"A journalist who fails to recognize [they have] blind spots can unintentionally distort the meaning of [their] reporting. Not understanding the country’s racial history can unwittingly convince even the best journalists to write about minority groups in ways that can lead to harmful racial stereotypes—or exclude them from coverage all together. That’s why implicit bias researchers are more concerned with providing journalists with tools to help them recognize their biases than expecting training to automatically lead to changed behavior." -Issac J. Bailey 

• A study in Los Angeles found that 37% of the suspects portrayed on television news stories about crime were black, although blacks made up only 21% of those arrested in the city.
• Another study found that whites represented 43% of homicide victims in the local news, but only 13% of homicide victims in crime reports.
• While only 10% of victims in crime reports were whites who had been victimized by blacks, these crimes made up 42% of televised cases.
•  A study of television news found that black crime suspects were presented in more threatening contexts than whites: black suspects were disproportionately shown in mug shots and in cases where the victim was a stranger.
• Black and Latino suspects were also more often presented in a non-individualized way than whites (unnamed) and were more likely to be shown as threatening, by being depicted in physical custody of the police.
• Blacks and Hispanics were also more likely to be treated aggressively by police officers on reality-based TV shows, including America’s Most Wanted and Cops. 

As we confront racism in contemporary times, which is just a continuation of the centuries of racism that were emphasized during the Civil Rights Movement, we are challenged by the same hindrances which challenged James Baldwin. The debate does not necessarily concern whether these articles are entirely bad – they are not – rather it is to reinforce Baldwin’s idea to work away from work that is “so far from being disturbing, is an accepted and comforting aspect of the American scene, ramifying that framework we believe to be so necessary" (Baldwin). We often turn to written word as a means of revolution, yet we are stuck in quite the vicious cycle of attempting to break free yet remaining confined in our racist understandings of the world. After all, how could the written word, condensed into a digestable story, effectively mirror the experiences and effects of racism for an entire population? Although Baldwin does criticize this type of writing, he does not deem it entirely useless. As readers, we must remain vigilant when studying and reading any writing 'committed' to social justice. No matter its intention, we must begin to analyze what is missing, whose stories are not told, question our interpretations of possibly racist stereotypes, and be mindful of how we write and speak about said works. As a reader, try not to fall into this trap – engage with these works constantly inquisitive and with intention. In 2020, it is far too easy to feel far divorced from the times of slavery and feel that it is an easy moral question in hindsight: but the racism that led to slavery (and *everything else*) is not gone. It is rampant and ingrained and systemic. It needs to be deeply and thoughtfully analyzed and changed, and that starts with how we engage with the subject, in the news or real life. 

 It can be disheartening to see racism in so many things, especially literature created with perhaps good intention, but it is worthy to imagine how those who bear racism feel enduring it.  This is an important yet not impossible fight. -Mary A. Kardos