i've been wondering what the response of Free Press would continue to be since they were requested to recognize the connection between police repression and media reform. I'm also interested in examining the relationship of national organizing and local issues. A national group is spread out and connected by media- publications and newsletter at worst, emails and phone calls at best. When a national group decided to have a conference and situate itself in a locality- it seems appropriate for the group to do more than have business relationships with a limited selection of the community.
The thing i was disturbed about is that the director of free press could say that there was not a clear connection between police repression and free and democratic media. Is it not apparant at this point that racism has strongly existed in this country, this state of missouri and very specifically the city of st louis? How can these issues ever be ignored- there is a huge power differential between groups of people along the lines of skin color, and the st louis police have not challenged this dynamic, and seems to promote it often.
i left the conference to work. at my work, an irate customer came in and would not leave. a coworker felt the need to call the police to ask for assistance in ending the situation. (which i am not endorsing or condemning, my feelings about this decision are very complicated and not the focus here). Unfortunately, after she described the situation to the woman on the phone, she was asked,"is the woman black or white?" my coworker answered that she was black, and described the MANY OTHER descriptive features of the woman.
The woman of course hears a white woman say "she's black......" and gets pissed off- as i was shocked. Why is her racial identity so important?
making her racial identity the focus led to the racial difference seem to be the point of the division, where it was not perceived to be the division before. Because of the response of the police, the problem was escalated and racial tension was spread. We need an effective way to make the police actively challenge racial division to promote the quality of life for all of us. Because of the recent social history of racism, anyone not challenging that history and those patterns becomes a part of them. simply ignoring that history is not neutral!
hearing the speech given to open the conference by the head of free press, i was angered. he had numerous opportunities to at least mention the importance of local issues, and mention that this was one of them that people have asked them (free press, conference attendees) to be aware of. his decline to do so felt like he was not reflecting all of the issues that he is aware of- he covered the story up, he buried it. it made me realize that his media reform movement is not mine- national issues can not trample local issues. race within the us (and outside) must be discussed, the experiences of individuals experiencing repression must be recognized.