The College Fix

Writing in The Daily Princetonian, Kelly Hatfield apparently assuages her “white privilege” by lamenting the media coverage of the Michael Brown shooting and subsequent protests in Ferguson, Missouri.

Did we watch the same coverage? Because Hatfield is angry at the anti-Brown aspect of that coverage:

First off, Michael Brown’s death should be mourned regardless of whether or not that was him in the video of the shoplifting. He should be mourned regardless of whether or not he was planning on attending college the following Monday. He should be mourned regardless of whether or not he drank and smoked pot. He was an unarmed man who was shot and lost his life, and for this reason he should be mourned. No one deserves to be shot six times and left on the sidewalk for four hours.

I call upon the media to stop “bringing to light” evidence that Michael Brown was “no angel” — an expression used to describe him in a New York Times article published on Aug. 24. It doesn’t matter. It matters neither in this specific case, nor in any others.

In a loosely related vein, I also call upon the media to stop its emphasis on the lootings and waves of teargas, and to reevaluate its priorities should a similar situation arise in the months and years to come.

Hatfield goes on to state she has “no doubt that he [Brown] was a wonderful person …” and calls on the media to “focus on the larger picture.” One may wonder how she is able to determine the former; regarding the latter, that “larger picture” is “inequality, segregation and racism.”

Again — what media is Hatfield watching?

Read the full editorial here.

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