New Haven Independent

Posted by: Deuce | July 3, 2008 9:18 AM

Crime has gotten much worse in the past four or five years, she said, but "It don't bother me as long as I ain't gettin' caught up in it."

"I'm just kind of used to it," said the woman of the gunfire. "When you live here, you just go with the flow."

Wow. How can someone place so little value on quality of life? Will she just "go with the flow" when her blood flows? No wonder there's so much crime in these neighborhoods. Why would people tolerate this behavior? A sad commentary indeed.

Posted by: king james V | July 3, 2008 9:36 AM

if a young black man gets shot in mt. carmel or east haven it's a racial thing, but if a young white guy gets shot in a black neighborhood even if he's not looking for trouble, he had no business being there. that is what it's come to, and it's disgusting.

Posted by: Sally Tamarkin | July 3, 2008 9:51 AM

Two white guys from Hamden visited Newhallville Wednesday morning and ended up fleeing from gunfire...They met a group of four black males in their late teens...

White guys? Black males? Perplexing word choices in the lede and opening paragrahs.

Posted by: amedat | July 4, 2008 12:40 PM

I, too, find the choice of words in the opening paragraph perplexing. Melissa, are they shooting white people in newhallville because they are white? Should Hamden white people find a new route to get into new haven? The report is so matter of fact in its tone.

Let me know the point of the racial spin on the article. It's bad enough these worthless people are shooting up the town, but stoking the fires for a quarrel about race is irresponsible

Posted by: In The Hood | July 5, 2008 10:18 PM

Whoa Melissa, this story sounds so racist. I know that's not your intent, but...White people visit Newhallville all the time and not get shot.

To Deuce, all residents in Newhallville don't all look, think and act alike.

Posted by: Edward_H | July 6, 2008 10:35 AM

In The Hood

Whoa Melissa, this story sounds so racist. I know that's not your intent, but...White people visit Newhallville all the time and not get shot.

Simply stating the facts of a crime is not racist. Do you mean the actions of the criminals were racist or that Melissa wrote the story in a racist manner?

Melissa

What I would like to know is this:

Why in this particular story race was deemed of importance when describing the victims and perps while in many other stories in the NHI race/ethnicity is ignored? A good example is this story:

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/07/elderly_man_rob.php

At no point do you tell us the race/ethnicity of the perps/victims involved. Why the lack of consistency?

Did you ask the police if the "Hamden Man Shot" incident is being investigated as a hate crime? From your description of the crime a reasonable person can assume one possible motive for these victims being targetted out was due to race. Or do these attacks only count as hate crimes when the victim is a "person of color" and the perpertrator white? What kind of coverage would the NHI given this story if the race of the victims had been reversed and this crime happened in Morris Cove and the perp had asked the black men if they were there to sell drugs?

Posted by: Melissa Bailey | July 7, 2008 9:34 AM

Hi All,

There was no indication of a hate crime here. I basically typed up all the info the police gave me, but you're right -- there was no need to include a reference to race.

In general, the Independent's policy is to omit references to race, unless police send out a description of a suspect they are seeking.

Apologies for the inconsistency; thanks for pointing it out.

Posted by: -fairhavener- | July 7, 2008 11:06 PM

None of these people were shot anyway, they were just "tagged". That's what John said and he's the mayor. No need to get all uptight about race.

Posted by: Deuce | July 8, 2008 8:34 AM

Posted by: In The Hood
To Deuce, all residents in Newhallville don't all look, think and act alike.

Hood, where did I write anything about people looking alike?