A Suspect's Race
Mike Hashimoto is on a crusade to get news media to publish the suspect's race in every crime story. He doesn't put it like that. Instead, he's been pointing out inconsistencies in stories. This one mentions race. That one doesn't. You can imagine him scanning the papers for crime stories just to see if the reporter tells us the perpetrator was black or Hispanic or white. Hashimoto would have us believe that any story that doesn't include race is that way because of "PC journalism".
In fact, there are many inconsistencies. One story mentions the suspect's red, white and blue flannel shirt. That one doesn't say a thing about the suspect's shirt. Is every included detail relevant? Always? Hashimoto assumes it is, and when relevant details are omitted, he assumes it's a deliberate, PC cover-up.
Hashimoto possibly has a higher opinion of journalists' abilities than I do. I've learned that the more familiar I personally am with the facts of a story, the less recognizable the story is that appears in the paper. I subscribe to the old adage, never assume malevolence (or political correctness) when incompetence will do. There is a seeming randomness to facts included and excluded from stories. Whether or not a suspect's race is relevant to the story is almost incidental.
And, if reporters and editors are sometimes sensitive to racial issues, good for them. Race continues to be a lightning rod in America, like it or not. Hashimoto's own obsession with race in criminal stories is evidence of that. When commenters show outrage that this story or that failed to comment on the suspect's flannel shirt instead of the color of his skin, then the day will be here when race is no longer something that deserves special sensitivity. As long as people like Hashimoto get space in the News to comment, we'll know that day isn't here.
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