Gerald
Allen
October 8,
2015
Professor Caçoilo
Convergence
Project Draft Proposal
In the wake of the tragic shooting
at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on October 1, the narrative that the Caucasian
shooter, Chris Harper-Mercer suffered from mental health issues is already
being started. In an article for CNN.com by Mariano Castillo and Amanda Watts,
the two writers discuss what many believe to be the tweets of the shooter’s
mother, Laurel Harper, that delve into his home life and how he was exposed to
firearms early and how he allegedly has Asperger’s syndrome.
In an August 8 shooting
in Trenton, NJ that resulted in a 14 year old black teen being shot by a State
Police trooper. The cops were investigating a shooting in the area when they
found the teenager and two other men near the scene of the crime. They trio
allegedly didn’t stop when officers ordered them two and started to run from
the authorities. That’s when the cops opened fire and shot the teenager in the
butt. This story gets interesting when it was announced that the teenager was
carrying a gun that was found twelve hours after the incident.
These stories aren’t anything new,
the media uses their ability to frame stories all the time to portray
individuals based on their race. In an Washington Post Article written by
Anthea Butler, she discusses why the media and the public describes white
shooters as ‘mentally ill’ while other groups are described as either ‘terrorists’
or ‘thugs’.
I’m going to write a research
paper/article on this topic and publish in the school’s newspaper, The
Observer.
NJ.com
Story: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/08/questions_remain_about_police_shooting_of_14-year-.html
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