned helplessness". There is an ever present message that African American children (people in general) are bad and unworthy. This is another situation where the message is clear. Thank you Dr. Gabe, for humanizing this child! It is clear, he is not a monster. He, along with the family and community are underserved, unattended and at risk.

It's such unfortune of the media to response in such a different way on
both cases.
One of they questions on the Gardena HD, is could of Bern
prevented? if the school administrAtion would
off paid more close attention to the teenager, this
situation could off been prevented

This is truly a clear cut case of showing respect of person.  The youth of today need to know and feel that people geniunely care about their well being no matter where they come from.

Hello,

My name is Scott Way. I attended El Camino Real before I transferred to Crenshaw High. These schools are totally different. When I tell my colleagues from Elco that I attend Crenshaw they tell me how crazy and dangerous it is, how they are going treat me because of where I came from. The funny thing is that not one of them has ever been with a 100ft of Crenshaw. When i went to Elco I saw bullying to the fullest. It's like, if you dont have an income compared to theirs you are not going to be treated like you would perfer to be treated. I know the student who had an illegal weapon at Elco was either bullied or involved in drugs..The reason why I announce this statment is simply the fact that at Hale Middle school my best friend got kicked out because he was bullied. Instead of him telling an adult he decided to bring a B.B. gun to scare them off..Now I regret that as his friend I didn't inform my counselor or someone in charge about the situation. The student might be involved in drugs because when I attended El Camino everytime I went to the restroom there were always drug deals going on. I vaguely remember when I was a sixth grader attending Hale Middle School (keep in mind El Camino is right around the corner). I remember how the big drug dealers from Elco would come down to Hale and proposition us to sell drugs for them. This one character decided to sell drugs for them and I remember that he came back the next week and he didnt have the money or the drugs. I saw the Elco drug dealers take the student around the corner and the student came back with his lip busted and faced bruised. To sum it all up, no schools are perfect, every school has their flaws. Thank you for reading my statement and have a great day.

Sad to say but this does not surprise me at all.  I am sure we (African-Americans) could all give example after example of situations like this all the time.   I think the media does not understand how they only perpetuate curtain stereotypes and continue to add tension to very hostile situation at the stake of covering the news. The media seems to have no moral conscious.  I am not saying they do not have a right to cover the news but the way minorities (especially African Americans) are negatively portrayed is disproportionate in my option. 

As Celia said, "How do we correct it?"  In my opinion, there is no fast fix; however, how we in the African-American community conduct ourselves is a start.  Just like all the other things we have overcame, we too can slowly change the stereotypes continue with education.  

Dr. Gabe's comments, “media reports feed the stereotype that, “African American children, as compared to their White counterparts, are inferior. You start to hear that as a kid and you think, ‘why try?’ We call it learned helplessness.”  I could not agree more and that is what inspires me to want to make a difference and breakdown stereotypes.  Either we are part of the stereotype or try your best to change it.   Kinda like be part of the problem or part of the solution.  I refuse to give into stereotypes good or bad because I see them as illnesses, in my opinion.  This article is another reason we (African-American) community needs to own its own network, so that way we can have a avenue to help control the way we are perceived.  NO, BET does not count and is not black owned.  

It's an excellent article.  It saddens me that we STILL have this struggle and it's evident from coast to coast.  Prejudice is alive and well.  It's just well dressed, much more subtle and more eloquent than it used to be.  I appreciate you calling attention to this blatant covert form of racism.  When will it EVER end?

No kid should have to feel fear on the way to school or in the school. Unfortunately there are places in this country that are unsafe and they are unsafe for many reasons. The bottom line is that no matter the reasons why kids feel unsafe they should not be bringing guns into the schools. Anyone who brings a gun into a school should be severly punished to discourage others from doing so. Guns in the school cannot be tolerated and kids need to understand this. There are deeper issues that need to be focused on and that is the safety of all children.

The saddest part of this reality is that the reaction of the media plays a direct role on the students' self image. If an adolescent grows up knowing that they don't take priority when compared other adolescents of a different economic background or race, where is their drive to succeed?  Studies have shown that social deviance can be decreased when the individual has another option that is more rewarding.  This brings me to my second point:  The media is quick to place the blame of adolescent caucasian crimes on the parents.  We saw this as recently as the Tuscon shooting.  "where were the parents?  Was the individual not raised right as a child".  These are the questions you hear.  but, when the child is from a minority group it is often assumed tha that minority equates to poverty and a poor home life.  In the end the ones tha tare hurt the most are the children caught inthe media's crossfire.  So sad!

This kind of stereotyping has been branding minorities throughout the history of our country. Things were no different where I grew up in Brooklyn; prejudicial feelings were inculcated in us White kids at an early age. Negative traits and characteristics were attributed to Black kids, and living in segregated neighborhoods facilitated those ideas. Unfortunately, the result of these prejudicial attitudes has been discriminatory treatment in our courtrooms and in our schools. Thanks Dr. Gabe for shining the Light of Truth!

Thanks Dr. Gabe for having the courage to speak honestly on this subject. I know it is difficult for someone who works in the media to call out the media on the racial double standard that exsists when it comes to reporting crime.

This is sad and unfortunate for the black community. What this young during with a gun. Now he has ruined his life. And they don't care about us. It's just a reality. So I'm extremely mad and hurt for all families involved. El camino shooting shows that we all go through the same struggles. All races. God bless!

Thank you for speaking the truth.  The media needs to be held accountable for the way they choose to report the news, and it is definitely a choice.  It is criminal for the media to perpetuate negative stereotypes, especially when they are wrong. The media is supposed to look beyond the surface and report the facts.  It is very interesting how the responses to the shooting at El Camino are being handled now that it has been revealed the officer was not shot by someone else. It hurts too many when the media is lazy or deliberately misleading.  Blacks and Hispanics have enough hurdles to overcome without the media adding another.