Media to blame for parade of fake racism stories
Journalists are constantly humiliated by fake news of racism
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Once again, as regular as clockwork, a bombshell allegation of racism has been amplified by the media only to turn out to be false. This time it was a claim that a racist slur was shouted by a Brigham Young University volleyball fan at a black player from Duke. Just like the Jussie Smollett case, just like the NASCAR noose story, and just like so many others, this tale of 21st Century racism has now fallen apart upon investigation.
This parade of fake racism stories raises one vital question. How does this keep happening? How has our news media not learned its lesson and slowed its roll instead of breathlessly bemoaning imaginary bigotry? While incompetence and gullibility should never be excluded from consideration when talking about journalism, something deeper and more important is going on here.
The real answer to this constant face planting by the news media is in large part that the credulity with which these incidents are met is a kind of self-fulfilling evidence of how racist our country allegedly is, whether said incidents are true or not. The real message that the media is sending is that overt racism is so commonplace that these tall tales are more likely to be true than not. Even though they almost never are.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And what happens when it turns out these acts of racism never occurred? Practically nothing. There is never a reckoning, there are never consequences. And it never changes. Maybe what is off here is the mainstream news media’s underlying assumptions about America.
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Take an incident from May of last year. Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Nikole Hannah-Jones, an author of the 1619 Project and her dispute with the University of North Carolina, she said, "There is no question that there continues to be systemic racism in our country, we see that in a range of sectors, including some learning institutions." But is there really no question? Is this really settled social science?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For most of the news media it is. For them there is no doubt whatsoever that racism is a major problem plaguing our nation. This being the case it is easy to see why they fall hook, line and sinker for any story that fits their preferred narrative. But what if the reason that these stories always end up being false is that America actually isn’t a particularly racist place?
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This is about more than waiting to gather the facts, though obviously it would help if the news media did that, if they gave it a day or two before gravely banging a gavel that convicts America. It's really about what they think our country is and is like. Of course, these news personalities don’t think they themselves, or their friends are racists, though we can be sure they are dedicated to "doing the work," and "being an ally."
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The elite content creator class thinks that Americans in those parts of the country they never visit are ripe with racism. This despite the fact that approval for interracial marriage is around 95 percent in the U.S. In fact, the only people who bat an eye about it are progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who told GQ she had concerns as a Latina, or Latinx maybe, about marrying a white man.
This belief in the inherent racism of America, born more of lived truth than any empirical evidence, is quite clearly clouding the judgment of many mainstream journalists. It's not easy to give up deeply held beliefs, especially when everyone you know agrees with you and those beliefs justify your preferred politics. But credible outlets cannot remain credible if they go on like this, constantly humiliated by fake news of racism.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}America is not a hotbed of bigotry, in fact, it is one of the most diverse, accepting and tolerant societies that has ever graced the planet. Maybe if our journalist class can come to realize this, they will look foolish less often. But until then, expect the constant and humiliating mistakes to continue apace.