Police went to Benning Road and attempted to stop the Jeep, Bonilla said, then gave chase when Hamlin allegedly tried to drive away. The Jeep crashed into a crosswalk signpost at the intersection of New York Avenue and M Street NW. Hamlin, who police said lives in Northwest Washington, was taken into custody and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and felony fleeing.

I learned everything I know about Professor Marcum’s death through the Washington Post; after feeling shock and sadness over this violent, awful crime, what struck me about this story yesterday was how quickly readers turned to race, when discussing the murder. Seven of the first eight comments are solely about race, class and the Post’s coverage of homicide. Here are the first two:

The ninth comment, left by “icarus0720au” is the first to address the loss of this beloved member of the AU community:

Further down, readers who knew may or may not have known Professor Marcum were upset that the comments were about race vs. loss:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/montgomery/woman-dead-in-moco-home-foul-p.html?hpid=newswell

I spent six years helping to build an online community for the South Asian diaspora where I was particularly vocal about the need for courtesy, compassion and respect. I used to remind our readers that whenever we blogged about someone who had died, friends and family of the deceased would inevitably find that post whether soon after their loss or years later. I’d remind people to remember that fact when choosing their words. But that was a unique, niche space and not the Washington Post. Our audience was tiny, and more targeted in comparison.

I understand the desire to express pain and sadness at a terrible loss; I also understand that others who are not connected to the tragedy may choose to focus on larger problems which plague society, whether such commentary is welcome or not. The question is, where is it appropriate to hash out such issues? Who has the right to comment threads? Or perhaps, who has *more* of a right to them, if such a thing could be determined? If you can’t talk about perceived inequality in the Post’s news coverage at the Washington Post, where can you discuss it?

I hope that DCentric is able to become that rare space where informed conversation about difficult topics occurs. We’re just starting out, so at this point, just a conversation or, you know, a comment or two would be great…but down the line, as more people feel comfortable talking to each other here, I hope that we can be a safe space for making sense of it all, a place which is defined by thoughtful exchanges and mutual respect.

vincentgallegos

WAMU 88.5's Kojo Nnamdi, last Fall, Busboys and Poets

So yesterday, the Twitterz were burning up with a link to an opinion piece that WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi had written for The Washington Post. It’s a great read– except for one problem. The title. WaPo called it, “For D.C., Vince Gray’s election is a bold step backward”…but that’s not what Kojo wrote:

The District today is becoming more racially, ethnically and culturally diverse than it has been in my 41 years here. The tax base is expanding, something every mayor in every city finds desirable. But this also means more affluent residents are displacing poorer residents. And with our city’s troubled racial history,gentrification can be socially and politically volatile.

That volatility has resulted in Mayor Adrian Fenty’s ouster. Vincent Gray, a decent and thoughtful man, benefited from black voters’ anger at Fenty, a result of four years of real and perceived slights by the mayor toward his black constituents. But that anger has propelled us into a future that concerns me. While the past should inform the future, it shouldn’t handcuff it…

It’s crucial that the city’s white residents understand that assertions of a post-racial District — where a mayor should not be expected to take race into account when crafting policies or making appointments — ignore the sensitivities of their black neighbors who have seen generations of dreams crushed by discrimination and racism and don’t appreciate being advised to “get over” their pain.

I was completely confused by this jamming of an eye-catching, controversial title on to a thoughtful article which doesn’t match it, at all, until I read this, in the comments section, from a Knnamdi:

I wrote this article to explain my view of the challenge Vincent Gray faces. The headline is a complete distortion of my point of view.

It’s unfortunate that the Post chose to do this– anyone who merely scanned the headline/byline (how many people still have the time to thoughtfully peruse the Sunday paper?) would probably be surprised and perhaps disappointed by what looks like a hatchet job on Vincent Gray, without realizing what had occurred to Kojo’s words, during editing.

UPDATE- Kojo confirms that was his comment.