Racism is Universal. In the middle of a debate over levels of African migration in Australia,the 3 major news channels in Australia all seized on (similar to the practices of Politico and the Ditmas park blog) what they said was evidence that young African migrants weren't fitting in. Luckily in Australia, they actually have a Media Watch that holds the media accountable for false reporting and sensationalism. Just this past week, the ditmas park blog is continuing their sensationalist, false and sometimes racist reporting about "certain segments" of the population who are "trouble makers". In their "moderated comments" section they have people complaining about "thugs" (code word for black teens) on the corner lately since the weather has been nicer. They've got the public all wild up on the basis of a few isolated incidents, that goes on on every neighborhood in the world. They have even offered free self-defense classes because of "the latest strings of incidents." It's interesting that when a group of black teenage boys are hanging out in front of an establishment for just a few seconds, it's a "problem" that "needs to be dealt with". But a group of white hipsters hanging out in front of a bar or coffee shop, is "great for the scene" and that they are being "scene kids" and comments about "how cool it is to be outside on a warm sunny day." The latent racism of the Ditmaspark blog can be very dangerous to this community. It is used to not only degrade people, but to dehumanize. If left unchecked or not marginalized can lead to hate crimes, as was the case in Australia. The young teen in the video that had nothing to do with any "mayhem" was subsequently savagely beaten and murdered. We will continue to monitor this situation.
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6 comments:
Great reporting as usual. I wish the U.S had a program like media watch, paid by the public with no commercials. It's ironic that the media is the most dangerous segment of our society today.The Ditmas Park blog is toxic just like Politico. Obama even made a joke about Politico recently. It's all about ratings, sensationalism, greed and how much hits they can get on their blog. Eward R. Murrow must be spinning in his grave. The Ditmas Park blog is dishonest, racist and disgraceful. Pure garbage.
I live in Ditmas Park and I've never met anyone who has admitted to reading the Ditmas Park blog in polite company. That says it all.
One quick correction:
The Ditmas Park Blog didn't offer a self-defense class. A local martial arts school called Urban Dojo did. Ditmas Park Blog just posted a notice about it. That's what they do.
Here is Urban Dojo's "about us" page.
More info about the class here.
That's very rich. Exploitation of a perceived danger to make a quick buck. This sounds like propaganda to me. I'm sure your business is great, but there has to be a better way to make money then to exploit unfounded fears base on propaganda by a racist blogger. That's what got us into the Iraq war in the first place?
So getting the story right isn't as important as getting the spin right?
Sounds like Fox News. Or maybe Orwell.
ps - Urban Dojo is not my business. I was just pointing out one blatant, complete mis-statement I found in the middle of a pointless attack.
Racism is real. Have to be crazy to deny that.
But it's just anyther kind of insanity to think that making a scapegoat of an inocuous neighborhood blog is going to help things one bit.
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