Mind Scalpel

(Non-humorous screed alert!)

Alright, this one was so damn subtle it almost slipped by me. But not subtle enough!

Currently, there is in at least one East Coast market a radio ad campaign for “Wireless Amber Alerts.” One ad features someone who is obviously supposed to be a police dispatcher making a radio call for an Amber Alert — the abducted child is said to be something like a “six-year-old African American girl.”

The suspect?

A “Caucasian male, 30-35 years old, blue shirt, black jeans, 180 pounds…”.

I’m in favor of the Amber Alert system, and I think the addition of the Wireless Amber Alert text messaging system is a great idea — in fact, I went to the web site to sign up for it.

Then I heard the above radio ad again, a few times.

And I thought, wtf?

Why, exactly, was this particular racial combination (African-American victim; Caucasian suspect/offender) chosen to be the example for the Wireless Amber Alert ad? How often, based on actual statistical evidence, is that particular racial combination of the suspect/offender and victim present?
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