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Comment by pfannkuchen | Hacker News Reader

Why does the lead photo prominently feature a “racism is a sin” sign and the article immediately mentions PoC victims in Oakland? Isn’t the vast majority of PoC victimhood in Oakland intraracial? Not many Klansmen walking around Oakland. Annoying race baiting from NPR.

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That's presumably the sign outside the church of the pastor they interviewed. He puts up wooden crosses for each homicide. Makes sense if you've read the article.

Yes, I read the explanation. The actual explanation has no racial component. The sign, and NPR prominently featuring the sign, implies that the explanation does have a racial component, even though it does not. Hence my complaint.

Oh, you asked why the sign was in the photo as though you thought it wasn't associated with the story in any way. It gives a little background context for the type of Catholic church whose pastor was interviewed. I don't know if you've spent much time in various Catholic congregations, but the sentiment that racism is bad is not echoed in a disturbing number of them. It's unfortunate that you are offended at the sign being used as a framing piece for the article.

The caption directly under the lead photo explains why it was chosen.

Is "race baiting" really a sufficiently specific description? How often does NPR/NYTimes/Washington Post/CNN/.. highlight the race of white victims, as opposed to PoC?

I would guess they are bringing up racism in the systemic sense. That relatively little resources are used to investigate those murders.

Isn’t that like relabeling accidental deaths on public property as “systemic murder”, ignoring that the word “murder” connotes intent?

Perhaps a graph of police resources used by race, per capita, could substantiate that claim. Because the article doesn't even make the claim (except perhaps implicitly), let alone offer proof of it.

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