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Another Murder Defies Race Stereotypes

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

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 18, 2009 8:37 AM CDT
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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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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 25 comments
Guest
Oct 6, 2009 3:45 AM CDT
Entrenched stereotypes are one of the many reasons why serial killers can get away with what they do and will continue to do so. Rodney King? Somebody lock him up immediately! He was no angel, as it turned out, but most whites (and some blacks) seeing him would probably cross to the other side of the street immediately. Ted Bundy? Jeffrey Dahmer? Bianchi and Buono? Look at the gallery of some of history's most notorious mass murderers. With the rare exceptions of people like Manson, Gacy and Henry Lee Lucas, judging solely by appearances, no one would even give it a second thought that these guys were capable of doing what they eventually did. Who, a clean-cut, handsome, polite (and Caucasian) young man like Ted Bundy? Oh, not in a million years! That's right, people. Keep playing into those stereotypes. The Next Ted Bundy is thanking you right now. While sizing up his next victim.
yummines
Oct 2, 2009 12:49 AM CDT
well the smartest killers are those who make them selves not look like a killer. everyone seems to be surprised when the "shy, nerdy kid" is the killer but they shouldn't be because of appearance. appearance is nothing to mental stability or sanity, which people seem to not realize.
Guest
Sep 22, 2009 4:38 AM CDT
Ted Bundy thanks you.

 
crime • New Haven • Connecticut • stereotypes • racism • Yale • Annie Le • Raymond Clark

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