Why does the Report talk about race?

(re-run of a February post)

The Homicide Report includes information on race or ethnicity in its weekly lists of homicide victims issued by the Los Angeles County coroner, as well as the name, gender and age of each victim, and the time, place and manner of death. A number of readers have asked why race is included. Some have criticized the practice.

Racial information was once routinely included in news stories about crimes, but in recent decades, newspapers and other media outlets stopped mentioning suspects' or victims' race or ethnicity because of public criticism. Newspapers came to embrace the idea that such information is irrelevant to the reporting of crimes, and may unfairly stigmatize racial groups.

The Homicide Report departs from this rule in the interest of presenting the most complete and accurate demographic picture of who is at risk of dying from homicide in Los Angeles County.

Race and ethnicity, like age and gender, are stark predictors of homicide risk. Blacks are vastly more likely to die from homicide than whites, and Latinos somewhat more likely. Black men, in particular, are extraordinarily vulnerable: They are 4% of this country's population, but, according to the Centers for Disease Control, they represented 35% of homicide victims nationally in 2004. Local numbers mirror these national disparities. According to an analysis for The Times by county health officials of homicide data between 1991 and 2002, Latino men ages 20 to 24 were five times more likely than white men the same age to die, and black men were 16 times more likely.

The Homicide Report recognizes the peril of dehumanizing victims by reducing their lives and deaths to a few scant facts--particularly racial designations which provide only the roughest markers of ancestry and history. But given the magnitude of difference in homicide risk along racial and ethnic lines--and the extremity of suffering which homicide inflicts on subsets of the population--we opt here to present information which lays bare racial and ethnic contours of the problem so conspicuous in the coroner's data. The goal is to promote understanding, and honor a basic journalistic principle: Tell the truth about who suffers.

As you read The Homicide Report, keep in mind the racial breakdown of the population of Los Angeles County. We are, according to the Census Bureau, about 47% Latino, 29% white, 12% Asian, and 9% black. If homicide were distributed equally among racial groups, not quite half the victims included in The Homicide Report's weekly listings from the coroner would be Latino, and fewer than one in ten would be black.   

Comments

[JOHN BRIGHAM]

RACE SHOULD ALWAYS BE INCLUDED, IT IS A PART OF THE WHO,WHAT, WHERE, WHEN. IF A CITZEN KNOWS THIS INFORMATION THEY SOMETIMES CAN HELP IN IDENTIFYING A SUSPECT.

[Olden Atwoody]

I believe that it behooves the blog to remove all identifying facts, i.e. this:

John Doe, a 20-year-old Hispanic male, in the 900 block of West 2004h Street, was found eviscerated a bizarre low-rider accident, where in the hydraulic shock units of his 1962 Impala exploded and, passing though his chest, impaled the unfortunate youngster and nailed him to a Howard Stern billboard, 50 feet over Hollywood Boulevard, dripping gore and wet stuff over a group of Chinese tourists who gaggled to get photos of him before a freelance camera crew from Inside Edition took over the scene.

Should be this:

A person stopped living in the reality commonly addressed as "life" on this planet, somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, sometime recently.

That should satisfy satisfy both the privacy and the ethics advocates, with the added benefit that a simple "copy and paste" will allow repeated blog insertion for the daily wholesale slaughter that occurs in LA - that we really shouldn't tell anyone about.

Don't want to upset anyone, eh?

[Blake Emerson]

If Leovy merely described a boy dead beside his bicycle, or officers arriving as the rain fell, the death would appear tragic and senseless, but it would appear innocent of political or social causes. On the other hand, if we merely list the statistics of racial disparity in homicide rates, we are confronted with only a mass of color coded data unrelated to human personality and worth. By combining facts about race with the radically specific and human circumstances of death, Leovy’s Homicide report makes a welcome contribution to a discourse about criminal justice that refuses to be colorblind.

Read on at: http://radicalnegative.blogspot.com/2007/12/la-times-homicide-report-race-and.html

[Paul E]

Anyone who's lived in large urban areas for any length of time knows that homicides (and all other categories of crime) involve a hugely disproportionate share of non-white perps and victims. Despite years of concerted efforts of mainstream media racial apologists to disguise this fact it was obvious to white newspaper readers. So the Times is to be commended for not trying to hide the obvious fact that criminal behavior is vastly more prevalent among non-whites - Asians excepted.

[Jonathan D.]

As long as the race of all perps and victims is reportedly without bias and across board, yes please report it. Don't some news casts report black/brown races, but not "white" if the criminal was caucasian? I recall that being a concern, but it may have been corrected--or should be if they're still glossing over "white." I get most of my news off the internet these days, less TV news, anyway.

[julie]

just reporting the facts, man.
i like the race additon, it helps paint the picture and doesn't glaze over the real problem at hand here - non-whites predominantly are killing each other for nothing EVERYDAY.

if the guy killed was named "james williams" etc it could be black or white person. names aren't always so cookie cutter.

James McCalister - i wouldnt hold my breath for them to change their format.

[James McCalister]

Posting race is really irrelevant provided that the media identifies the victim and or suspects by name. It's fairly obvious that "Shante Williams" is Black and "Oscar Villanueva" is Hispanic. It's only relevant when the suspect and or victim is White, because Whites are the least likely to be a victim and or suspect in a homicide. Therefore, in the future, only mention the race if the victim/suspect is White.

Thank-you

[Jane]

" We have to stop and ask ourselves whether there is something in the black and brown street cultures (rap? gangs? education? parenting?) that contributes to this genocide." Oakland.

Yes there is something: Poverty, racism, and lack of jobs. This is so outrageous. I'm so tired of people thinking that people are going to change their behavior in regards to not doing illegal activities if there are no jobs.

Ok say poor black and Latinos stopped being involved in gang activitiy stopped being in gangs will someone hire them? Heck no. If you apply for a job with the "wrong" zip code people will just throw your application away.

When I was trying to get a new apartment in Los Feliz some people wouldn't open the door and that was in 2000 when I just graduated from college and I'm from Los Feliz.

Why do people keep asking reasons as to why there is violence and poverty in the black and latino community? Especially ethnic people. I mean truly have people ever cracked open a history book, talked to their parents, grandparents. The pull yourself up by you bootstraps thing is crap. Who does that? I bet more than half of the people who work at the LA Times are working their because they knew someone, most jobs that pay good money don't take applications. It's about you knowing someone and black people and Latinos don't know anyone. And if you're 18 how exactly do you start your own business with no captial?

No one accepts applications.

In LA up unitl the 80s black people couldn't even live past La Brea unless they had a million dollars cash to pay up front.

Jane

[Jane]

I don't mind that the race is posted what I do mind is that in the LA Times people of African descent do not exist. Not in random features, not in random news, the politicians yes, BUT not what about the Calendar, what about those silly little stories about people. It's like black people don't exist for anything but to be copy for the homicide reporter.

I understand that percentage wise we're small, but still, the black community in LA has been here a long time. You guys fired Erin, I mean why can't you have a Latino and an African-American columinst, you can replace one of the many white men you have on staff. It's obvious in order to be covered in features you have to be friends with someone hence most people are friends with people who are the same race as them (and class) and so pretty much you don't see anyone but upper middle class white people and a sprinkle of Latinos covered in features.

Being covered in features is important because it makes people realize you're people and not just monsters, which if you read the LA Times you'd think the African-American community was filled with.

Jane

[Michael Sharpe]

One of the 'good' things about reporting race in homicide is that a community can reflect on what's going on within their community by using facts instead of speculation. I can see how the reporting seems 'hurtful' and divisive. The problem is going to have to be solved altogether without regard to race - that is if the murder rate is higher among African-American and latino males it's not a smart thing for whites to simply leave those communities to work it out as if it only pertained to them. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and a lot of leadership that needs to appear to bridge these gaps.

[jenny]

How and if possible can I read archive homocide reports from 2005?

[Slickrcc]

Yes, U should post Race, It is what It is!

[Tokatl]

As long as people identify people by racial tones and skin color in the general population, the is is relevant to list this information. And although it isn't significant in that a human died, it may be relevant in the reasoning of the murderer and possible identification of said person. It is a psychological issue.

[Marie]

I appreciate the detailed information provided in your reports, and race is an important factor. Thank you.

All media should be including race in their reports.

[LITA]

HAVE YOU PEOPLE EVER HEARD OF DEMOGRAPHICS, STATSTICS?? LISTING THE RACE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS LISITNG THE LOCATION OR SEX. LISTING OF THE RACES SHOULD BE A WAKEUP CALL TO EVERYONE TO SEE HOW THE VIOLENCE IS EFFECTING OUR PEOPLE. THE REPORT WOULD BE VERY BENIGN AND UNINFORMING WITHOUt THIS INFORMATION. I FEEL LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE RACE INFO ARE IN SERIOUS DENIAL.

[Michael Deaton]

I think it's a GREAT idea to mention race in all of your reports. It's very relevant to news of homicide. Keep up the truthful work.

[willie]

to jeff: the gangbangers didn't just start going to the suburbs. many places in the suburbs have had gang problems just as long as the city, north and east valley areas especially. and graffiti has been around for a long time,( ei. mount rushmore). instead of worrying about petty incidents, that you can only blame yourself for, you should spend more time informing yourself on the what is really relevant.

[The Quadfather]

When are you media types going to understand that it isn't your job to try to affect public perceptions. Your duty is to report the news as it is. The rule of thumb is:

Who: This includes racial information as well as gender and social status.
What: Just tell what happened, and everything that was important.
Where: Tell where it happened including neighborhood names.
When: When did it happen?
Why: So often I have heard reports where the bias is included by not telling why, making it sound like a random event. In the case of terror acts, it is often omitted that the perp was a muslim jiddhadist to site a good example.

Much harm is done by the media by their constant agendizing. IT AIN'T YOUR JOB. Just report, we'll decide.

[Sheryl]

Yeah, creating jobs as a means of lowering the homocide rate sounds really simple in Hollywood, but when the middle of the city GETS BURNED DOWN TWICE, I don't seen any ability for investors--including any local, state or federal agencies--to put any MONEY into those areas in terms of industry. The insurance alone has to be outrageous.

Companies have to make a profit to stay in business; they're not social agencies, they have stockholders they have to answer to. And companies can't make a profit if their property/inventory is constantly at risk for vandalism and worse, forcing their insurance rates to double and triple.

Shopping centers can't make a profit--even if they're very close to housing--if people won't shop there because of the fear of gangs/violence. For example: the Hawthorne Mall went out of business DESPITE A POLICE PRESENCE IN THE MALL because people not only in Hawthorne, but in the surrounding communities, felt they were at risk when they shopped there. I know that's why I took MY business to the South Bay Galleria and Del Amo Mall. It took almost 10 years for even the school district to take on PART of that space. It's going to sit there, empty, as well as it's enormous parking lot--and not because there aren't shoppers or workers in Hawthorne. But because of the costs and risk factors in trying to open or use it, and the fact that there are still gangs in Hawthorne.

Real estate companies aren't going to be real eager to build a lot of new multi-unit apartments/condos or try to get areas re-zoned for new subdivisions if they're going to have to deal with constant vandalism and the associated expense and repairs.

Who's responsible?

All of us, to some degree. Because both the killers and those being killed are generally teenagers, or those just barely out of their teens. Children.

Some of us are responsible for not standing up and correcting the out-of-control children in the streets of our own neighborhoods or the halls of our churchs and calling their parents out consistently for not raising their children right. We all know who these a**wipes are--we have to stop letting them get away with it.

Some of us for not taking time out to help out by joining mentoring programs designed to help kids who we KNOW have piss poor parenting at home give them an example of how to be a better person than their stupid parents. Can we not manage a even ONE Saturday afternoon a month?

LOTS of us for hiring that illegal adult to work the drive-thru or empty the trash cans, or do the yardwork, rather than the teenager who's looking to get into the job market. How is it in that in a 4% unemployment environment, the rate for teens is still more than 15%--and for African American teens, it's more than 32%? ENTRY LEVEL should mean job market entry, not illegal US entry!

All these issues have to be addressed much more seriously before the words "rebuilding of the city" can be any thing other than a bad Hollywood joke. What it's REALLY going to take is not the rebuilding of the city, but the reconstruction of our standards of expectations for everyone in this city, regardless of where they live--or die.

[Oakland]

As a black male, I feel that it is important to include the race of the victim and perpetrator, if known. The bottom line is that there are poor people of all races, but it appears that only poor blacks and Latinos are disproportionately homicide victims. We have to stop and ask ourselves whether there is something in the black and brown street cultures (rap? gangs? education? parenting?) that contributes to this genocide. To pretend that murder is color blind is politically correct nonsense. We must confront the stark reality and try to fix it.

[ruben]

i think its good you talk about race AND sex and age ....please people dont turn this into a race thing

[Alex]

I Like That you Guys List the Race of the victims in the homicide report,keep on doing what your doing,so people can be aware how Latino & Black men are so muck more suceptible to bein murdered in the streets of LA,& yea i Believe that poverty has alot to do with crime,cause where there's poverty there is a higher criminal element & less prevention progrmans

[Cameron]

To Sabrina: Would you still be opposed to the reporting of race if all of the victims were caucasian? I don't think so. They are just reporting the facts whether you agree with that or not. Whether or not you think it feeds into stereotypes is not relevant. You can't argue with facts.

To Ernest: Who exactly are you talking about? You make no sense with your paranoid racist calling rant. Maybe you should look in the mirror.

[Ken Robertson]

I am a very proud 47 year old african american male that grew up in Los Angeles and I have witnessed the evolution of the gangs and the black on black crime. I for one do not have a problem with the reporting of race in this blog because it is a REALITY.

This practice of hiding or omitting race when it comes to these issues because it's considered "Politically Correct" only helps to masquerade the plight of our community and our youth.

What we must realize is that we as african american men have made the largest contribution to this situation, how you ask? By the dismantling of our family structure.

Take a look at the number of single african american mothers in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000's. Each decade you see a significant increase, now bring in to play the television shows & music that is entertaining today's youth, it glorifies guns, violence, degrading our women, drugs, fast money, fathering children out of wedlock, hustling and MURDER.

Now couple that with the economic flight of the blue collar job market in California. Even though education may not have been the answer for everyone there once was a time you could obtain a very decent job with a high school diploma and live a comfortable life, General Motors, Goodyear, Hughes, McDonnell Douglas, Firestone just to name a few...well as we all know this is a thing of the past.

My point....there is a deeper problem here than just the reporting of race in these senseless crimes. Where and how do we start to look at the cause and some sort of solution to this problem? Education,Viable Employment Opportunities, Intervention........of course I'd be foolish to think we could solve it all, however we MUST begin to address it.

We have a generation of young adults who have total disregard for people, laws and life (their's or our's) and remember we are out there with them so who's to say our name won't be next if we don't begin to address OUR issue of black on black genocide.

[jeff]

We have all these gang-bangers coming to the suburbs now tagging everything in sight - destroying our communities, but the police are more interested in pulling over hard-working commuters on their way to work for not wearing their seatbelts. I used to respest cops, but now I can't stand them!

[oscar]

My problem is the inconsistency in reporting race. Look at the two most recent homicides listed from Compton. One lists the race of the perpetrator and the other doesn't although presumably the perpetrator's race would be known given the other details of the crime. It seems that if the suspect is black there's a guarantee that the race will be mentioned, but if not the race may or may not be mentioned. I notice many cases where the victim is black but the race of the suspect is not noted. If you're going to note the race at least be consistent. If the race of the suspect is unknown then state that so you don't give the appearance of withholding information. Otherwise your effort looks suspect (no pun intended).

[Bunny]

I clearly recall they did NOT state the race of Whites when a crime was committed in televised news reports and some newspaper articles. The reporter would say a black male or a hispanic male or chinese but when a white person was involved they would just say a 35 year old male. But it's better to state the race of all. This is what helps with statistic reports.

[DW]

The problem I have with the justifications that are given for reporting race is that blacks and latinos are not vulnerable simply because they are black or latino. They are statistically more likely to be victims, but race is not the cause of that likelihood. As mentioned before, age, time of day, location, income level, and gang affiliation are just as statistically significant if not more so. The latter three of these are what cause the racial/ethnic disparities - otherwise middle class black neighborhoods in Ladera Heights and Culver City would also see high rates of homicides - which they don't. It all boils down to economics: low income, gangs, and the neighborhoods in Los Angeles that suffer from these two problems are disproportionally inhabited by the two afforementioned ethnic groups. How to solve that problem is a whole different matter entirely.
I's be curious to know what the murder rates for whites and asians living in low income, gang infested neighborhoods are; likewise for middle or upper class blacks and latinos living in more affluent areas. Pointing out race/ethnicity without emphasizing the real underlying root economic causes just contributes to unwarranted stereotyping.

[willie verga]

apperently chris, you only read what you want to read. last year there were several cases of african-americans accused of hate crimes in los angeles county. the media continues doing it's job of distorting reality. take a look at the homicide map. where do most of these homicides occur? in places where there are less than 1% caucasian. it' so easy for you to sit back and pass judgement, when the real problem is establishing the proper resources for these areas. not just more police, but establishing better resouces, namely education.

[chris]

hmm, reading these numbers of so called "MINORITY" fatalities is quite interesting. i thought the "HATE CRIMES" legislation was supposed to solve this problem. after all, we all know it was to target caucasian men. its nice to see that only a white man is capable of a "HATE CRIME" while these acts are considered "BLIND RAGE". hmm, good job liberal california! this is why i left and am not coming back!

[Steve]

Race is relevant. Age is relevant. Gender is relevant. All sorts of demographic information are relevant to understanding our society, with its problems and achievements alike. I appreciate the fact that this blog tells us where and how these homicides occur.

There is always a risk of oversimplifying or mischaracterizing a problem by distilling it down to race, ethnicity or some single factor. But it's still appropriate to inform the public as thoroughly as is practical, and leave it to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.

[Kevin]

I am a resident of LA and I am glad to see this blog exists. The murders that go on in this city are so frequent that we rarely hear anything about them on the news. While Jill Leovy states that the murder rate of LA is not particularly high compared to other large US cities, I am stunned when I see the number of dots on the homicide map.

Perhaps if there were more awareness of how many people are being killed, then maybe people will stand up and do something about it. What needs to be addressed is the root cause of the problem, which is not necessarily race, but the fact that there is a huge income disparity between groups of people in this city.

The sad part is that the people in the low homicide areas, couldn't care less about the gang issues that create violence or the reasons that gangs exist. The people who have the political muscle to do anything about this ignore such problems.

I live in Hollywood and see this whole "rebuilding" of the city where shopping centers are being constructed with housing etc. This creates jobs and gets people off the streets. I worked at the King Drew Med center for several years and I would drive the neighborhoods and see NOTHING being renovated by the city.

If there are some community efforts to create jobs in low income areas, then perhaps people wouldn't have to rob people or sell drugs and be in gangs to get by! This is a societal issue not a race issue!

[Nancy]

Wiithout a DNA test or the ability to question the person to ask how he or she would identify him/her self, what is really being reported as "race" is appearance. Perhaps this section could be re-named and thus be more specific, and possibly include more details of the appearance.

[Sabrina]

Despite the apologetics I read here, I still feel it is inappropriate and a case of BAD journalism to put peoples races/ethnicities into a homicide report. It is completely irrelevant, and just feeds into stereotyping of minorities as having more criminality than white people. This is very hurtful to see such things in the papers, and hear mean spirited racist then use these "facts" to hold it against people of color. As a parent and a grandparent, I really wish the homicide report would refrain from such reportage.

[allen]

So it is obvious that black males suffer the most but does anyone care to put forth action to address this problem? If this is so extraordinarily true, should there not be an emergency campaign to save our black males?

[Lionel N. Henry, Jr.]

I am not alarmed by the high murder rate for young Afro-American males in America. This is a problem that must be addressed within our own community. I work in the Criminal Justice System and Black America is allowing these young black boys to kill each other. Where is Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on this issue? The only person willing to comfort the problem is Bill Crosby. You can no longer blame White America for problems that are dismantling a group of young black males.

[Ernest]

It's funny how all these RACISTS are falling all over themselves to "applaud" the Times for listing race in its Homicide Report,
as if it somehow proves their ignorant racist views of the world.

The Times' reasons for listing race and age are well considered and well-explained and are justified for the purposes of this Homicide Report .
What the ignorant masses should consider is that gang affiliation, time of day, location and income-level demographics are just as readily apparent in these homicides. But since racists are ignorant by definition, I guess they aren't intellectually capable of that analysis.

I "applaud" the Times for its laudable motives and commendable professionalism in presenting the Homicide Report. Some of us get it.

[steve]

I applaud you for taking the politically incorrect step of reporting the race of victims and perpatrators. How about going further and report who is illegally in the country.

[Gary]

I think race information is important in getting a true picture of what is going on. I do not understand, however, why its not included in all types of reporting.

[Evita]

Perhaps if LAPD would revoke Special Order 40 they could get a handle on the gang violence.

[Paul]

It is not only 'okay' to use racial information, but it is a must! If we are not honest about who suspects and recepients are of these murders than we are kidding ourselves in trying to solve these problems. It is important to draw attention to the African-American and latino populations that cause harm to the rest of the city and county. If you don't like it then you should ask yourself why knowing the truth hurts.

[Nathan Govan]

I am a black man and these are sobering statistics. I want to be able to say that this is a misrepresentation of the facts, but how can I? Although the murder rate is probably higher in LA than where I am, we still have a ridiculous murder rate for a city so small (Richmond, VA). I used to live in California and I was surprised at the brutality of the gang life there. It is disgusting. All of you that are in gangs are disgusting and help to devalue your people and neighborhood faster than anything that the 'man' can do.

[Simon]

The facts of these homicides are sad...but true. Gang violence is emerging as a great problem even here in South Carolina. Posting victim information may provide leads in solving these cases, even if some of us are uneasy about the fact that minority youths are dying at alarming rates.

[R George MacKenzie]

I agree with your decision to report race /ethnicity and other relevant descriptor to better identify who is at risk and where. It is indeed tragic to see such senseless violence inflicted on often apparently innocent by-standers