Framing Children’s Deviance
By Guest Contributor Lisa Wade, Ph.D, originally posted at Sociological Images
Leontine G. sent in a troubling example of the framing of children’s deviance, and their own complicity in this framing. While we usually try to keep text down to a minimum on SocImages, this one needs to be handled with care. So please forgive the unusual length of this post.
Leontine included two links: one to a Today show story about a 7-year-old boy who took his family’s car on a joyride and got caught by police, and one to a CNN story about a 7-year-old boy who took his family’s car on a joyride and got caught by police. Different 7-year-olds. One white, one black.
The white boy, Preston, is interviewed with his family on the set of the Today show. Knowing his kid is safe, his Dad describes the event as “funny” and tells the audience that if this could happen to a “cotton candy all-American kid like Preston,” then “it could happen to anybody.”
When the host, Meredith Vieira, asks Preston why hid from the police, he says, “cause I wanted to,” and she says, “I don’t blame you actually.” With Preston not too forthcoming, his Mom steps in to say that he told her that “he just wanted to know what it felt like to drive a car.” When Vieira asks him why he fled from the police, he replies with a shrug. Vieira fills in the answer, “You wanted to get home?”
Vieira then comments on how they all then went to church. The punishment? Grounded for four days without TV or video games. Vieira asks the child, “Do you think that’s fair?” He says yes. And she continues, “Do you now understand what you did?” He nods and agrees. “And that maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing?” He nods and agrees. “You gonna get behind the wheel of a car again?” He says no. Then she teases him about trying out model toy cars.
They conclude that this incident just goes to show that “Any little kid, you never know what can happen …” and closes “I’ll be seeing you at church buddy boy!”
The video:
All in all, exactly what you’d expect from the Today show: a heartwarming, human interest story with a happy ending. The child is framed as a fundamentally good kid who was curious and perhaps a bit impetuous. When he has no answers for Vieira’s questions, she slots in innocent ones. And the mild punishment is seen as incidental to the more important idea that he learned something.
This story contrasts dramatically to the CNN story about Latarian Milton, a black 7-year-old who took his family’s car on a joy ride. I’ll put the video first, but be forewarned, it’s disturbing not only because of the different frame placed on the boys actions, but because of the boy’s embracing of the spoiled identity:
With an absolutely polar introduction of “Not your typical 7-year-old,” this story is filmed on the street. Whereas the Today show screened the chase footage in real time, this one is sped up, making it seem even more extreme.
The interviewer, off-camera, asks Latarian why he took the car. He replied: “I wanted to do it ’cause it’s fun, it’s fun to do bad things.” The interviewer asks further, “Did you know that you could perhaps kill somebody?” And he replies: “Yes, but i wanted to do hoodrat stuff with my friends.”
The interviewer asks him what punishment he should receive and Latarian offers a punishment very similar to Preston’s: “Just a little bit… no video games for a whole weekend.” The reporter then explains that the police plan to go forward with charges of grand theft against him. While he’s “too young to go into any type of juvenile facility,” he says, “police say they do want to get him into the system, so that they can get him some type of help.”
The implication here, of course, is that this child is not innocent or impetuous like Preston, he’s a pre-criminal who needs “some type of help.” The sooner they get Latarian into “the (prison?) system,” the better. No cotton candy kid this one.
Unfortunately, Latarian says all the right things to make the narrative fit. He says he likes to do “bad” things, calls himself a “hoodrat,” and seems unremorseful, even defiant, for at least part of the interview (he looks a bit sheepish in the end when he finds out his grandmother is going to have to pay for the damage he did to other cars).
One way to interpret this is to say that Latarian IS a pre-criminal. That he DOES need to get into the system because he’s clearly a bad kid. Someone inclined to believe that black people were, in fact, more prone to criminal behavior could watch these two videos and feel confirmed in their view.
But there is good evidence that people, beginning as children, internalize the stereotypes that others have of them. As Ann Ferguson shows in her book, Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity, black children, especially boys, are stereotyped as pre-criminals; not adorably naughty, like white boys, but dangerously bad from the beginning. And studies with children have shown that they often internalize this idea, as in the famous doll experiment in which both black and white children were more likely than not to identify the black doll as bad (see this similar demonstration of white preference on CNN and a discussion of the original doll experiment at ABC). So I think this terribly sad story of Latarian is showing us how children learn to think of themselves as deviant and bad from the society around them. Latarian, remember, is seven, just like Preston. They’re both children, but they are being treated very differently, as these programs illustrate, and it is already starting to sink in.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
JihadPunk77 wrote:
Not surprising.
Also think about how the media have portrayed the 19 years old white Bahamas Bandit who was on the run from the cops for 2 years, he flew planes and escaped on speedboats a few times (he just got arrested by the cops a few weeks ago). Imagine how different it would be if he was black.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 11:16 am ¶
urban Suburbinite wrote:
In related news, the sky is still blue. Who hasn’t seen this. I went to a school where white kids could walk across the tables in the library, but if you laughed (that’s making noise) while brown you were promptly kicked out.
It was the same with Katrina news reports, photos of whites “surviving on what they can find” vs. blacks “looting”. News stories describing a 17 year old as a man (if black/latino) or as a teen if they’re white.
Geez, it’s the 2nd thing that new immigrants learn. First is what curse words are popular, 2nd that black people are dangerous/criminal.
I knew a guy in college who was from Zimbabwe who told me that if he was a cab driver he would not pick up blacks. He later almost had a nervous breakdown dealing with the racism associated with being a black man in the U.S.
The last thing he told me was about waiting at the bus stop in front of the post office, and the reaction this white lady gave him. She walked to the door of the PO and it was locked and she said to herself “Darn I needed stamps.” He told her that he had some stamps and approached her, and she recoiled in fear from him.
2 months later he told me that he just couldn’t take it anymore, and that he did not understand how black Americans could cope with this our whole lives. He returned to Zimbabwe to finish school.
The thing that struck me as the saddest about this piece was when that child said he wanted to do “hood rat stuff”! That is just sad.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 11:24 am ¶
Kelly wrote:
I am so sad after reading and watching this.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 11:31 am ¶
Kim wrote:
I remembered seeing the piece on the 7 year old white child and how the syrupy sweet approach taken with this child stood out to me.
I remember thinking to myself at that time, that if that was a black child would it be handled in the same way. I got my answer here
We are feeding these biased messages to our children everyday when we allow them to watch the mainstream television, and taking it in ourselves without much critical thought. It is bound to affect self-esteem and self-concept and we underestimate the power of this media.
Thank you for drawing attention to this issue.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 12:21 pm ¶
Irendi wrote:
Unfortunately we will never be equal. Race will always be an issue. It’s saddening really to see the stark differences made between children simply because of their race.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 12:25 pm ¶
Gillian wrote:
Reading this kind of stuff always distresses/depresses me. I also think this kind of framing happens with the practice of “tracking” in schools, where minority students are tracked into remedial classes (that are subsequently neglected by school administrations and school boards) for their entire school careers.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 12:25 pm ¶
Golden Silence wrote:
It doesn’t help that Latarian was also on the news for hitting his grandmother because she didn’t get him chicken wings.
I do agree that the media tries to spin white kids who do wrong as “only having innocent fun,” and black kids doing the same thing as “violent criminals.”
I read up a little on that Bahama Bandit or whatever he was called. Saw comments on different sites where people were saying to leave him alone and how he didn’t do anything wrong. Now imagine if that guy were black—it’d be lock him up and throw away the key! Shaking my head.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 12:51 pm ¶
Michelle wrote:
And people wonder why I am afraid of bringing a little black boy into this world. How do parents of Black children deal with this kind of double standard day in and day out?
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 12:51 pm ¶
ladymorgue wrote:
O.k first, this is why I have no respect for the Today show(ever since they posted a picture of Rhianna after Chris Brown hit her). I would like to point out on this is a also a class issue, when( but often race and class go hand in hand)
This is an example of white privilege.
When a Rich white kid does something bad it is viewed as cool but a non rich non white kid does the same thing OH NO! that guy is a threat to our society! THIS IS THE FALL OF WESTERN CULTURE!!!!!!!
I just spent two weeks babysitting my second cousins and it surprises me how some of their bad behavior is viewed a cute. Bad behavior should NOT be excused! And NO! it is not cute or Funny! Things like that piss me off because the Latino kids got blamed for EVERYTHING in Catechism class, regardless if we did it or not.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 12:54 pm ¶
HumanBeing wrote:
This makes me angry, but i am not surprised by the stupidity of our nation. We as a people need serious help. And then people wonder why, there is so much negativity going around…we should all uplift each other, and yes that starts with the media and most importantly in daily close knitted relationships. The mother of this young black child (i hope) went home and spoke to her child in a kind manner and let him know his place in society, as well as tell him what a king he will grow up to be. It starts from young. So black people? what we gonna do? the newscaster even pisses me off. lol. I know he has his job, but its disgusting to see that he is also a black man. It’s like they are setting us against each other to believe we are worthless. fuck that. I am proud to be black and i will continue to uplift anyone of my race!
power to the people, for real.
Great article.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 1:10 pm ¶
Kebo wrote:
urban Suburbinite! You are so right about the psychological mind games that most (not all) American blacks and whites have among themselves – I think that most of them don’t realize that they’re doing it to themselves and each other. To an outsider, it might appear that there is only two tribes (white(antagonists) and blacks(downtrodden))existing in all of America…forget the Native Americans. Even after 20 years in this country I adore, I find myself taking breaks and still gravitating towards foreigners for some peace.(Africans, Asians, Europeans, Caribbeans etc ) Yes everyone around the world has racism and their stereotyping yet in America it’s very passive aggressive and mental. If you discuss it out loud – people get ultra sensitive and defensive. Some want to be racist yet still be liked, thought to still have good character or cared for. Some want to prove things will turn out for the worse because a race is perceived a permanent obstacle to good things(I think this an inherited coping mechanism that some can’t shake – if you’re first to hurt yourself or make excuses, the pain is perceived as less and predictable). With that said, It’s what it is and the same goes for other countries and their social problems. No one is better then the other. Be the change that you want to see in the world instead of complaining and trying to prove each other wrong?
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 1:15 pm ¶
Val wrote:
Television is the greatest mass brainwashing tool ever invented. You sit a child in front of a TV from the time the can sit-up and this, Latarian thinking he’s bad and Preston thinking he’s good, is what you get.
As people of color we have to be aware the the media is a dangerous thing to us and our children. It can and will raise them if parents are not careful to be exactly what society expects from them.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 1:18 pm ¶
Darth Paul wrote:
@ urban Suburbinite – You said it. When my dad immigrated, he already knew how to cuss. Shortly after he arrived (within a week), he says he pointed out how attractive (probably not the word he used) he thought a random black lady pedestrian was to his BFF and the BFF went all cautionary on him. Not so much because he believed black women weren’t sexy, but because associating with black people is “bad news” for immigrants.
Also, per “hoodrat”…that IS a gender neutral term. I’ve had people try to tell me it’s a sexist term, but I’ve never understood why they say that. Classist, for sure.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 1:29 pm ¶
Linda Binda wrote:
@urban Suburbanite: That says it all that a person from Zimbabwe would rather deal with the shit he puts up with in his home country than to deal with the undignified bullshit we put up with here.
I’ve always felt that if I ever had children, they wouldn’t be born American. They could be British, Nigerian, anywhere but American. It’s just not worth the mental and psychological abuse, as well as the miseducation about their history, and the lack of job opportunities they would face. I’ve always felt that African countries should be built up so they can be more viable and world-class, so that no African at all will ever need ever consider living in the U.S. or the rest of the “West” to make a living.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 1:30 pm ¶
Linda Binda wrote:
*to be back on-topic* Nice to know, that even as a little 7-year-old, a black man can be set up for life by the industrial prison complex. Really increases my faith in humanity, if anything.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 1:31 pm ¶
Mary wrote:
I think this also fits in with a larger narrative where you have archetypally white bad boy characters like Robin Hood, outlaw cowboys, Dirty Harry, et cetera who are just “being a man” and exercising their freedoms and standing up for their inner principles.
Whereas when nonwhite people have similar fantasies, it’s a “cultural pathology” or a demonstration of how “backwards” and “violence-prone” they supposedly are.
Pretty sad that this narrative is being applied to seven-year-old children.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 1:53 pm ¶
Just A Thought wrote:
Disgusted but not surprised.
@ darth:
hoodrat originally was used only for women, and was demeaning of certain poor women in urban areas (or women who displayed the same racialized/sexualized behaviors). That’s why the term is racist and sexist.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 2:05 pm ¶
Sam wrote:
Latarion was used to perpetuate negative imagery on Comedy Central:
http://www.comedycentral.com/tosh.0/2010/02/25/extended-redemption-hoodrat-kid/
Watching this made me feel even worse. The grandmother probably needed the money to pay for the damages. Or, Latarion just wants to “go to Hollywood.”
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 2:36 pm ¶
Sam wrote:
In this one they actually have him show the host how to “do bad things”:
http://hiphopblips.dailyradar.com/video/latarian-milton-that-7-year-old-doe-boy-who-took-his/
Terrible…
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 2:45 pm ¶
blakdiamon wrote:
I wonder if anyone saw that episode of “The Boondocks” called “Smoking With Cigarettes” which was entirely about Latarian Milton. They changed his name to LaMilton Bishop for obvious reasons.
I really love this site but every time I come across an article like this I get upset for the rest of day. I think I need to say that serenity prayer that Tami likes more often:
“God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.”
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 2:53 pm ¶
blakdiamon wrote:
Oh, and this article immediately made me think of Malcolm X’s “Who taught you to hate yourself?” speech.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 2:54 pm ¶
Tamara wrote:
I think another reason why LaTarian’s actions were played up was the fact he’s being raised by his grandmother and not his parents (which also plays into negative stereotypes about fatherless black children and deviant black mothers). For the people on the Today show, it’s easier to relate not only to a little white boy, but a white child who comes from a two-parent home.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 3:42 pm ¶
E wrote:
FOUR DAYS????????That’s all that white kid got as punishment? Do you know what my parents would have done to me if I had pulled that stunt? What we’ll do to our son if he ever pulls that kind of stunt? He sure won’t be on tv being gushed over by some drippy anchor.
In addition to the race and class issues already discussed here, there is that desperation for celebrity status that twists parents’ thinking and now sucks in 7 year old children too. Remember balloon boy? His parents concocted that whole stunt to get a reality show. I would not be surprised if Preston’s parents put him up to it.
Val- you’re exactly right about TV’s influence
ladymorgue – yes, it’s white privilege AND this bizarre thinking that bad behavior is cute. Parents want to be friends instead of parents – I am constantly amazed at the lack of discipline applied to my son’s friends and classmates. There are three” bullies in training” in his class of three-year-olds!
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 4:04 pm ¶
shemari wrote:
This is sad, but not surprising. When my brother was six, he told me that he wasn’t Black. Black people were bad because they were always on the News and in trouble.
As a Black parent, it’s a constant struggle to not let media dictate to your child how they’re supposed to be. Unfortunately, it still either informs or confirms other people’s biases against Black folks including children.
Why wouldn’t the media & law enforcement, (or the school system) treat Black children differently than White children? They do it to the adults. You think those Black pathologies just come out of no where when the kid turns 15 (or 14 or 13 or 12)?
Also, I heard Tim Wise speaking about his new book a few days ago. He mentioned some racial disparities where upper SES Blacks suffered either similarly or greater than lower SES Blacks. One thing he mentioned was school discipline. So while this particular example with Latarian had a class component, rich Black kids catch hell too.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 4:06 pm ¶
DelphineBlue wrote:
I see this type of racial alternate universe framing in the media frequently and it puzzles me each time. And when people adhere to their stereotypes in their group-i admit there have been times when i wanted to go there, and embrace my inner hoodrat when someone cuts me off in traffic after a bad day at work, or some other mundane offense. But i know if i did i would represent all the angry Black women who ever lived throughout history on every continent, and not just one pissed off person who is having a human moment. And this sentiment sometimes comes from my own people.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 4:13 pm ¶
Sulagna wrote:
@blakdiamon
I read about that episode and it sounds like they make him a sociopath. I don’t…I think that makes things even worse, doesn’t it?
Anyway, thank you for the prayer, I totally get the sentiment of how depressing this all is…I just keep going through my happy mantras.
I can understand the people talking about their experiences and others’ experiences as Black Americans (to which I say, oh God, I’m so sorry). But man, this story is already depressing what with Latarian possibly (please no!) becoming part of the system…why add pessimism and saying that we may never reach racial equality?
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 4:46 pm ¶
Sisou wrote:
hmm, speaking of internalized racism. Anyone else think it was interesting how the white parents reacted vs the grandma. The dad laughs off the incident and shows that ” he a good boy.” But the grandma talks about “whipping” him. Now, I get why she mad but on camera she playing into the dehumanizing of her grandson. How we it have looked if she had said ” but he just a kid” well they probably would have twisted that too I guess…
And nice job using the black reporter to make the whole thing look ok…. how could he say “Get him into the system” with a straight face.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 4:49 pm ¶
Kim wrote:
We really have to start to take control of this. That is the only way not to be overwhelmed by it. By taking control, I mean paying close attention to the media input of our children, and teaching them as they grow to think critically about these matters. It really is like a form of psychological warfare. It is a great thing to have the awareness because then you can take action!
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 5:13 pm ¶
Darth Paul wrote:
“That’s why the term is racist and sexist.”
Disagreed. It’s an understandably offensive word, for sure, but it fails to be sexist when it ceases to identify a gender, regardless of the etymology. I encourage you to research diachronical semasiology and lexical change for insight on this.
As for racist, I’d agree in most situations. Is it racist for a black person to call another black person that? I’m not so sure. But it’s decidedly classist in any context.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 5:24 pm ¶
HalleBerry wrote:
@Jihad
Funny you should mention it because there’s a very great post about the so-called ‘barefoot bandit’ nd how he was treated by the public and media alike. Something that would be verrrrry different were he black. It’s just like the 2 ‘Barbie bandits’ in Chicago first off they called them ‘Barbie’[rolls eyes]. Second they kept going on and on about how ‘attractive’ they are and how they came from such a ‘nice’ family.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 5:25 pm ¶
Breathing to Calm wrote:
Good graciousness, doesn’t the author mean defiance? Deviance implies behaviors that are outside of what is considered healthy and socially accepted as normal.
Or am I reading the context of deviance versus defiance differently from what the author intended?
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 10:31 pm ¶
BSK wrote:
The old adage in education circles is that white kids HAVE problems and black kids ARE problems. At least, those of us who see these things for what they are and try to figure out why and how such perceptual, and ultimately real-life, differences develop.
Posted 28 Jul 2010 at 11:56 pm ¶
Bagelsan wrote:
@31: Lines like this
So I think this terribly sad story of Latarian is showing us how children learn to think of themselves as deviant and bad from the society around them.
suggest to me that the author doesn’t actually think either kid is “deviant” so much as the one kid is being called that and the other isn’t. So that’s how I read it, anyways.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 4:11 am ¶
pinksghetti wrote:
Val wrote:
Television is the greatest mass brainwashing tool ever invented.
_______________________________
I have to comment on this. This was said in the movie “A Face in the Crowd” from 1957 when tv was still in it’s early stage so can you imagine how much more (knowingly) powerful it is in 2010?
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 9:44 am ¶
Eva wrote:
I think Latarian sees himself as a bad boy because that’s what he’s seen all his life, black young men being bad, it’s what the media shows.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 12:08 pm ¶
David Goldberg wrote:
Excellent post.
Smooth read.
Cohesive.
Like the earlier poster noted, “the sky is still blue”.
At some point we are gonna hafta change this drastically and forcefully ourselves.
Peace.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 1:32 pm ¶
Charlie wrote:
Both kids deserve better parents, which would have prevented both cases from happening. At 7 they should have known better, period.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 1:53 pm ¶
Ellis wrote:
Institutional racism half what the dominant system and class does, and the other half what the oppressed do to themselves. Black people at a young age internalize what they see in the mass media, how they are treated by the dominant society, get low self esteem and turn it into anger at their friends and family, and become thugs and gangsters and never unlock there true potential,thinking themselves worthless. As it was said in the Mis Education of the Negro(paraphrasing) “you teach a man he is worthless,that he is only allowed to go through the back door, not only will he go through the back door when even allowed through the front one, he will create his own back door when there is none”.
And it is not helped by the fact that so many white Americans dehumanize non whites to as problems to be solved, and not as human beings. Even when we do good, they look for our flaws like hell. You get called a problem enough, and you will start to see yourself as a problem. I know, I was there. As well as every other Black person or Latino. Some of us don’t make it, and break, sad to say, and become a self fulfilling prophecy.
Before we can fight racism we must fight off the doubt and cynicism and embrace our selves. Personally, I’m not ready yet, but I will be, some day.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 2:53 pm ¶
ivy wrote:
This is horribly depressing. I feel for these children and am angered by all of the adults that played into the entire process.
2 thoughts:
- Black people HAVE problems BUT we are not a problematic people. Let’s not forget that by-and-large, even through all of the BS we have to deal with in this country most of us are able to thrive and move through the negatively and live anyway. “And still I rise…” to paraphrase Maya Angelou. We are a resilient people and that is by God’s grace.
- several here implied that they were shocked that tv is a propaganda machine, as if it somehow morphed into something it was never intended to be. nothing could be further from the truth. the TELEVISION was INVENTED to DELIVER MEDIA/IDEAS/BELIEFS/”INFORMATION” to massive amounts of people in relatively little time at relatively little cost. It has always been and always will be a propaganda machine because that is what is was designed to be. So if you don’t want the ideas and belief systems of complete strangers to invade your mental space, you have to turn off the tube.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 4:31 pm ¶
HalleBerry wrote:
I just saw an interview with pyschology professor and author Richard Lapchick who used to be a sportswriter. He said every time a story came out about a white athlete in trouble with the law[which does happen] the attitude in the newsroom was ‘poor guy’ and it was ‘too bad’ he got caught up in this. But when the athlete was black the attitude was ‘what in the hell is wrong with those people’. I see it all the time myself if black athletes fight they are called ‘thugs’ and hoodlums’. Yet when it’s white athletes it’s looked on as funny and they are called ‘real men’. It’s such a bunch of bullshit.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 4:42 pm ¶
K wrote:
This whole story makes me cringe, everything about it. It’s like the media latched onto Latarian’s story because it confirms all the negative stereotypes about black families and children in American society.
1. He has a “funny black person” name.
2. He doesn’t come from a two parent family.
3. He admittedly does “bad” things and enjoys them.
4. He glorifies the “hood rat” lifestyle.
5. He’s violent. (Beating up Grandma?)
I think that both of these boys have been failed by their parents, but the difference is that the white kid isn’t being failed by society, too (and maybe Latarian is being failed by his grandmother because she’s too busy working her ass off so they can survive and you know, eat)
. It’s so cute and funny that he stole a car, and terrible and rotten that the little black kid did the same thing.
Posted 29 Jul 2010 at 8:54 pm ¶
Medusa wrote:
Charlie- missing the point much?
This shit just infuriates the fuck out of me. Have you Racialicious readers ever heard of Stereotype Threat? America IS stereotype threat. Reason # 1 why I will never, ever, ever, live there again, and why I will never put my (future) kids through that.
Posted 30 Jul 2010 at 10:01 am ¶
Just A Thought wrote:
@ Darth Paul:
Le sigh. You and I differ on this. And I am quite familiar with how the meanings of words change over time, which is why I referenced such occurences in my first comment.
While hoodrat does not always signify gender, it can and does signify gender. It is classist, in addition to being racist and sexist.
Finally, I believe that blacks commit bigoted acts when they hurl racist language at each other. Not every black person would agree with this, but that is my opinion.
Posted 30 Jul 2010 at 10:50 am ¶
Delight wrote:
It’s so true about kids internalizing how others see them. If you expect a kid to be bad, he will. If you expect him to be smart and reach for achievement, he will.
My brother (white) took a car for a joy ride with his friend when they were 14 — they returned it to where they took it and got caught. The police asked my mom if she wanted them to put him in juvenile detention to teach him a lesson, she said no, it’s just a phase, he’s a good boy at heart, but we will punish him. He was teetering on the ecge of good and bad at the time, and she chose wisely — he became that good boy in the next few years.
Posted 30 Jul 2010 at 5:20 pm ¶
sandeep wrote:
when i see the two videos juxtaposed, i think of how both children are equally terrifying and equally capable of wrongdoing. neither child is of course an adult, but a child, an adult0in-training. the message here from the parents should be clear, what was done was wrong, unacceptable, for the many laws broken, and hazards dared, albeit without a scratch. the risks they took should be understood, as well as the potential pain caused, and the damage that could’ve and already was done.
they need to understand how society works, and why its beneficial to follow laws rather than to break them; they need to get a feel for the fact that law is there to protect members of a society from rogue elements that would impinge on their freedom to live happily.
whether a child be taken to a facility, or a child be taught by their parent, something certainly should be done. but i think these videos say less about the children than they do about the assumed capability of the parents. obviously the police feel its a good idea to get involved with the African-american kid, but with the white kid, there isn’t any police force on the show (why would there be?) but also the seeming assumed outcome for the white kid is that he wont be getting any slap on the wrist from the cops. (nor did the cop that pulled him over make an appearance on the show, strangely).
the point is in case #1 with the black kid the cops assume the parents dont have the cajones or skill to make do with the situation and make right with the wrong, pass the knowledge down of societies rule and the potential for harm, why the kid literally CANNOT act as he did, given the rules of society enforced by the punishments of it. they would rather he face those punishments in a gritty in your face realism that “the system” can bring; over the ability of those parents of this kid, their ability to make him understand right from wrong; police assume they aren’t capable of the job, and take matters into their own hands, essentially using “the system” as a surrogate parent, given the grandma’s seemingly assumed incompetence.
the white child on the other hand is seen in the arms of his family, with the camera panning to them regularly; these are “good” people who you can laugh with and even adore in a strange way- as the host seems to try to paint the picture. but juxtaposing the two videos, you see two identical children handled in two very different ways, not by their families necessarily, but by the police force, and the media seems to be lapdogs for the authority’s position, readily embracing the assumed … scolding-being-enough for the white child, yet not quite being enough for the black child. its not the child, again, thats being evaluated, but the ability of the parents to cope with this curve ball in their tenure as guardians of this child. the parents are either assumed incapable, or capable, by the law enforcement. the child is getting treatment based on this assumption, and therefore the law isn’t really working the way it should; that is, unbiased, and fair & equal, but more-so very biased, unequal, and just plain ugly.
Posted 30 Jul 2010 at 5:52 pm ¶
RCHOUDH wrote:
Damn it’s messed up to see so clearly how society demonizes one little kid over another for the same wrongdoing!
Posted 31 Jul 2010 at 1:40 am ¶
Bagelsan wrote:
I sort of feel like the response should have been averaged between these boys. Like, the message to both of them should have been “you just did a shitty and very dangerous thing! Grounded for a month!” from the parents and maybe a stern-but-nonthreatening talking-to from a cop or whatever, to add a little non-familial gravitas, and the reporters shouldn’t have joked about it, the “system” shouldn’t have been officially involved, and the boys should have come away feeling like basically decent kids who seriously let everyone down. Having one boy get a cheerful pat on the head while the other gets a criminal record is just wrong in both directions and it does a disservice to both kids — I hate to think how either of them will grow up.
Posted 31 Jul 2010 at 2:33 am ¶
robynlicious wrote:
If the media was on the scene whenPreston got home, what would that interview have been like? He wouldn’t have been all smiles and shrugs. His parents wouldn’t have been all “oh it’s cute and funn,” — dad said it was only so in retrospect. They very well may have said something punishing, like wanting to beat him (if only figuratively). If Latarian had been interviewed a week after the incident, grandma would have had time to talk to him and explain just how wrong what he did is. Removed from the incident, he’d have had time to grow remorse. He would have told the interviewer what his punishment actually was, not just what he thought it should be. Also, Latarian was freely asked questions by the reporter. Guests on the Today show have coaching on what to expect on air, and all the info on the host’s papers are answers to the questions they’re told to ask by the people who prepped the guests. Preston wasn’t speaking on his own. nor was his family.
It is horrifying to me that even if Preston had done some serious, even fatal, damage, he’s probably still be framed as a kid doin’ what kids do. He sure is lucky that he’s white.
Posted 31 Jul 2010 at 11:57 pm ¶
ashlynn wrote:
Oooh. Eff Meredith Viera for that.
And now that I think back on the Latarian report, I can’t even wrap my mind around wanting to GET HIM INTO THE SYSTEM- like it’s some kind of reknown positive place for rehabilitation and growth- AT 7 YEARS OLD.
And as much as I love Tosh.O and The Boondocks, the way they approached Latarian’s situation was questionable at best, and exploitative at worst. He’s a kid too, and he deserves more than infamy and being seen as already needing law enforcement on his back.
Posted 01 Aug 2010 at 3:21 pm ¶
Deb Donatti wrote:
This made me think about a recent situation in California, where a baby wandered out into the busy street near his home and a trucker stopped just shy of hitting him.
The parents, both hispanic, were treated very harshly, even thought they said they were unaware the child had somehow gotten out the door. The father was forced by a judge to move out of the home (he was deemed a bad influence), and the mother was fighting to get the kids back from foster care. What, no similar treatment for Mr. Cotton-Candy’s seemingly negligent parents?
Posted 02 Aug 2010 at 12:59 am ¶
Ryan wrote:
This is absolutely disgusting!!! Preston gets no tv or video games for four days?!!! I white and I didn’t get video games my whole childhood, and if I had even done anything like this sh** my Mom and Dad would’ve killed me, I mean literally killed me. The Black kid’s lack of remorse is troubling, but you can at least kind of understand his acting out because he’s being raised by his grandmother and without an adequate support structure, in other words the lack of punishment for him isn’t ok but there’s at least some reason why this kid is growing up Lord of the Flies style…Preston on the other hand appears to have two parents that are involved and financially secure, and neither of them seem to be treating this as an appropriately serious trangression. Yes, it’s ok to be grateful he didn’t get himself or someone else killed…but this kid should get his ass whooped and be grounded for f-ing life…and the way he didn’t apologize or anything when he was asked about it? So, so, so sad…you definitely see here two of the worst aspects of contemporary American society…urban familial disintegration and suburban familial abdication of parental responsibility!
Posted 02 Aug 2010 at 9:03 pm ¶
Melzwork wrote:
This is the reason I want to homeschool
Posted 04 Aug 2010 at 8:41 pm ¶