Did the Sun-Star Play the Race Card?
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Submitted by ReporterLeslieA... on Thu, 2008-04-03 08:18. |
First of all, can someone explain to me the origin of the phrase "race card"? I checked in with my favorite unreliable reference, Wikipedia, and couldn't find a good answer.
According to some readers, the Sun-Star "played the race card" recently when we ran a story about a controversy at Applegate Park.
The story (by me) was about a group of residents on W. 26th Street who are fed up with the noise and cars that accompany daily games of volleyball, top spin and kator (kick volleyball) at the park.
The games are played exclusively by Southeast Asian men. The neighbors seem to be mostly white, although I didn't poll everyone on their ethnic background.
An obvious question in my mind and in readers' minds is whether the neighbors' discomfort with the rowdy games could be motivated in part by the fact that they're played by foreigners who look different from them and don't speak English.
Instead of ignoring the issue, I asked resident Gina Peters about it. She told me that she's not concerned about who is using the park -- she's worried about what they're doing in the park. She also said she and her neighbors worry that they could be perceived as discriminating against the Southeast Asian game-players.
I thought those were valid points and I included them both in the story. The graf was far down in the article, appearing after I listed the neighbors' concerns about noise, traffic, torn up turf and illegal gambling.
But when the story ran the next day, the headline said, "Does race play a part in residents' criticism of park plan?"
This didn't sit well with some readers. In online comments, readers said I was practicing "bad journalism," that I should be ashamed of myself and that I lack integrity.
(It always amuses me that the people who write the nastiest comments about us reporters on the Sun-Star's Web site are the ones who don't post their real names with their comments. Some day I'd like to sit down with "DancingQueen" and "Reflections" so we can talk about all the ways I have failed as a reporter.)
I also got an e-mail from one of the neighbors (he included his name).
He wrote: "I just want you to know that my complaints about the city's proposed plans are based on the effects of overuse of this area of the park, and not on race. Actually, the tuj lub game is very cool, but the concentrated use is destroying the turf in an area of the park which, without question, was designed for beauty, picknicking and an occasional volleyball, badminton, kick volleyball or wiffle ball game. The turf is being destroyed, and with it, the beauty of this part of the park....Anyway, this is a tough issue, and I don't think the headline about race is going to help the neighbors and the user group resolve it together."
I responded to him the same way I responded to an elected official who told me he thought the Sun-Star had done a "disservice" by "throwing out the race card."
I wrote:
"As at most newspapers, the reporters here at the Sun-Star don't write the headlines. The Copy Desk writes the headline after the story has been filed, usually after the reporter has gone home for the day. We read them when you read them.
I think race is one dimension to this story. But there are other facets to it as well, such as, what is considered "normal use" in a public park, how much say should neighbors have in the park's future, etc. If you read my entire story, you will see that I attempted to address all of the issues and questions in a fair way. The story is not only about race. But not mentioning race at all would be ignoring an obvious question on readers' minds."
As our Copy Desk Chief Jesse Chenault pointed out to me, all the headline did was raise the question of race. Apparently that was too much for some people.
But I'll also mention this: the one person who called to thank me for writing the story was someone who's not white. He was most definitely not concerned that the Sun-Star had played the "race card."
Come on...you state
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Submitted by Reflections on Sat, 2008-04-05 05:33.
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Come on...you state that the nastiest comments are ones who do not provide their real names? Is that fair? Is this an unbiased survey that you took? Maybe I am wrong, but the majority of responders do not use their personal names; I think this is most appropriate for safety reasons.
Your response appears to me that you have taken it personaly the comments people have made about the professionalism of your article. I understand very well the journalistic system but it does not make it right. Please do not use the martyr card if you are going to put your signature on an article.
We Need a 100 acre Park!!!!!
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Submitted by E on Fri, 2008-04-04 10:54.
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I think the real issue is that space is limited. Why dont we have a park where all residents can enjoy recreational activities without feeling like they are crowding someone out...I believe merced has over 150thousand people and guess what Applegate park is not enough..City planners didnt foresee that there would be this many people or they did and didnt plan correctly.Space is the issue here not race so dont spin it to be racial.....We need a 100 acre park in merced simple and plain.
You got thrown under the bus, Leslie
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Submitted by mercedisawesome on Thu, 2008-04-03 15:19.
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Yeah Leslie, your editors pretty much threw you under the bus on this one. Sadly, most readers won't ever see this blog and won't ever realize you didn't write the headline. I hope whoever did write it has apologized to you. Headlines like that make the whole paper seem very "tabloid".
Did the Sun-Star Play the Race Card?
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Submitted by Starters_mom on Thu, 2008-04-03 13:09.
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What that title to your story did was create those feelings even if race was not a issue. I think you brought about the thought in the players minds that race was brought up more than it was. I think it hurt. We have enough trouble with race and other issues without creating them. Sensationalistic it was and it got everyone's attention and it probably sold more papers. There were some heated discussions before your newspaper took the story down online. Merced Sun Star as a part of the community, was that story line suppose to bring the neighbors, asians and city together and work on their differences for the playing field?
Headlines and Race Cards
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Submitted by heidiwrites on Thu, 2008-04-03 10:01.
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At most of the papers that I've written for, I was required to file a headline with my story, but nine times out of ten my headlines were tossed by the copy editor prior to publication. This always surprised me because sometimes my heads were good -- I won numerous awards for headline writing when I was in J-school. Still, the silent power of the copy editor is something I rarely felt comfortable challenging, so I feel for you in this.
The term "playing the race card" is an obvious allusion to the ability to "play an Ace" in poker -- which gives the player with the Ace the advantage. So for people to accuse the SunStar of playing a winning card is somewhat true. The volatile issue of race is up there with blood, gore and sex when it comes to attracting readers, which sells papers. Because of that, I also understand the copy editor's choice to use it in the headline. How many readers would have read beyond the lead if the headline had read: Neighbors concerned over loss of grass at Applegate Park?
I can't tell you how many times I used to wish I could explain their own motivations to these readers -- who usually aren't even aware of them themselves. To be honest, as much as I loved it, I still don't regret giving up journalism as a career. :)
The Origin of the Race Card
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Submitted by E on Fri, 2008-04-04 10:58.
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Do you all remember a trial that happened in the late nineties....The OJ trial is the first time we heard of the cliche the RACE CARD....Actually a journalist on a Los Angeles News show.....I could be wrong but i think thats its origin.....
Syndicate
New buzz word
Thank you, Leslie, for explaining what happened to your article. You did a great job, both then and now. Another term (or buzz word) I've heard used is "disparate impact", which I understand to be the case in this issue. A particular group of people is being improperly identified as a "problem". I thought I read in your first article that the city had approved a plan to create courts years ago. Is that correct? If the neighbors have "real" issues, our city officials should review them. I would consider excessive noise, parking, or use of alcohol/drugs "real" issues. They would be adressed whether they were occuring in this instance, or at the skate park area, or kiddie land, for that matter.
John Alexander