YourBlackLife: The Caylee Anthony Phenomenon

By: Tolu Olorunda

"The state has conspired to do dastardly deeds and to do ultimate damage to vulnerable black and brown and yellow and red people, without so much as a peep from a media that has been standing there agog, arms akimbo, wondering about the penetrating madness that these people must inevitably experience. If you ain’t a white girl and you disappear, you ain’t got much luck."

- Prof. Michael Eric Dyson

Isn't it fun to be white, young, missing and oblivious to the paradigmatically-setup-racial-make-up of the world. It is not unconventional knowledge, that if a Caucasian girl and a dark-skinned girl, both go missing on the same day, the dark-skinned girl's burden is subject to the tenacity and relentlessness of loved ones and family, while the Caucasians’ is carried on the shoulder of every major news-outlet and their viewers. For years now, we have watched the smooth-decay of corporate media, and nothing comes-off as more dastardly, than to see the "Caylee Anthony" saga dominate the NewsFeed of political talk-shows and pundit TV. Caylee Anthony - as I'm told - is a young white female, whose mother is suspect of having - at the very least - concentrated knowledge of her whereabouts. The mainstream-media's obsession over this all-but-familiar-scenario is dumbfounding.

The basic story-line of an irresponsible mother who puts herself over the welfare of her offspring is not a phenomenon, nor is it a rarity in this overtly narcissistic historical time-period (Ice Age). A steady dose of Nancy Grace or Greta Van Susteren is requisite in informing one of these realities. Yet, all the major networks have stalked - like paparazzo - this tragedy and obsessed over the undramatic "Breaking News" that are ushered in by the hour -- whilst leading to no groundbreaking change in course. From ABC, to CNN, to CBS, to MSNBC, to FOX News, everyone seems to have a collective interest in the recovery of Caylee Anthony. There has never been more comradeship between the competing networks, since the 'Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright fiasco' earlier this year. It is safe to say, that if Osama Bin Laden was captured today, more mayhem would be generated from the Caylee Anthony dilemma, than the nabbing of a tyrant with a $50 million bounty. While I am deeply empathetic towards the Anthony family, one is compelled to tackle the reality, that if Caylee happened to be BLACK, no major News Channel would be as hasty to track every miniscule detail that erupts from her case.

One must be reminded, that for every Natalie Holloway, there's a Tamika Huston. And for every Caylee Anthony, a Diamond Bradley is left lurking in the dark -- with no pity or concern. It is no surprise that the media is biased in its selective coverage of missing children. The resourceful website, Black and Missing has persistently documented the cases of missing, abducted or murdered children of culture. There is a stark contradiction in the coverage presented by Black and Missing, when juxtaposed with that rendered by the "Noose Media" -- and it doesn't take a neuropsychologist to decipher the most obvious. In this "post-racial" and "race-transcending" moment in our society, how radically different would our dilemma be, a year from now, if a Black Man is situated in the White House. Much noise has been made over the purported and celebratory ability for white people to "look beyond race," but even if such blatant-falsehood we're true, a clear refutation of that myth is tendered every time a white girl is missing or murdered. It is also more obvious than not, that a Black Woman's primary-role on TV is to be the stereotypical "Mammy" or "Jezebel." This accounts for the vitriolic mischaracterization of Michelle Obama - a classy, intelligent, witty and perspicacious Woman - as a "Baby Mama" and an "Angry Black Woman." In spite of FOX News’s untamed bigotry, the reality is that most of the other TV Networks were taken aback by the arrival of Michelle Obama on the national scene. Never before had a Black Woman burst through -- with an unapologetic and uncompromised overtone. Given the context of Condoleezza Rice and Oprah Winfrey, one can't be quick to blame. Award-Winning Sportswriter, Dave Zirin, once remarked that Serena Williams and Venus Williams are ostracized - in spite of their gift and talent - from the beltway of Tennis, because the administrators, referees, fans and coaches "don't know what to do in Tennis with people like the William Sisters. The announcers don't know how to report on them, they don't know how to talk about them."

This is another reality we must confront head-on and wrestle -- to expose the media's hypocrisy and mendacity, in spite of their feigned concern for Black folks. Whether Caylee Anthony is found or not, one thing remains constant: Black Women, like the Black pieces on the Chess Board, never come first (at least in the case of the fascistic, co-opted, deluded and pulverizing media).