As a kid I read the newspaper. I don’t waste my time anymore. Back then it was the Brockton Enterprise. It seemed like the Brockton Enterprise had to feature a photo of a fatal car wreck. It didn’t have to be local. Slow news day… grab the photo of the collision between two ox carts in Outer Mongolia. Even then I focused on crime stories. The other thing the Enterprise did was include the race and sex along with the offender’s name. This was useful when reading about how George Washington, a black male, held up a local drug store. The reader knew right off that the father of our country had not come back as an armed hijacker. Things change.
These days it is considered racist to identify a crook by his race. I can understand not including the sex of an offender. After all sex can change from moment to moment. Plus, there is the credibility factor.
Never mind the fact that race is an integral part of a description of an offender. By specifying the race of the offender the pool of suspects diminishes significantly. I suspect that thugs and their mamas were disappointed when the press stopped identifying the race of offenders. In some quarters an arrest reported in the local paper is an achievement. But common names made it difficult to standout. Black mothers are nothing if not resourceful. This story gives the hijacker his due and makes his mama proud.
The clerk, who was now armed, shot the suspect approximately 8 times according to Georgia authorities. “The suspect was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for his injuries. “The suspect, later identified as Qwinntavus Kwame Jordan, is currently in critical condition.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly
Remember it is racist to include a suspect’s race in a crime story. I’m pretty sure that Qwinnravus is not Irish. Qwinntavus’s mama can point at the article with pride, secure in the knowledge that baby boy will get everything that’s coming to him.