Last week during the Gang Task Force discussions another important meeting was sadly ignored. Representatives and Senators brought a legislative meeting or pre-hearing on the concentration of Class III sexual predators to the neighborhood (or small town) with the greatest concentration of those offenders; Greater Phillips. Representatives Karen Clark, Mullory, and Senator Linda Berglin are looking at State Legislation to address this problem.
It did not even make the news. In the last couple of days the media has notified us of the tragedy of TWO rapes that have occured in the City of Hopkins. The entire City and region are in an uproar, and all possible efforts are being mobilized to address this atrocity. It was the dominant story on television news, on the radio, and the lead story in the Metro section of the StarTribune yesterday. Two months ago there were EIGHT rapes in Phillips during one month and it was thought to be such a common thing that no media source even considered covering it. I guess, after all, it was not such a newsworthy item since this number only continued a string of months and years where the number of rapes approaches double figures occasionally, but were always in the four, five, or six rapes per month range. Last month this figure dropped to THREE rapes. Some of us felt this might make the news, since such a LOW number was unusual. But no, the TV stations and StarTribune didn't want to even consider let alone cover that. When Police Officers ask," What do you expect, when you live in a neighborhood like this?" I guess they are right. The City and Metro Area expect that rapes will occur frequently in poor neighborhoods. Those same folks expect that such things will NOT occur in good suburban neighborhoods. A theme repeated over and over in the media was that people move to suburbs and expect this sort of thing to NOT happen like it does "IN the City". That the two rapes in Hopkins even occured is a moral outrage! No girl or woman should ever have to go through such a thing. That the many rapes that occur in this one South Minneapolis neighborhood each month is also outrage is beyond doubt. However, compounding this outrage is another. The true MORAL OUTRAGE is that the rapes of those girls and women from our neighborhood are not even considered newsworthy by the press. I was told that the reason for the intensity of media coverage was to help catch the perpetrator, and warn other possible victims. I am personally outraged that the same media has so little regard for the girls and women in our neighborhood. Apparently the media places less value on women who live in poor neighborhoods. Like the Police said, "What can you expect living in a neighborhood like this. I sure wouldn't live here." What our women and girls should expect is the same consideration from the media as is given to those in the suburbs. What our women and girls should expect is the same protection under the law as those from more affluent neighborhoods. Can anyone imagine what the results would have been if the City of Hopkins had eight rapes in the same month, or forty rapes last year? Since Hopkins is much more than twice the population of the Phillips Neighborhood lets double that. What would the outcry be if Hopkins had SIXTEEN rapes last month, or EIGHTY rapes last year? Does anyone doubt there would be people looking to march on City Hall and the Capital? Yet in our neighborhood it is so expected it does not even make the NEWS. Our neighborhood has the greatest concentration of supportive housing beds in the State, it has the greatest concentration of people on probation in the state, the greatest concentration of level III Sex Offenders in the State, and also the greatest concentration of women who are rape victims in the State. Does anyone doubt there is something going on? Sounds like the City and State are concentrating their problems "where such things are expected." These numbers only reflect successful rape that is reported. They do not reflect the actual number that goes unreported. Poor, socially isolated, and powerless women do not report rape as frequently as other more affluent women do. So this moral indictment is not nearly strong enough. One of the reasons it goes unreported is because these women know that YOU people just don't care. Shame should come to a lot of people's mind. I know most of you can, or will not, do anything about it, but couldn't you at least care? Isn't it time for the StarTribune and Television stations to give SOME consideration for the women in poor neighborhoods? It is not a crime to not care, but it is certainly a moral outrage. After all, Don Shelby has a daughter; most others have mothers and wives. We know that the politicians do not care, but isn't it also a shame that the media just doesn't seem to care. Jim Graham, Ventura Village _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
