I looked at the front page of the Sunday paper on April 18 to see a Bangor Daily News photo illustration featuring images of three state police officers with their faces blacked out (“Inside the Maine State Police, officer misdeeds are kept secret”). When are we, and the media, going to stop using the color black to indicate something is bad? Given the likelihood that the officers are white, why not “white out” their faces? Or use blue?

While I appreciate the substance of the article and the joint efforts of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and the Bangor Daily News to report on this important topic, I wish more thought was put into the messages that the images convey.

I think of all the times that “entertainment” and the media have used the white-is-good, black-is-bad trope to enforce racist ideas in my lifetime. It’s no wonder that we struggle to rid ourselves of racism and the damage that racist policies and institutions cause.

It is time for us to take a critical look at the damage that labeling people as “other” does to our society and work to communicate in a way that is equitable and fair.

Nan Graves
York

Copy the Story Link