If Gabby Petito were black, she wouldn't be all over the news

[Sabrielo]

https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol106/iss2/4/

[spooky3]

1. I think you have to be a young and attractive white woman

To get the media attention.

It’s sad.

[womanofthehills]

13. I think it might have more to do with her social media presence

Two other hikers (men) also disappeared in the same area - one the same week as Gabby. We don’t here about them. So many kids on TicToc are living out of vehicles- becoming media stars. There are social media videos out there of Gabby and Brian living the ideal life traveling in the SW - kissing, doing handstands, hiking, eating - life was wonderful until it wasn’t. Then we have police interviews during their fights. It’s almost like a mini movie with mega videos. Then there is the psychological component - who hasn’t had an argument while on vacation? Now - both are missing. Plus a lesbian couple who were camping in same area were murdered the same time Gabby went missing . The night before the couple was murdered they were at the local tavern talking about a creepy guy near their campsite.
They actually said if we get murdered look for him. These two women were also white and attractive but they are not getting the same attention that Gabby is. What’s going on over there in Jackson Hole? - so much disappearance &
Death in one week. Yrs ago, my boyfriend and I stayed in a yurt community in Jackson Hole - beautiful place.

[Demovictory9]

35. not every missing white woman gets attention, but almost every person that gets attention is young

attractive white woman. her media presence probably helped to cause the sensation but the bottom line is that an asian, black, hispanic, male, etc... would not have received as much attention regardless of media presence.

Gender + Race + youth +attactiveness = media attention with heavy weight on weight/young female

[spooky3]

61. Agree, and the research shows a pattern, too. Nt

[madaboutharry]

2. No one should doubt this is true.

This is especially true if the white woman is blonde, physically attractive (meaning thin), pretty, comes from a middle to upper middle class family, and is in her teens or twenties. White women who are overweight, not pretty, or poor…maybe not so much.

[XanaDUer2]

8. This nt

[Lemon Lyman]

16. Yup

This here.

[Demovictory9]

36. yup.. you are so right about the class part of the equation.

[markie]

3. heavy discussion

at our house today about this... thanks for the link!

[hunter]

4. If this was a transgender black person there'd be crickets.

In many parts of the U.S.A. you'd have a hard time convincing the police it mattered.

[a kennedy]

10. We wouldn't have even heard about it. 🤬

[vercetti2021]

26. Exactly

I'm transgender but I am white. But we wouldn't matter. The police would probably buy the guy a nice steak dinner for getting rid of a vile person

[LeftInTX]

28. When something happens to a transgender person here, it usually gets a bit of air time.

But not much. Usually if families/friends go to the media and protest, usually it will get air time.

I do feel that there is too much violence against transgender women and it is "swept under the rug" because there is often a sexual encounter involved. But they do get air time, especially if family and friends feel that the person was targeted because they are transgender.

[vercetti2021]

29. Trans panic

Its bullshit that's even a thing to give legal recourse to a person who murders a trans woman because they are insecure about their own sexuality. Reason I'm not ever going to date someone without telling them first and foremost I'm a trans woman. Plus I do care protection as well.

[LeftInTX]

30. Yes and it's a hate crime

This case from 2020 was not sex related. The woman just happened to be transgender and this guy was pissed that he could not get his haircut due to Covid. He enters a haircut place and goes nuts. The name of the person killed was confusing because they had not changed their name and the family was reporting one name and another name was elsewhere.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/24/court-hearing-scheduled-for-man-accused-of-killing-a-transgender-woman-at-nw-side-barbershop/

Police say Campbell is seen in surveillance video threatening the three employees of the barbershop with a gun and a knife. He had been allowed in the shop to book a future appointment but was angered when asked to submit a form of payment.

According to WOAI-TV, “An arrest affidavit states surveillance video shows Campbell forced the three employees into the back of the shop. At one point, Campbell placed one victim ‘in a choke hold until he renders [victim] unconscious.'”

[vercetti2021]

31. It terrifies me

This poor person had to be the victim because some jackhole couldn't get a damn haircut. Unbelievable. Yeah we are walking targets sadly and it scares me

[raccoon]

40. Me too, and if I wasn't so old I would look into moving to another country

Me too, and if I wann’t so old I would look into moving to another countryWhere every child wasn’t issued an AR 15 at birth.

[Duncan Grant]

52. Truth walked into this thread without flinching.

Thank you for this reality check.

[treestar]

59. how do we know?

Is there proof of this allegation somewhere?

[Demovictory9]

67. Having watched ID.channel, its obvious police.get more invested in the

Young white.victims regardless of it becoming a media story. They will be teary eyed talking about the victim

[MustLoveBeagles]

68. +1

[choie]

5. No question about it.

N/t

[jimlup]

6. Absolutely ...

With hope for this story to turn out better than we all expect, you are still completely right.

[LeftInTX]

7. This case has clues.

Many white attractive women disappear and it doesn't get a whole lot of media attention.

Media knows people like shows like Law and Order.

If she had just disappeared, it would be a local story, but she's a Youtube star
She got in fight with her fiance and was caught on dashcam
We think he murdered her and she is believed to be in Grand Tetons National Park.

If she had just disappeared while hiking, then it would just be a local story.

But fiance is lying...

We had a black woman disappear here and it was in the news for months. Her murdered her and dumped her body near a remote military base. It took 4 months to find her.

[2naSalit]

9. Extra fly in the ointment...

Is that if he did dump her body in this region, bears and other scavengers may discover her body and feed on it, cats and bears will cache the remains and makes it much harder to find her body if that is the case.

[JI7]

15. The attractive white girl missing stories get national attention . The one you mention isn't

a good example as it shows it didn't get national attention .

There are other things that come into it also like how much the parents or other relatives go to the media .

But I doubt this case would get anyting near the attention it has gotten if she was black even if everything else was the same.

[LeftInTX]

17. The one I showed did get national attention.

Not as much as this one, but this was national.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andreen-mcdonald-missing-disturbing-items-found-in-home-of-air-force-major-andre-mcdonald-after-wifes-disappearance-sheriff-says/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/police-arrest-husband-of-missing-san-antonio-mother-after-really-disturbing-things-found-in-home

[JI7]

19. That's not what I mean by national attention . You know what I mean and the amount of attention

that the news media give to certain things.

[LeftInTX]

20. I no longer have cable TV to watch every blip that's out there.

If you want to watch cable news, that's fine. But cable repeats the same thing over and over.

[JI7]

21. It's not just cable news. It's local news also that covers it which is where I hear most of it from

[LeftInTX]

22. I heard one sentence on local news about this case

[LeftInTX]

23. As I said one sentence about the missing girl and that was it.

The news only lasts 1/2 hour. They don't have time to dwell on a youtube star who fights with her fiance, then goes missing, then bf is dishonest, then bf disappears etc. This is more of an internet/cable/tabloid interest.

[JI7]

24. It's gotten far more attention than that where I am . And everyone knows attractive white females

get more attention in these type of cases. Why try to deny or downplay it.

[LeftInTX]

25. Well, then complain about it!!!!! Write your local paper.

I'm not downplaying, but I don't know why this is "bothering" you so much

Make change and do something about it.

[JI7]

27. Why does it bother me that the "news" media treats people differently based on appearance ?

[Demovictory9]

37. not every missing/killed white woman gets attention, but almost every missing/killed person who DOES

not every missing/killed white woman gets attention, but almost every missing/killed person who DOES
GET ATTENTION is young white attractive woman. thats just a fact.

[LeftInTX]

42. Vanessa Guillen got lots of attention

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Vanessa_Guill%C3%A9n

[Demovictory9]

54. a rareity

[alittlelark]

11. Native American women would be even lower

Beam me up Scotty. this planet sux .....

[Duncan Grant]

56. Thank you for adding this reminder to the thread.

Thought we could also add this: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA

[GoCubsGo]

66. Yep. 710 Native Americans missing from that area over the past decade.

Most of them girls. They barely get a mention in the local news, let alone make national headlines.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/710-indigenous-people-mostly-girls-042150990.html

[greenjar_01]

75. Follow up stats

Of the 710...

11% of the reports were cleared (i.e., found) the same day
Another 50% found within a week
9 remain missing: 3 female missing persons, and 6 male missing persons, ages 13-74
33% of the 710 were reported missing more than once during the time period (thus the 1245 reports)
99% of all missing persons reports from Wyoming during the time period (all races) have been cleared.

[bobnicewander]

12. I wonder

"Better to Light a Candle Than to Curse the Darkness"

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/19/candle/

How many have posted here but never written, called or demonstrated to main street media in protest about the issue? MSM are almost always swayed by numbers, but not always - remember Sandy Hook?

[Demovictory9]

38. BET (black entertainment channel) had a show called "find our missing" that focused on

black, asian, brown,etc... missing.

[treestar]

14. Where are those stories then?

Just because the MSM doesn't cover them doesn't mean we can't read about them. To prove the point, there have to be cases that prove the point. Cases just as interesting that don't get to the M$M solely due to race.

[bobnicewander]

18. Prove the point nt

nt

[Patton French]

32. Understand the sentiment

But this young lady deserves our attention.

[Demovictory9]

39. it's more than a sentiment, it's a fact. the amount of police resources put on a missing young

white woman. WHEW!!! I hope they are putting real effort into solving the murders of the two LGBT woman that we killed in the same area.

[LanternWaste]

44. Much as I understand the 'sentiment' of gravity...

But kinetic force deserves our attention...


Unless of course, one realizes that the two may exist simultaneously and that many, if not most people can give both the attention due.

Goodness gracious.

[Treefrog]

48. 'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe.

[XanaDUer2]

51. Lol!!! Nt

[Treefrog]

53. ...

[Patton French]

50. I did not intend to be dismissive

of the plight of so many that don’t receive sensational media coverage. I 100% recognize the bias in media attention. Just, as the father of a teenage girl, I’m saddened and feel for her family.

[LeftInTX]

33. Did you forget about Vanessa Guillen?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Vanessa_Guill%C3%A9n

She was a much bigger story and she already has a gate named after her. She also has something else named.

She was a big deal here and I believe all over the US

On April 19, 2021, Lieutenant General Robert P. White, commander of III Corps and Fort Hood unveiled that one out of the 27 gates that grant entry to Fort Hood will be renamed "The Vanessa Guillén Gate" with a plaque in her honor. The gate is also the main entry point to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, where Guillén worked in an arms room as a small arms repairer.[35][36]

[Treefrog]

45. Thank you.

People have selective memories.

[Patton French]

34. Maybe. Either way it's a tragedy.

So sad. I hope she comes home safe.

[LiberatedUSA]

41. Total agreement.

If they find her dead body, as it is likely he killed her, can we charge her corpse with a hate crime for taking up news space that could have gone to someone we feel is more deserving? That was probably her dastardly plan. That’s an added conspiracy charge.

[honest.abe]

43. I think it's more being young and pretty and having a case that is complicated and confusing...

and also the fact she is sort of a Youtube star.

I think if she was just a regular girl missing with none of bizarre circumstances like the boyfriend having possession of her van and not talking and law enforcement stopping them just a few days earlier, this case would be much less compelling.

[Treefrog]

46. I don't know, this whole story is so bizarre, so many twists and turns...

The YouTube angle, the DV incident, the murdered lesbian couple…I think this would be getting publicity no matter what.

[dclarston13]

47. They would have been arrested and booked

During that domestic dispute issue. No doubt in my mind.

[maxsolomon]

49. Maybe she would, if she were Upper-Middle Class

And had been killed by an Upper Middle-Class BF who left a string of social-media clues across the country.

Class is a component of this equation, but America's focus is on racial disparities. We prefer to think we're a classless society. We are not.

[Klaralven]

55. Editors think that missing hot white chicks will draw a bigger audience

News editors select the stories that they think will draw the most viewer, get higher ratings, and pull in the advertiser dollars.

In this case, there's a compelling plot line, quarreling families, and lots of available pictures and videos to fill out the story. An editor would be nuts not to run with it.

[electric_blue68]

57. Yeah, I was thinking about this yesterday.

[treestar]

58. In every post about this, there is something along these lines

that fact that she is missing and likely dead is being used to make a racial point. No concern for this girl either. This point is more important than what happened to her?

[onenote]

60. Apparently it is to some

To some, she's just a "white chick."

[obamanut2012]

62. I hate it

Every thread, and threads started about it. Even snarking about Laci Peterson, who wasn't even white.

[Bettie]

63. I think it is frustration that her story is everywhere, constant

while many others never get so much as a second of airtime.

And it is true; if she were not a pretty white girl from a comfortable family, we would have no idea who she was.

That said, I don't think anyone doesn't want her found and for her family to have closure.

I want that. I also want it for the other women who we never hear of because to the media, they don't matter.

[Demovictory9]

65. Well said. Someone posted on twitter. How about missing indigenous women.

...

[treestar]

71. The thing is none of them tell us about the

girls of color who are missing and were ignored by the media. They don't offer a single name. Just a general allegation.

And it's pretty cold to ignore what happened to this girl because she's white.

[Demovictory9]

64. There is.concern for her

Just hard not to point out the pattern. Nationwide emotional investment.happens.for this demographic only.

If someone posted in DU.about missing person not in the demo.
Story would sink like a stone

[Treefrog]

69. Plenty of other stories that sink in du - due to the demographic.

So, really not that unusual.

[treestar]

72. Why is this continually said without pointing to

and particular case?

[boston bean]

73. Hot sexy young white chick goes a long way. It's not all because they care about white women more.

It’s sexist as hell.

However any little bit of light shined upon domestic value brings some value. Even if it brings along a bunch of garbage as well.

[treestar]

76. I do think a sexy, not Latina or Asian, AA

or Native American might well get the same attention, if there was a similar boyfriend on the loose that the cops are looking for. IMO looksism is a lot bigger in this culture. We've had black Miss Americas - the good looking end up getting the media's attention - it's always that way.

Look how much attention the media pay to the royals, who don't do much of interest. And actors and actresses - their personal lives are really not of much interest in the long run - they all do similar things.

Even being rich would not get Paris Hilton or the Kardashians much attention if they weren't attractive to boot.

[treestar]

74. why are we so sure of this?

there aren't going to be many cases like this, overall. Even fewer where a population is a minority. There are routine cases that turn out OK, so you have to have one with a mystery and a missing suspect before it gets that interesting. Everyone was glued to the TV while the Boston Bombers were at large. This guy is at large. (I remember Rachel Maddow having us glued to her show at that time).

If it's more of a case that detectives have to investigate, it's not going to have the staying power.

[greenjar_01]

70. Agreed

None of these posters has posted a case about missing BIPOC women, either, notably.

[BradAllison]

77. It's insensitive

That's all I'm going to say.