The Media’s Role in the Victimization of Black Women

• In Event: Portrayals of Victims in the Media

Abstract

The mainstream media continue to be silent partners in the dehumanization of Black women. By not covering stories of Black women as crime victims, the media perpetuate the idea that these women are not legitimate victims. The Daniel Holtzclaw case serves as a perfect example: the national mainstream media’s absence during the trial sent the message that Black women as rape victims are not believable, thus unworthy of coverage. Similarly, in 2014, the bodies of Black teen girls Angelia Mangum and Tjhisha Bell were found naked and bound, lying in a pool of blood on a remote road in North Jacksonville, Florida. The local media’s limited coverage of the girls’ deaths included their criminal records and work as exotic dancers. Nationally, their deaths were overshadowed by coverage of a missing University of Virginia White student. In this paper, based on research I have conducted on Black women and girls’ as crime victims, I argue that the mainstream media are complicit in the routine victimization of Black women and girls, and actively participate in their social erasure.

Author

• Breea C Willingham, State University of New York at Plattsburgh