Racialising crime reporting
THE racialised reporting of crime is hardly a new thing in this part of the world.
A report from Wallan on the Darling Downs in 1850 described “natives” as “falling” when they were killed by white hands on the frontier and hutkeepers being “murdered” when they were killed by black hands.
Technology might be changing the way we read the news but the pen is still a mighty force. The Aboriginal people in the Wallan district didn’t get the right of reply in the nineteenth century and so the State responded with the deadly force of the Native Mounted Police.
The front page of Saturday’s Chronicle and the Weekend Australian made a stark contrast. Toowoomba’s paper featured “Our Story” and was largely a positive story of the resettlement of Southern Sudanese people in our beautiful part of the world.
The national broadsheet depicted what looked like a war zone with maps, photos and graphic stories from those who had suffered as a result of youth violence. The headline didn’t beat around the bush, “African gang’s reign of fear”. It was positively scary. It fits into a torrent of media attention around youth crime attributed to people from a Southern Sudanese background in Victoria.
Anthony Kelly from the Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre rightly points out that these are not the only crimes occurring in Melbourne during the summer months and nor are they the worst.
This is cold comfort to those who have been traumatised in their own homes and streets, but it is vital that we don’t lose perspective.
Page six of Saturday’s Chronicle listed a small number of local crimes involving people from a Southern Sudanese background. It was interesting to note that part of the list actually had a person from Southern Sudanese background as the victim.
We could fill the pages of a month’s worth of Chronicles with crimes committed by people from an Anglo Celtic background. But we don’t. When a white person or group of white people is involved in vicious attacks or anti-social behaviour we are quick to attribute the blame to drugs, alcohol or mental health.
Readers are encouraged to understand a range of factors around the perpetrator but their race is not one of them. As the legendary Sergeant Scott McGrath highlighted in the same report, crimes are committed by criminals, “who are not constrained by race, religion or refugee status”.
It is not being politically correct to urge journalists and media outlets not to racialise crime. There is great irony that those who traditionally say we are not multicultural, or that we are too quick to highlight difference want to make an exception in this case.
As one Victorian youth put it succinctly, “When I’m bad I’m Sudanese, when I’m good I’m Australian”.
If we want to start reporting on the racial background of offenders we need to do it for all offenders, and not just the minority.
Scott McGrath is not just being a nice bloke. His statement is backed by evidence.
The Australian Institute of Criminology and other similar research bodies around the world have found that a person’s ethnicity or race does not determine their likelihood of being involved in crime.
Victorian community leaders are making no excuses for the atrocious actions of a small group of young people. They are calling on all levels of government and community to work with them to create a positive future for all.
Somewhere I heard our prime Minister mentioning something about, “being kinder in 2018”. How about we just start with fair and begin with the way we talk about and report crime in this country.
As one Victorian youth put it succinctly, ‘When I’m bad I’m Sudanese, when I’m good I’m Australian’.