Shouldn’t News Media Transcend Race in Favor of Colorblindness?
At some point in recent American history, news reporting moved away from unbiased focusing on facts toward subtle advocacy, as if now possessing a messianic mission to promote what seems good and moral. Invariably, this means championing liberal viewpoints. Too bad if you happen to be conservative with traditional or Christian values to uphold.
For example, a recent post “Race, Gender Should Not Be Mentioned in Military Promotions” suggested that newly promoted Command Sgt. Maj. Susan Shoe of the South Dakota Army National Guard may have been done a disservice when the local newspaper focused on her gender in a way that they wouldn’t have for a male being promoted. Some might have suspected that she was advanced because of her gender, which would have been unfair to her.
Race and gender should be left out of such news stories to avoid charges of racism and sexism. The same goes with hiring news anchors and reporters. As with the Susan Shoe example above, any qualification relating to race and gender should stipulated in the vacancy notice–and none was.
Colorblindness must be the standard by which people are evaluated. Another recent article of this site (“Does America Want More Immersion in Race Warfare–or Colorblindness?“) makes the point that you shouldn’t “take race into consideration when dealing with others. You might notice that your relatives are all different in numerous ways, but you rejoice in their diversity.” Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream that people will be judged by “the content of their character” rather than “the color of their skins” provides unequivocal moral guidance.
The recent hiring of a black women by a Rapid City, South Dakota, television news company (KOTA TV) provides a good case study about the principle of colorblindness. Taisha Walker was presumably chosen in a nationwide search which listed no race or gender qualification. In the entire pool of those being considered, she emerged the top candidate. Her race and sex wasn’t any more a factor than was her weight or height.
On the other hand, had the television station been influenced by an unstated liberal bias to promote black people, then it would have been an example of racism focusing on skin color, according to Dr. King. The same would hold true if the station thought that it would be morally valid to increase black visibility in the community–or any other attempt to play god with racial balance.
Because no principle of racial (or gender) selection was ever articulated, can’t we assume that the television station acted according to the principle of colorblindness–and that Taisha Walker was chosen because she was the best regardless of race?
