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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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 OPINION 
23

Another Murder Defies Race Stereotypes

Annie Le case latest to stir ugly racial fears, which proved false

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(Newser) – When news of Annie Le's murder first emerged, scaremongering commentators seized on the dangers of studying on an "urban" campus, blogs author and sportswriter Jeff Pearlman—by which they didn't mean "an endless stream of Starbucks storefronts." Lo and behold, her alleged murderer is a "khaki-wearing white guy" named Raymond Clark III. The "hidden message" was clear to Pearlman—"Beware of the blacks!"—but "once again, they didn't come."

Susan Smith drowned her two sons in a car and then blamed a fictional black man for the crime. Charles Stuart murdered his pregnant wife and concocted his own fake black assailant. Now we have another mythical black killer, displaced by "a white guy—short and nerdy looking and nattily dressed." What a pity, Pearlman writes, that "these sort of conclusions rarely change social takes."

Police officers arrest Raymond Clark III, left, at the Super 8 motel in Cromwell, Conn., on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009, for the killing of Yale graduate student Annie Le.
Police officers arrest Raymond Clark III, left, at the Super 8 motel in Cromwell, Conn., on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009, for the killing of Yale graduate student Annie Le.   (AP Photo/George Ruhe)
Raymond Clark III, 24, is driven away from an apartment building by police on Tuesday Sept. 15, 2009 in Middletown, Conn.
Raymond Clark III, 24, is driven away from an apartment building by police on Tuesday Sept. 15, 2009 in Middletown, Conn.   (AP Photo/The Hartford Courant, John Woike)
Raymond Clark III, 24, is arraigned at Superior Court in New Haven, Conn. Thursday Sept. 17, 2009 in connection with the murder of Annie Le.
Raymond Clark III, 24, is arraigned at Superior Court in New Haven, Conn. Thursday Sept. 17, 2009 in connection with the murder of Annie Le.   (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, Pool)
Raymond Clark III, 24, is arraigned at Superior Court in New Haven, Conn. Thursday Sept. 17, 2009 in connection with the murder of Annie Le.
Raymond Clark III, 24, is arraigned at Superior Court in New Haven, Conn. Thursday Sept. 17, 2009 in connection with the murder of Annie Le.   (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, Pool)
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23 comments
VIEWING:
 
rosy_s
Sep 18, 09 8:46 AM CDT
from the beginning i thought this guy really doesn't look like a murderer. he's too geeky to be able to commit such a thing. guess people never cease to surprise u...unfortunately. Reply
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+3
IN RESPONSE:
DontLikeYou
Sep 18, 09 7:01 PM CDT
How come liberals see racism in everything? It's like they look through a racist prism. Sux to be you.
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-6
IN RESPONSE:
Shannonals
Sep 18, 09 11:15 PM CDT
Poor dontlikeyou you really don't undertsand human nature do you? The point of the article is that the media is more likely to believe a murder is committed by a Black male rather than a White male. Not sure why you seem to think it's only liberals that see things this way, especially when you consider that Hannity/Rush were stunned when it was revealed that the people who committed the actual crimes were not the people who they had spoke out against, with no apology or recant of statements.
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+4
IN RESPONSE:
radnip
Sep 22, 09 4:38 AM CDT
Ted Bundy thanks you.
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0
gabo
Sep 18, 09 8:51 AM CDT
Hey, when you're messing with somebody's white mice you can through all stereotypes out the window. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+4

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