This lack of national media coverage, particularly as it pertains to Black women’s experience with police, is a longstanding problem, and goes beyond just how the media does—or doesn’t—cover Black women. FiveThirtyEight explores:
Cities Spend Millions On Police Misconduct Every Year. Here’s Why It’s So Difficult to Hold Departments Accountable.That said, our analysis didn’t find that body camera footage guaranteed media coverage. Of the seven fatal shootings involving Black women that were captured by body camera footage, according to the Post, most still didn’t receive widespread attention from the national media.
“One of the biggest explanations for this is that we don’t just live in a racist society, we also live in a sexist and patriarchal one,” said, a professor of journalism, diversity and equality at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. “And I think that because of that, we have to fight twice as hard to get the same solidarity that Black men would get.”
It’s also likely, Blain said, that there’s a misconception that Black women are somehow protected from police violence because Black men get fatally shot by police“There is a general disregard for Black women’s pain,” she said. “Black women activists and intellectuals have long pointed out the hardships Black women face due to prejudice against their race and gender. This lack of media coverage is unfortunate but not surprising.
Black women, though, are not only more at risk than other women of being fatally shot by police — they also