One of the biggest stories here in the Capital District is the disappearance of 12-year-old Jaliek Rainwalker. It is a heartbreaking story of a young boy that went missing on November 1, 2007. Local blogger Kim at According To Kim has been pro-active on her blog about the story.
Today, they are searching a portion of the Hudson River with sonar devices. If you have any information, contact the Find Jaliek Task Force. From his missing poster, it may be easier to identify him knowing he pronounces the letter "r" like a "w." The main suspect in the case is his adopted father.
I wonder why this story hasn't gone national. I hate it when people inject race into any story so I do so here with care. If Jaliek had been a blonde girl with rich parents, instead of a mixed race boy with some developmental problems that was adopted by poor people, would the coverage be different? I do give the local news props in this regard since they have been on this from day one. Maybe I'm being too cynical and that the presidential election has taken up the national news time.
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Thursday, February 07, 2008
In Local News: Jaliek Rainwalker
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8 comments:
Hi Gavin,
First I want to thank you for posting about Jaliek and then thank you for linking my blog.
Now on to why this case doesn't get national attention. I have been emailing and blogging about Jaliek for months now and haven't received any responses from any news agency. The closest this story has been nationally was on Greta Van Susteren's blog GretaWire.
For a while I didn't believe the media favored certain stories over others based on gender or race but have since changed my opinion. I do not think you're too far off in your observation. Plus as you mentioned, it's an election year.
I just posted another article which I found interesting.
Found your blog over at According to Kim.Big thanks to both of you for sharing Jalick's story in your blogs.
Sadly, I agree with you.If Jalick was rich and white National coverage might have been achieved.
Thanks again for sharing Jaliclk's story with your readers....Karen
Gavin, you couldn't be more accurate in your assessment. Besides media bias, this problem is entrenched within law enforcement. Which, to generalize on a large number of cases, the stops will be pulled out in an attempt to find the white and economically advantaged local child who disappeared, though that same child if of color and if his / her parents or caregivers have issues of poverty, you will instead here every excuse under the sun as to why the child "ran away".
The Innocence Project, a group that looks into institutional bias in the justice system with regard to convictions, is also working on a project that looks at entrenched bias in the law enforcement community. Their initial findings echo what I described above.
Great job in posting this!
Hi Gavin,
Greenwich LE obtained a warrant today and searched the house on Hill St. I belive this to be the house of Stephen Kerr's father. Someone commented on my site earlier this afternoon that the police were at the house and looking for a computer and/or typewritter.
Kim--The reporter on WTEN implied they were looking for whatever wrote the note from a couple of weeks back saying he was okay.
Gavin, I couldn't agree more -- it's long been recognized in communities of color that there is a huge disparity in media coverage, depending on WHO is missing. This blatant difference has prompted such sites as Black and Missing, to bring some publicity to the ones we never hear about. Many people just have no idea, because it's not their communities, not their children, wives, daughters who are lost and ignored. If you're not hearing about it, how would you know it's going on? Thanks for posting this.
You are so right to praise Kim for keeping the word out for Jaliek. Thank you also for helping. It's been 7 months since Jaliek went missing. My heart is so hurt still, and stumbled onto your site. I thought it would become easier as time went on, to accept that Jaliek might be dead, but it's not. It's just getting harder and harder. I guess you go thru the steps of lose. I'm pretty angry now, and hoping that I will wake up from a bad dream. Jaliek is very fortunate to have people like you and Kim to support him, and thank you. I had no idea the situation regarding missing persons until Jaliek's situation. I am comforted to find your site and knowing Kim's. It helps, and means a lot. God bless. Joy
I am looking for any updates you may have about this case. I saw a reference to Jaliek on another site that contains a forum for posting about missing people. My heart goes out to this child and I pray that he is found alive.
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