Today Show Only Covers Stories with Black Rapists

Apparently the producers at the Today Show did not read my last post about the lack of diversity in campus rape stories.

They highlighted the stories of two women survivors – one at Indiana University and the other at Wake Forest University. They had this weird thing where they felt that during an 8 minute clip they had to keep showing pictures of these (Big Bad Black)  rapists OVER AND OVER during their narratives. It is so sad that there is so much focus on the images of the perpetrators when I still think it should be about the ramifications of violence on the survivors. I wish there was more emphasis on the consequences of not properly handling campus sexual assault- not just on an individual level, but what it means for our society as a whole.

I think we should start doing a NEW trend in covering campus sexual assault: Media Turns Blind Eye to Campus Rape Stories that Don’t Perfectly Fit into What They Want (okay I may have to work on the title more). But I am becoming increasingly inclined to just ignore further media coverage of campus rape. I feel like the coverage is shallow and does little (if anything) to solve the problem.

By concentrating on certain types cases, I feel that many colleges feel like they will not have to worry about media pressure since so many cases do not even go as far as we see on TV: many don’t bother reporting, many file a report but get it ignored, many aren’t raped by a popular black athlete, many get to the point of a hearing, but  the perpetrators don’t get punished AT ALL, etc.

The impact of sexual violence is just so much more than what we’re seeing.  The thing about campus rape is that often the perpetrator isn’t a felon; they are someone who is a boyfriend, a classmate, a friend. Sometimes the perpetrator may even be *gasp* white! But as long as producers and reporters feel like they have to craft the perfect combination of demonization, sensationalizing, and pity instead of actually caring about the end of sexual violence, many will continue to be marginalized and silenced.

You can view the clip on the Huffington Post (but you’ve been warned).