Race still matters in "post-racial" America

Much has been made of the notion that we’re living a “post racial” America; that is a nation where race no longer matters.

The election of Barack Obama apparently brought us to this point where race no longer matters. But as I watch, read and listen to news reports, I’m just not seeing that brave, new America.

Instead, I’m still seeing stories that have been shaped by the five fault lines of coverage: race, class, gender, geography and generation.

Race hasn’t disappeared from the American conversation neither have any other of Maynard’s other of four faults lines.

Next time you read a story, think about those fault lines and you’ll quickly find the story drivers.

In late March there was a small flurry of stories about the stunning number of teenagers who have been killed in Chicago. As of a March 27th USA Today article 18 public school students had been shot to death since September.

But the deaths of these students, predominately low-income minorities, haven’t captured the imaginations of the gatekeepers of news. Even Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was quoted downplaying the report by suggesting that many of the teens weren’t really students, but rather dropouts. As if that matters, or somehow lessens the sting.

How else can you explain why these deaths have barely been a blip on the radar screen? I know for certain, if 18 suburban high school students had been killed since the start of school not only would there be calls for solutions and weekly updates until the carnage ended, Dr. Phil or Oprah would have probably shown up by now to offer comfort.

If they had been affluent suburban high school students the stories would have likely started well before the death toll reached double digits. (For the record 12 students and 1 teacher were killed at Columbine High School.)

As a nation, we’re still keeping score.

Every report I’ve seen today about President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court begins with a mention of race. The lead of the New York Times story also focused on class – yep, not only is she Puerto Rican, she grew up in a public housing project in the Bronx.