I’m a habitual listener of NPR stories. For more than ten years, I have enjoyed the bulk of what they report and have often depended on them to understand events in our world. One story yesterday, however, struck me as problematic. The story was on tensions between Latinos and African Americans in New Orleans. It left me feeling angry at what was an apparent misrepresentation of our community and disappointed at being portrayed in such a short-sighted manner.

I was driving to work when I heard the hurtful commentary expressed by two Latinos from our community. One said, in a nutshell, that African Americans were lazy and the other said that all African Americans were criminals. Each denied being racist. Yet both spewed out incredibly racist commentary. My reaction to what they had to say was immediate and full of anger. I couldn’t believe that NPR would highlight raw emotions such as those expressed by the two Latinos who opened the story. Naturally, being a long-time listener, I expected NPR to explain the root of those emotions, expected NPR to offer similar raw emotions on the African American side, expected NPR to offer a glimpse into how New Orleans is attempting to deal with these raw emotions. When the story ended and NPR had done none of these things, I felt deflated, battered, beat up. I felt, in the end, as if NPR had done what media has done to New Orleans since the recovery began after the storm; come in and rape our raw emotions for the sole purpose of grabbing market points.

Fair and balanced reporting? Ha! We can laugh about that. For once I have the inside scoop on an issue that is being reported and I see how inaccurate and nonrepresentational it is. What in the world is fair and balanced about two Latinos expressing their personal racist views? I’m sure the two individuals that I refer to in the story had much more to say that must have been constructive, but as is usually the case when a media person interviews someone, only a tiny fracture makes it on air. So my concern here is about the writer’s selection. To choose the rawest, most racially charged commentary and put it in the story means that the writer will be responsible with that commentary.

After all, racism isn’t news anymore. Human beings have been found to be racists. So what is the point of highlighting Latino’s racist views in New Orleans? Oh, well, of course, as the story points out, to highlight the problems that Barak Obama will have with Latinos across the nation. Ha! Give me a break. In what way do two racially charged comments from people living in a town ravaged with so many issues, provide a looking glass into how Latinos will vote? Nevermind this question, a more pressing question to ask NPR is this; why choose New Orleans on this topic if the topic is not going to be given fair and balanced attention? Could some other city have been chosen? Or better yet, couldn’t a more robust look into the “tensions” between African Americans and Latinos been explored?

The report followed the two emotional comments with more diplomatic comments by two African Americans and one more Latino. Nowhere in the report did it mention the work being done across racial lines among the African American, Vietnamese and Latino community in the City of New Orleans. It began with Mayor Nagin’s unfortunate comments about Mexicans, but it failed to state how Nagin’s administration has made attempts to become pro-Latino since that comment, how it has worked with Latino leaders and groups to try and make New Orleans a better place for immigrants. It failed to mention how neighborhood organizations are reaching out to their immigrant newcomers, how the taco trucks that were banned in Jefferson Parish were welcomed in Orleans Parish. It failed, in short, to give a true picture of what is happening on the ground in New Orleans among the different racial groups. Sure, there are tensions. Tensions are going to exist in economies that are not diversified and where opportunities for low-income, low-skilled labor are few. This tension rises up not just among Latinos and African Americans, it also includes Caucasians and other immigrants. So sure, tension is a natural part of a struggling community, and eventually these tensions may play out along racial divides. But what about a community, such as New Orleans, that is looking at, consciously exploring, the opportunity to bridge the racial divide and to mend tensions? Why doesn’t NPR offer a sliver of that work? No, it can’t because it would rather focus on highlighting the elements that point to THEIR story. Therein lies the problem. The writer came in with a biased view and he found the elements he needed in New Orleans in order to justify his biased view. I don’t call that fair and balanced reporting, I call that information rape. It’s no different than when an extremist finds data to support his view. One can always find data to back up just about anything.

Forgive this ranting, but the report seems to have touched a nerve. It troubles and saddens me that NPR would be so irresponsible. I can only imagine what an African American who listens to that report will hear. As a New Orleanian who has lived and worked in the African American community, I felt as if a deep wrong had been committed because the overall impression from the story was that Latinos are disparaging towards African Americans and it will show in their presidential votes. I think that this perception is short-sighted and simplistic. The Latino community is mixed and complex, and in New Orleans it presents a few nuances that are particular only to our corner of the world.

When a story such as this one comes out the overall impact is more negative than good. As the director of Puentes, I try to constantly push for collaborations with diverse ethnic groups. The future of this city lies in our ability to create equitable opportunities for all. Highlighting bigoted, racist people on the radio only fuels the fire of misunderstanding and prejudice. It doesn’t present solutions or viable options for improvement. So if a respected, arguably balanced news agency such as NPR gives time on the airwaves to clearly racially-charged commentary, then it should provide supportive or qualifying information that places the commentary in context. Because NPR didn’t do that, I feel, after yesterday’s report, that I have to explain even more adamantly that not all Latinos share the same view of the two that started the show. There are many of us working on mending the divide of classism and racism. Too bad that NPR missed the opportunity to do the same.

Tags: black brown racism, hispanic community, hispanic new orleans, latino, latino black racism, latino black tension, latino community, latino new orleans, latinola, racism

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Puentes Director. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.