Double standards regarding LA crime (Los Angeles: 2009, violent crime, how much)

[majoun]

Some friends of mine e-mailed me this story from the L.A. Times.

Lily Burk's neck was slashed, coroner says - Los Angeles Times

Seems a pretty young white girl who went to a very expensive private school got killed by a homeless guy with a long rap sheet of both violent and non violent crime in Westlake near downtown. Now, I don't know the guy's ethnicity, but it's safe to assume with a name like Charles Samuel that he's not Latino (his name sure sounds "Anglo"). If he was, the nativist/bigot crowd would be out in full force claiming that Lily Burk was a victim of "illegals" (regardless of the perp's citizenship status) and there'd be a hue and cry of people bitching about how "his people" have made L.A. unsafe and how they should all be deported. But no, since Samuel's not Latino and probably not an immigrant, there's nary a peep on this board - despite the victim being atypical of your typical L.A. murder victim. In the Times story there seems to be an emphasis on how Lily had so much going for her because of the school she attended as opposed to her peers of all races who are stuck in LAUSD hellholes (in her case, I noticed that she was going to the private Oakwood School rather than the local LAUSD school, in her case Marshall - guess the kids there, including what white kids are there, are considered "disposable"). Not to mention that even when I was a kid parents would be leery about sending their kids alone driving expensive cars in neighborhoods known for extremely high levels of drug dealing, let alone now, ,and one has to wonder what Lily's mom was thinking by sending her daughter to run errands for her in what is unquestionably the hood. Perhaps she bought into the stories about the downtown area being entirely "safe" (in which case, this could be like the Sarah Ribicoff and Karen Toshima murders and totally drive people away from an entire neighborhood of the city) and "clean", perhaps this was merely a random incident of people letting their guard down so as to be victimized (which could happen anywhere). We really don't know yet. But it's safe to say that Samuel is not an illegal alien, whatever he is, and that's why the board's silent.

Have certain people ever stopped to think that illegals might not be the bogeyman all of you think they are, and L.A. is filled with plenty of bad people who are natural born citizens with no Latino background (as well as having good people of all backgrounds)? And that in a city which has its economy systematically destroyed and its educational resources gutted (I would blame the LAUSD for the latter, no matter how much it is ever awarded in Sac giving it money without radical change at least and dismantling it at most in favor of charters or privatized schools at most) that there's almost a planned system of generating more dirtbags? Those are harder questions to answer however than merely blaming a single ethnic group, or even a certain portion of said ethnic group.

The silence on the C-D boards about the murder of Lily Burk seems a little deafening....

[the one]

you know. i noticed this. i was suprised it wasnt in the ofrums. but i WAS more suprised at how quick it made the headlines.

i read about it in the sat paper. or was it the sunday paper? either way it struck me as odd that it would be in the news so quickly. it happened the previous day after all.

it was in the paper again today, so im thinking i initially saw it on sunday...

anyhow, a young privileged girl gets murdered. its tragic. but it made me wonder WHY is she getting so much press.

turns out one of her folks is a journalist. worked for the times and laweekly.

i wish all parents of children murdered senslessly were journalists...

im glad they have a suspect.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by the one

you know. i noticed this. i was suprised it wasnt in the ofrums.

Reduced potential for ethnic scapegoating?

[quote] but i WAS more suprised at how quick it made the headlines.

i read about it in the sat paper. or was it the sunday paper? either way it struck me as odd that it would be in the news so quickly. it happened the previous day after all.

it was in the paper again today, so im thinking i initially saw it on sunday...

anyhow, a young privileged girl gets murdered. its tragic. but it made me wonder WHY is she getting so much press. [/QUOTE[

The majority of murder victims in that area are not young white women who go to expensive private schools. .

turns out one of her folks is a journalist. worked for the times and laweekly.

i wish all parents of children murdered senslessly were journalists...

Then there'd be more attention to senseless murders in L.A. in general.

im glad they have a suspect.

Me too.

[VLWH]

[quote=majoun;9981249]Reduced potential for ethnic scapegoating?

but i WAS more suprised at how quick it made the headlines.

i read about it in the sat paper. or was it the sunday paper? either way it struck me as odd that it would be in the news so quickly. it happened the previous day after all.

it was in the paper again today, so im thinking i initially saw it on sunday...

anyhow, a young privileged girl gets murdered. its tragic. but it made me wonder WHY is she getting so much press. [/QUOTE[

The majority of murder victims in that area are not young white women who go to expensive private schools. .



Then there'd be more attention to senseless murders in L.A. in general.



Me too.

Crimes that include unusual scenarios tend to get more publicity. How about the student getting run over and her friend being peeled off the hood and tossed to the side of the road. Or how about Jamiel Shaw, the football player who was killed by gang members. Unfortunately murders in Los Angeles happens too often and most do not make the front page.

[majoun]

[quote=VLWH;9981543]

Originally Posted by majoun

Reduced potential for ethnic scapegoating?



Crimes that include unusual scenarios tend to get more publicity. How about the student getting run over and her friend being peeled off the hood and tossed to the side of the road. Or how about Jamiel Shaw, the football player who was killed by gang members. Unfortunately murders in Los Angeles happens too often and most do not make the front page.

Or O.J., Blake, or Spector

[Dark of the Moon]

Originally Posted by majoun

The silence on the C-D boards about the murder of Lily Burk seems a little deafening....

I think if you search this forum you'll find very few threads that discuss individual crimes. What you will find is discussions of crime trends, and crimes in specific neighborhoods -- information that is far more useful for people who are considering moving here.

[SlowMotionApocalypse]

Where's the mug shot?

[the one]

today there was an extensive article in the paper [again]. they said they are withholding the mugshot in order to not taint potential witnesses.

its a sad case. tho. makes you wonder why she didnt run or scream or fight back?

surveilance video shows him standing close to her. on wilshire. at the atm. but in the moments where he had to get in the driver seat, she could have run. its sad. who knows, maybe she did fight. whats weird is that wilshire and vermont during the day is pretty active. especially during the week.

so sad. so many questions. it must be awful for the parents...

Originally Posted by SlowMotionApocalypse

Where's the mug shot?

[bhcompy]

people are murdered every day in LA. if we had a thread for every person murdered locally there wouldn't be any room for other threads

[the one]

yes and thats why the homocide blog at the LA times exists.

Originally Posted by bhcompy

people are murdered every day in LA. if we had a thread for every person murdered locally there wouldn't be any room for other threads