On Sunday, a woman lights candles at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting at Tops Market in Buffalo, NY
Photos by Scott Olson / Getty
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Photos by Scott Olson / Getty
On Sunday, a woman lights candles at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting at Tops Market in Buffalo, NY
Photos by Scott Olson / Getty
When news broke about the 18-year-old white supremacist suspect behind Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo, NY, in which 10 people died and 3 others were injured, several news organizations and Commentators have given various descriptions of the suspect as a Manas one Teenager and like a child.
Critics are asking: If the suspect was Black, would he be described and treated similarly?
Learn after learn shows that Black children – from 5 years of age through adolescence – are often considered older than their actual physical and developmental age. As a result, these children are often judged as more adult-like and less innocent than their white counterparts.
That difference in perception is reflected many times in the media. When Michael Brown, Black and 18 years old, was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo. in 2014, the AP called Brown a “Man”; After Saturday’s Buffalo shooting, the same news organization called the suspect a “white teen,” as scholar and journalist Steven Thrasher pointed out on Twitter.
At least some college-age dubious people often enjoy the benefits of being seen as young and needing adult protection – not just by the media but also by law enforcement. After Dylann Roof – a 21-year-old white young man – was killed nine black churchgoers in Charleston, SC in 2015, police bought him a Burger King Meal after he was arrested. When Kyle Rittenhouse – white and 17 years old – shoot dead people two people in Kenosha, Wisc. in 2020, he was in police custody without incident or injury. In Buffalo, some people in the Black community are asked How the suspect in Saturday’s shooting was able to peacefully surrender to the police.
By contrast, critics are naming famous young black victims killed by police – like 12-year-olds Rice Tamir and 23 years old Eljah McClain – who did not like such consideration.
Note that in the AP copy, 18-year-old Michael Brown is “18-year-old black youth,” while 18-year-old Payton Gendron is “white teen.” pic.twitter.com/53Jt1vWuqf
– Dr. Thrasher (@thrasherxy) May 15, 2022
The Buffalo suspect experienced both life stages, during a critical period of adolescence. When he was still a legal child, there were concerns about the suspect in the Buffalo shooting – enough that state police introduce him for a mental health assessment last year, when police said he threatened to shoot a gun against his high school.
At a community vigil held Sunday, Father Tim Brown emphasized that Buffalo suspect’s racist views were formed when he was still a child, said Quil Lawrence of NPR report. “It’s just because someone is having a conversation that divides our people as a race and humanity,” Brown said.
