{"id":121,"date":"2024-12-06T23:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T23:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wri101.kaitlynparker.dcreate.domains\/?p=121"},"modified":"2024-12-07T19:39:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T19:39:18","slug":"essay-3-revised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wri101.kaitlynparker.dcreate.domains\/?p=121","title":{"rendered":"Essay 3 Revised"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Implicit Bias and the Media; How Unconscious Biases Can Lead to Subtle Racism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mass incarceration is a serious problem in America. Prisons are overflowing. Numbers increase daily. Michelle Alexander\u2019s discussion of mass incarceration emphasizes systemic racism, focusing on how racial bias is enforced without overt hostility. She asserts that systemic racism wasn\u2019t built to harm black people by saying, \u201cNot every aspect of a racial caste system needs to be developed for the specific purpose of controlling black people in order for it to operate to trap them at the bottom of a racial hierarchy\u201d (Alexander 229). Alexander highlights how overt racism isn\u2019t necessary for systemic racism to function. But this doesn\u2019t mean that racial animus is gone. Today, it takes a more subtle form that Jennifer Eberhardt defines as implicit bias, or \u201cThe beliefs and the feelings we have about social groups that can influence our decision making and our actions, even when we\u2019re not aware of it\u201d (Eberhard). In other words, implicit bias unconsciously influences us to favor certain groups. Eberhardt argues that implicit bias leaks into all aspects of society by saying, \u201cThe reach of implicit bias\u2026is powerful, enduring and underrecognized, especially in the context of criminal justice\u201d (Scott). When mass incarceration discussions focus on systemic racism, it\u2019s easy for us to forget that the old overt racism hasn\u2019t disappeared. It\u2019s evolved into a more subtle form we easily overlook: implicit bias. Elizabeth Hinton explains that a close look at media reveals how implicit bias leads to \u201cSensationalized media coverage and fearmongering\u201d (Hinton 6). This essay will analyze two similar criminal cases to expose the media\u2019s implicit bias. Despite a possible tendency to assume that racism is gone, implicit bias in media exposes deep-seated and enduring racial hostilities that reflect and reinforce systemic racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two cases discussed in this paper feature similar crimes, but perpetrators of different races. In August 1986, white Robert Chambers raped and killed white Jennifer Levin in Central Park (Freedman). As Chambers\u2019 trial gained popularity, newspapers called his crime The Preppy Murder. Chambers was 19 at the time, and Levin was 18. They had known each other for about two months and had dated on and off during that time. After arriving at a bar separately, they left together. Early the next morning, Levin was found dead. Chambers was convicted and given 15 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter (Sullivan). The media called the next famous crime the Central Park Jogger case or CPJ. In April 1989, five black and Hispanic teenagers from 14 to 15 years old were arrested for the alleged sexual assault of 28-year-old white Trisha Meili, who survived but suffered brain loss (Baldwin). They maintained their innocence during the trial, but the police had illegally elicited confessions from the boys after their arrests. Despite the only evidence being that the boys had been in the park that night, they were sentenced to 7 to 13 years in prison (Baldwin). <\/strong>These two cases are strikingly similar except that white Chambers killed his victim, and the minority teenagers did not.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it is reasonable to assume that these similar crimes would be treated the same, the media showed implicit bias in portraying the perpetrators. Media, including New York Times articles surrounding Chambers\u2019 trial, displayed him as a traditional American boy not capable of murder. One article published two days after the crime described Chambers as someone who, \u201cPossessed charisma and mature good looks rare for a 19-year-old. He stood 6 feet 4 inches tall, weighed 220 pounds, and was a gifted athlete\u201d (Freedman). The article continued with this characterization by describing how Chamber\u2019s yearbook read ”Nothing less than total success” (Freedman) under his senior photograph. The bar owner where Chambers and Levin were seen the night of the crime voiced a high view of Chambers by saying, \u201cThe nicest kid you’d want to meet\u201d (Freedman). The media described Chambers as athletic, successful, and attractive \u2013 someone who did not mean to hurt Levin. While Chambers was portrayed in a positive light, the minority teenagers involved in the other crime were not. One of the most striking moves to paint the boys in an overly negative light came from Donald Trump. He published a flaming article in four big-name newspapers, including the New York Times, showing some of the most extreme racism seen in print that decade. His article is full of shocking phrases such as, \u201cI want to hate these murderers and I always will\u201d, \u201cThey should be forced to suffer\u201d and \u201cI want them to be afraid\u201d (Ransom). Trump believed that his racist hatred was justified because the young boys involved in the case embodied the \u2018wild criminals\u2019 that were persecuting the city.  Just as Hinton discusses, in both cases New York City\u2019s public opinion was influenced by biased, sensationalized media \u2013 painting Chambers as a good guy and the teenage boys as wild criminals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In addition to the perpetrators being described differently by the media, so were the victims, raising the question of the relationship between sexism and racism. In considering the role of bias in media, one might argue that newspapers enforce sexism stronger than racism. In other words, sexism in newspapers is a bigger problem than racism. We can consider this argument by examining the sexism that played a significant role in the Preppy Murder. Chambers didn\u2019t confess to the crime after his arrest. Instead, he pleaded that Levin accidentally died during \u2018rough sex\u2019 where she harassed him (Chokshi). Chambers attempted to frame himself as the victim, even pleading \u201cShe was the one who was the aggressor\u201d (Freedman). The media was quick to trust Chamber\u2019s account, and article titles like \u2018Jenny killed in wild sex\u2019 and \u2018Sex play got rough\u2019 slashed across newspapers. In cases of sexual assault, women are often blamed for prompting the perpetrator\u2019s actions through clothing or behavior. It makes sense that media coverage quickly latched onto Chambers\u2019 story and reduced Levin from a young woman with a bright future to a sex craze who somehow was responsible for her death. A couple of years later the CPJ case depicts how, although sexism is a strong force, racism is stronger. Media coverage described the white victim Meili as an extremely successful investment banker. She was portrayed as ‘brilliant, probably one of the top four or five students of the decade’ (Farber), ‘an accomplished ballet student,’ and a nominee for a Rhodes Scholarship. Instead of framing her as somehow responsible for her assault, newspapers willing heaped the blame on the minority teenagers. Journalists\u2019 racism and implicit bias overruled their sexism. When sexism and racism are both present, racism wins. The media gave Levin a negative light because she and Chambers were both white but gave white Meili a positive one when her perpetrators were minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as the victims were displayed differently, there is a difference in the perpetrators\u2019 presumption of innocence. In the CPJ case, the boys fought against implicit bias and an assumption of guilt from the start. Eberhardt discusses how implicit bias applies to minors by claiming, \u201cPeople show greater support for life sentences for juveniles when they read about a case involving a Black defendant than when the case involves a white defendant\u201d (Scott). From the start, the boys were fighting an uphill battle against a system that is rich with implicit bias and built to incarcerate black defendants. In the trial, this implicit bias was evident in how law enforcement handled genetic testing that they \u201choped would link\u201d (Sullivan) the teenagers to the crime. When the testing did not match any of the boys, they recorded it as inconclusive instead of proof of their innocence. Law enforcement was searching for any evidence to convict the boys, whether they were guilty or not. The implicit bias seen in the CPJ case became evident in 2002 when Mathias Reyes belatedly confessed to raping Meili, proving the boys\u2019 innocence (Chancer). The teenagers did not commit the crime. Yet, during the trial, the public, the judge, and the jury willingly closed their eyes to the possibility that the boys might not be guilty. For Chambers, however, they had open ears for his fabricated story of Levin dying from rough sex. The boys were found guilty from the start while attractive Chambers was given an undeserved presumption of innocence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander\u2019s discussion of systemic racism is important to the overall conversation of mass incarceration, but so is the recognition of implicit bias as a subtle form of discrimination. Hinton underlines the danger of sensationalized media with unchecked implicit bias. In the 1980s, the media portrayed a white man in a positive light and minority teenagers in a negative one, proving Eberhardt\u2019s argument that, when unchecked, implicit bias runs wild (Scott). In Just Mercy, <\/em>Bryan Stevenson says, \u201cYou can\u2019t understand most things from a distance\u2026You have to get close\u201d (Stevenson 14). Even with much racism eradicated from our culture, it\u2019s dangerous for us to ignore the new, sometimes unconscious form of racism. We need to get close to the problem of implicit bias so we can understand it, see bias in ourselves, and strive to counteract it in our thoughts and actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow<\/em>. The New Press, 2010. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baldwin, C. (2001). The Development of Rhetorical Privilege in the News Reporting of Violent Crime. Race, Gender & Class (Towson, Md.)<\/em>, 8<\/em>(4), 8\u201319.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chancer, Lynn. \u201cBefore and After the Central Park Jogger: When Legal Cases Become Social Causes.\u201d Sage Journals<\/em>, 2005, journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/epdf\/10.1525\/ctx.2005.4.3.38. Accessed 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chokshi, Niraj. \u201cEric Schneiderman, Consent and Domestic Violence.\u201d New York Times<\/em>, 8 May 2018, www.nytimes.com\/2018\/05\/08\/nyregion\/consent-sexual-assault-rough-sex.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eberhardt, Jennifer L. Biased Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do<\/em>. Viking Press , 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farber, M. A. \u201c\u2018Smart, Driven\u2019 Woman Overcomes Reluctance.\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, 17 July 1990, www.nytimes.com\/1990\/07\/17\/nyregion\/smart-driven-woman-overcomes-reluctance.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forman, James. \u201cHein Online.\u201d \u201cRacial Critiques of Mass Incarceration: Beyond the New Jim Crow.,\u201d<\/em> Apr. 2012, heinonline.org\/HOL\/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals\/nylr87&id=2154&men_tab=srchresults. Accessed 22 July 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u200bFreedman, Samuel G. \u201cDARKNESS BENEATH THE GLITTER: LIFE OF SUSPECT IN PARK SLAYING.\u201d New York Times<\/em>, 28 Aug. 1986, www.nytimes.com\/1986\/08\/28\/nyregion\/darkness-beneath-the-glitter-life-of-suspect-in-park-slaying.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hinton, Elizabeth. From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime, The Making of Mass Incarceration in America<\/em>. Harvard University Press, 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott, Sam. \u201cA Hard Look at How We See Race.\u201d Stanford Magazine<\/em>, 2015, stanfordmag.org\/contents\/a-hard-look-at-how-we-see-race. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy<\/em>. Penguin Random House LLC. , 2014. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sullivan, Ronald. \u201cCHAMBERS GETS 5 TO 15 YEARS AND OFFERS APOLOGY IN COURT.\u201d New York Times<\/em>, 16 Apr. 1988, www.nytimes.com\/1988\/04\/16\/nyregion\/chambers-gets-5-to-15-years-and-offers-apology-in-court.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sullivan, Ronald. \u201cGenetic Tests \u2018Inconclusive\u2019 In Jogger Rape.\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, 10 Oct. 1989, www.nytimes.com\/1989\/10\/10\/nyregion\/genetic-tests-inconclusive-in-jogger-rape.html. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ransom, Jan. \u201cTrump Will Not Apologize for Calling for Death Penalty Over Central Park Five.\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, 18 June 2018, www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/18\/nyregion\/central-park-five-trump.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acknowledgements:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n