The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 357

i 27 the coverage for missing black children? ro matter how young or innocent Sherrice Iverson was 7 and received national attention only because she was killed in a casino A black child must be young enough (8 or younger) innocent enough and neglected endugh to receive limited national attentioa For white kids the standard is much different I created a web site devoted to missing black children (wwwgeocitiescommissing blackkids) and had several white people (including media workers) e-mail to tell me how appalled they were that they had never heard of Sherrice Iverson and Alexis Patterson media updates that the Elizabeth Smart case received What about Diamond and Tionda Bradley two black Chicago girls who have been missing since July 2001? Or Kimberly Arrington? Or Jahi Turner? Or Pate? You know these names unless a relative or a cop Jahi Turner a 2-year-old black boy lived in the same neighborhood as Danielle Van Dam and that was the only interesting aspect of his case to the media Compare the media coverage of the case of Samantha Runnion to that of Sherrice Iverson I was saddened by the death of Samantha it was utterly heart wrenching She was a beautiful child who died miserably But so was Sherrice who did not receive the wide publicity Samantha did You probably know a young black girl was raped and murdered by a white man in a casino bathroom But did you know that her name was Sherrice Iverson? I typed Sherrice and Samantha names into the CNN search engine It returned four articles on Iverson and 42 on Runnion No black child would receive the same media attention as Jon-Benet Ramsey no tn i did not ignite the hyper-charged media frenzy of the cases of Jon-Benet Ramsey Jessica Lunsford Samantha Runnion or Danielle Van Dam What does the mainstream news media coverage of these cases say about how black kids are valued in our society? And why black kids get similar coverage? Is it racism? Classism? An adorable 7-year-old black girl named Alexis Patterson disappeared around the same time as Elizabeth Smart a blonde girl crowned missing child Alexis Patterson was last seen playing' on the playground at her school in Milwaukee Somewhere between there and her classroom she disappeared case has received little publicity outside of Wisconsin except for one feature on America's Most Wanted It was not close to the daily Keona Wright graduated this year from Norland High For the past 18 months she has been working to raise awareness of the plight of missing and murdered black children a situation she feels is largely ignored by the mainstream media Here in the first of two articles Keona discusses the differences in how the media approaches cases involving black and white children BY KEONA WRIGHT Miami Dade College We all know who Jon-Benet Ramsey is a pretty blonde girl who was murdered in Colorado You probably know the name of Cynteria Phillips an attractive 13-year-old black girl who was abused as a child neglected by the state and was raped and murdered in South Florida The killing of Cynteria though heinous and shocking 1 3 Only till July will receive 1 5th any resident moving in cable TV free for one year ixperienceOestmationi Our summer splash is about to begin and we want you here This summer in addition to our regular activities be introducing water exercises that are so great for seniors since get to exercise without any impact at all Our goal is to provide you and your loved one with a worry and stress-free lifestyle and at Grand Court Lakes with our new concept in assisted and independent living we can do just that Special financial aid available for Veterans and surviving spouses We would like to change your life not your style Family owned and operated Do It al at wwwExpeienc80estinationscom Why not skip the middleman? Book your travel direct and save USA the Caribbean Mexico Bermuda 1 I 3 4 I 1 I I EXPERIENCE DESTINATIONSCOM fOR THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME product ol HCPAboard Pubhstiing Grand Court Lakes A very exclusive independent assisted living facility Contact us at 305-654-5300 or 1-877-338-1180 280 Sierra Drive North Miami Beach FL 33179 wwwgrandcourtpropertiescom ALF8390.