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December 7, 2005
Holding My Tongue
I started to compose a post about this article from CNN.com last week, but wasn't satisfied with it, so I saved it as a draft and just let it idle in the back of my brain. Today, CNN.com followed up with this story, and I had to revist my previous post.
The first article reports the possibility of New Jersey Governor-elect Jon Corzine appointing a black female to finish out his Senate term, and the article drew my ire for focusing on the candidates race and gender instead of reporting on what made this particular individual well qualified to fill the seat (although there seemed to be a general consensus that she was well-qualified). Here is my original (and previously unpublished) commentary on the article:
This article from CNN.com triggers one of my pet peeves, the reporter has taken a story about the possible appointment of a well qualified candidate to a political seat, and turned it around to an issue of race and gender.
In a nutshell, for those of you who haven't read the link yet, New Jersey Governor-elect Jon Corzine is in a position where he needs to appoint someone to finish out his term. One of the possibilities is Nia Gill, a well-qualified Senator, a 57 year-old attorney, who also happens to be black, and female. Instead of highlighting Senator Gill's experience, which she seems to have plenty of, or her positions on various issues, (both of which we would be reading about had Gill happened to be white, and male) the story focuses on her minority status. There is no talk about what qualifies Gill for the job, just a lot of fluff about the implications of being the second black woman in the U.S. Senate.
But today, in the second article there is no mention of Gill at all, as Corzine chose a different appointee, a male, and no mention of his race is indicated at all, just a glowing report of what makes him so well-qualified for the position. This is one of those times that an "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" seems so appropriate, but I can't exactly say that, because I didn't actually tell anyone so, just thought about it.
Posted by Anna at December 7, 2005 8:33 AM