The Most Racist Show on Television

I cannot stand A&E’s television show, The First 48. Every time I tune in all I see is black-on-black crime and black folks in trouble with the law. The First 48 is another cop-based documentary filmed in various cities in the United States. The show allows the viewer to see the real world of homicide investigations. Police departments give A&E an all-access pass inside the murder cases under investigation and showcase detectives using forensic evidence, witness interviews, and other advanced detective skills to identify suspects.

This show is reality television plain and simple, with crime sensationalized in typical media fashion, and the media always reports on crime that happens in or around urban areas. The First 48 goes deeper because the show not only sensationalizes crime but also exploits the disproportional figures of blacks caught up in the criminal justice system. It reminds the public that most of the violent crimes committed are by black offenders and plays on the reported statistics that indeed show that black offenders commit most violent crimes. Or are they?

According to homicide statistics released by the FBI in 2009, the number of reported homicide cases for that year showed that black offenders were at 5,890 while white offenders were at 5,286. The difference is not that significant.  So why does The First 48 continue to show black-on-black crime? It is possible that the producers are unaware because they don’t care to know the statistics, but I’m convinced the show is racist. Even on A&E’s website other viewers notice and comment on the disparity of black crime always being shown. Look where they always film.

Every time I tune into the show the cities usually featured are Detroit, Memphis, Louisville, Birmingham, Kansas City, Dallas, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Atlanta and other surrounding cities in the southern most region of the United States. So these are the cities police departments that have allowed The First 48 to film and if you want to document crime statistics you have to start with the inner city. But for eleven seasons The First 48 has exposed it’s viewers to black-on-black crime and that is seriously disturbing.

The south has a large black population and Detroit is a major black urban city. The producers know this, yet they continue to film in these areas and continuously expose the viewing public to violent crimes committed by black offenders. If it is not a deliberate attempt by the shows producers to demonize black people then what is it because to the average viewer who is unaware and who always sees black-on-black crime on the show is going to think that black people are by nature violent offenders of the law. Crime and punishment and how it affects the black community is one of the most sensitive issues and for The First 48 to constantly expose and document it leads me to believe that the producers deliberately want to make black people look bad.

It’s really sad to see how this drama plays out to. I’m sure the cops aren’t telling the suspects they are interrogating that they are being filmed as they go along with their attempts to pit one person against the other in the classic game of the prisoner’s dilemma. I really love when the white detectives can’t get anywhere with the black suspects so in turn, they send the black detective in to try and relate. The black cops then breaks the whole situation down while trying to come across as a friend to a suspect who comes to realize how much of a mess he is in.

Controversy and bad press in recent years made some police departments have elected not to allow The First 48 to film. The Detroit Police Department was in the news after a raid gone wrong for a suspect they were looking for, which was being documented by The First 48. A stray bullet went through the window right where 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was sleeping on the couch hitting her in the neck, where she shortly died thereafter. Detroit police were tipped that the suspect in a shooting case went into the Jones’s residence and who was later caught at a different address.

Federal law prohibits camera and television crews to be present in a suspects’ home and the debate will continue on the presence of television crews with police officers. Louisville’s police department also pulled out of The First 48 because of an incident that reported the wrong outcome of a shooting suspect in question on the show.  The suspect was actually released from custody due to lack of evidence, but the show aired that he was still awaiting trial.

Controversy plus bad press equaled by lawsuits is a deadly equation And that is probably the only way The First 48 will be cancelled. Maybe that is the only way the producers will listen is with a string of bad publicity and lawsuits. Enough is enough with the black-on-black crime A&E.

 

53 Replies to “The Most Racist Show on Television”

  1. You are a very good writer Mr./Ms. RCole. Watching The First 48 only perpetuates the “American” belief that people of color are criminals. They don’t cover any city in Utah. I think it is more the A&E network; some of their other shows are aimed, clearly, at a white audience. I don’t care for any of the cable TV networks. Broadcast network news is good, and I have plenty of DVDs to watch.

  2. So…. we should just pretend that this isn’t happening?

    Maybe you should worry more about these crimes that are being committed and less about a tv show that airs them.

    1. I actually watch this show but I do see where the author is coming from.

      I think they’re very concerned about the crimes being committed BUT the fact that they are filming in mostly Black areas which is going to be seen by millions of viewers is making us out to be murderous monsters, already adding to the many stereotypes that plague us. Many people only have a sense of who Black people are through television/media and if this is only what they are seeing, then it brings about even more prejudice. The author already stressed this but maybe should have included the psychology behind the high level of Black crime in urban areas to appease you?

  3. The reason why the numbers are so close is because the FBI includes Hispanics in the “white” category. So yes blacks are responsible for over half of all homicides in the US. I think that speaks volumes.

    1. John,
      You are mistaken. FBI does NOT include hispanics with whites. The murder statistics are unambiguous. While comprising only a small minority of the US population (13% ), blacks commit more than 1/2 of all murders. Of these murders most are committed against other black people. Blacks are quite literally at war with each other. You have had an internal civil wart going on since the advent of crack in the 80’s. This is tragic but it is also the truth.
      The best statistics I have found are at link below.
      Rather than blaming A and E for exposing the truth, why not try to do something about a problem that is YOURS to solve? Black men and women can intervene and mentor future thugs. Your music and culture celebrates violence, crime, and antisocial behavior. You are a culture that quite literally eats its own young. Stop pointing fingers. SAVE YOURSELVES!!!

      http://projects.wsj.com/murderdata/?mg=inert-wsj#view=all

  4. I am a young black male living in dc.Although i do agree with some of the writers observations i dont believe this is a show aimed to smear the behavior of my people.I think if anything it should be an eye opener at how far we have failed as parents,communities,role models and as a society as a whole.These are not made up stories when we kill each other over a big screen t.v,weed,or just off random.The first 48 should make us feel shame & disgust when an innocent women or child is killed,but “we aint gone snitch and help feds” clean up our communities,thus empowering the killers &thieves in the hood to continue…nah i think the show should keep showing what its shoowing.Keep high lighting our ignorant behavior till something clicks insiide of us to change as a people…cuz im tired of losing brothers!!!!!

  5. First of all, blacks make up 12.6 % of the population, whites 72.4%. But blacks still manage to kill more people. That’s punching above your weight.

    So what do you want the producers of The First 48 to do, hang out in small town and suburban American waiting for somebody to get knocked off when they can just go to any major city and get a story a week? And why? So that you can pretend the situation in your community isn’t as bad as it really is?

    Look, I’m sympathetic to you, I really am. Guilt by association stinks, but I don’t think sweeping dirt under the rug helps anybody. Best wishes.

    1. WHAT???? This is exactly what a show like First 48 perpetuates. Pure ignorance about the reality of things. I’m going to break it down for all you in denial of the racism that exists.

  6. The First 48 is not about race, it’s about crime, about how the police perform their duties, and, sadly, about the impact of crime upon the innocent. It’s not about race, and any attempt to turn this into a race issue is, in and of itself, racist. Shame of your for being racist and for demeaning “your people”.

    1. How are you going to shame the author, calling them racist and demeaning their people when they are saying the show does? That made zero sense. They want their people to be shown in a more positive light and feel this show is purposely put on air to portray Blacks in a negative light (whether true or not). That’s fine if you feel turning this into a race issue is in itself “racist” but to say they are demeaning their people, is mind-boggling.

  7. I have seen pure ignorance on this message board but I don’t blame any of you. You’re speaking from a place that simply reads statistics without knowing the facts behind them or just watches shows like the First 48 and assumes it MUST be correct. I’d like to address some of the responses I’ve heard:

    1) ART STENHOUSE: First of all, blacks make up 12.6 % of the population, whites 72.4%. But blacks still manage to kill more people. That’s punching above your weight”

    Excuse me? First off, you use statistics to state the demographics of the population but then use no statistics or facts to make a random comment that blacks manage to kill more people. Lol. Where are you getting your information from?

    Yes, Blacks are the minority in the outside population but make up more than 50% of the population in prison. Do you actually think it’s because Blacks are killing more people than whites? Let me break it down for you with something called FACTS:

    A) Blacks do not commit crimes any less or any more than whites and other categories. The issue is with the over policing that takes places within communities. You better believe if you were to send 400 police cars around your neighborhood on a regular basis that the crime rate would be quite high in your area and a lot more arrests of white people would be made. It would be highly unlikely that these whites would remain in prison…but they damn sure would be arrested just as much.

    B) As much as the First 48 and other media outlets (namely the news) would have you believe crime is NOT on the rise. It has actually been on the decline steadily in the last 10 years and homicide makes up LESS than 1% of all crimes committed; most crimes are property crimes, minor assault charges and drug offences etc. NOT MURDER. So this whole idea blacks manage to kill more people is garbage. Blacks and whites aren’t really killing that much at all.

    C) The reason why Blacks are over represented in the prison population IS NOT because they are killing more people. Actually, the majority of the Black population that’s in prison aren’t in there for the crimes they committed at all but for BREACHING THE CONDITIONS OF THEIR BAIL! Meaning, they commit a crime, have a court hearing and are told they are going to be released provided they stay out of trouble and PAY RESTITTIONS and FINES and if they don’t they are breaching their conditions and will be re-arrested. This is prime example of the SYSTEMIC RACISM that leads to Blacks, namely the poor, into making up over half the prison population. Think about it: If you are committing property crimes in order to make money………….. (And please don’t get into the “Get a job” garbage because it is another FACT that racism is also a HUGE part of capitalism and although many Blacks are employed; they are used as cheap wage labor to maximize profits and are paid such a pittance that they can barely survive) ……..that means you clearly have no money. You get arrested and are told you can be released but you must PAY a fine. Where the hell are you going to come up with the money to do that?? Either you’re going to commit more crimes or not pay and end up back in prison for non-payment. THIS is the population that makes up over 50% of the prison population…NOT murderers.

    Another contributing factor to the high prison rate is the so called “War on Drugs” which may have been called “War on Black drug addicts”. Crack is the drug of the poor. You don’t see poor black women and men walking around asking for a $20.00 line of cocaine and you don’t see wealthy or middle class people walking around the hood asking for it either. If you choose to do cocaine you have money. Once government used the media to give everyone the image that crack was taking over the streets and we all had something to fear,…they started over policing the poor neighborhoods again…arresting a disproportionate amount of Blacks for their addiction to crack or the selling of crack.

    Yet AGAIN another contributing factor is that STUPID Three Strikes Law which basically stated if you broke the law three times your ass was staying in prison. Didn’t matter WHAT those laws were…….So like I said before…if the police are over policing Black neighborhoods and sending young black men to prison. Then re-arresting them when they are released…they are clearly going to get their three strikes quicker than the Average Joe, no?

    So when JOHN says “The reason why the numbers are so close is because the FBI includes Hispanics in the “white” category. So yes blacks are responsible for over half of all homicides in the US. I think that speaks volumes.” …YOU ARE WRONG SIR. Please don’t go around making reckless statements like that and contributing to this garbage floating around.

    2) Many people would like to deny racism and its existence because it’s an uncomfortable subject and it is much easier to simply marginalize a group as “Criminal” and “Murderers” but this simply is not the case. There is a reason the First 48 focuses in on the aforementioned areas to perpetuate the myth that Black on Black murder is more prevalent than any other murder. Not only does this make for good TV but it gives everyone a reason to believe that it’s okay that Blacks are underemployed, are poor, are not receiving the proper education in schools in their areas, are confined ghettos without proper bus routes taking them to affluent areas of employment, are over policed and are making up over 50% of the population in prison….It’s okay because they are all animals anyway right? Our country isn’t racist!! What does slavery and colonialism that happened hundreds of years ago have to do with today? Everyone has an equal opportunity to be who they want to be and become successful right? WRONG.

    There is a reason why filled prison are a positive in the US. You all complain that your tax money is paying for these criminals but are you aware these prisons are not owned by the government? They are privately run by corporations who are making MILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars by warehousing these so called “dangerous offenders” and they make you okay with it because your scared; watching RIDICULOUS shows like the First 48 that perpetuate the myth of the “Crazy, Animalistic, Murdering Criminal Black Man” and have you thinking the nonsense I read in these responses. If they were to actually spend your tax money on social development programs that help single mothers and fathers, or on providing education and job skill training for the work that is available, or for simply help to clean up a community…what the hell would all these lawyers, cops, correctional officers, probation officers, judges, construction companies, private companies who own the prisons and commercial companies that provide the goods in prisons be doing? How would they clock the big dollars if your tax money was actually spent on things like REHABILITATION or RESTORATIVE JUSTICE?

    So please do research, readings by thousands of doctors and lawyers who have gone into the trenches and taken actual numbers and done the research and develop an understanding of the US history before you make comments from a place of ignorance. You’d be surprised what you learn.

    1. The Bureau of Justice statistics say that, as of 2005, 52.2% of homicides were committed by blacks. Census put it at about 49.4% in 2008. But given that we are only 12% of the population, Mr. Stenhouse’s rather crass remark that we are “punching above our weight,” is unfortunately accurate, according to the data. There are many reasons why this is the case, and you’re right that the murder rates have been declining across the boards for some time, but they are still, particularly in the black community, an enormous problem. The show “The First 48” does have the effect of reinforcing negative perceptions of us, but I can”t honestly say that it does not reflect reality at all.

    2. Um, where to begin? You offer no support whatever for your “overpolicing” nonsense. We;re talking murders here. You actually believe we would find more BODIES if the policing were increased in white neighborhoods?

      Blacks make up about 13% of the population but make up about 50% of all murder victims. Your assertion would suggest that we are just not finding all the dead white people? Blacks commit almost 1/2 of all known murders. This is not because blacks are bad or evil but you have to admit there is a problem here and it is really he black community’s business to fix it. You guys kill each other A LOT! Do something about it!

  8. The author is an idiot lol… The race card is whack on this particular show… There aren’t asnt facts, it’s misleading & bias… I’m not ignorant, I’m a proud black man in touch with reality… I’m skelly on my phone &i don’t have the time to go into detail…people need to get a grip on reality

  9. I love how this guy said that 5890 offenders were black compared to 5286 were white. Black Americans only make up 13% of the us population compared to 70% being white. If there were as many blacks as whites that would mean there would be around 25000 black murders.. So YES… Blacks do kill allot more then whites and the first 48 is justified and NOT being a racist show…

  10. What should outrage you as it does me is the number of suspects who do not ask for legal representation, instead of confessing to every charge the police indicate was committed. Worse, I have viewed episodes were the parents themselves demand that their children “tell this nice police officer the truth”. Sickening. Parents themselves should have enough sense that you do not tell a homicide detective your name unless an attorney says it’s okay.
    The “First 48” is a tv show, with a budget, show timelines, and production dates, they are not going to shoot in the neighborhood of White Lakes in the Detroit area, where they might wait a year for a homicide to take place…or….. they are going to downtown Detroit where there is a high murder rate and thus can air a weekly show. This is not racist, this is just common sense, any tv producer, white or black, would do the same or they would be unemployed. This is not defending a show, just educating the author.

  11. Cbear said: “They don’t cover any city in Utah.”

    In 2009 there were a total of 3 murders in Salt Lake City, Utah. How long would the production team of “The First 48” have to sit and wait at the police station to film an investigation of a murder there? They film episodes in cities with very high murder rates. In these locations, blacks commit most of the murders. It’s that simple.

  12. If all things were equal, meaning, if whites and blacks committed murder at the same rate then blacks should have committed 886 murders in 2009. Instead, they killed 5,890. Also, and this is a very important FACT, the FBI records Hispanics and Mexicans as White, so any Mexican or Hispanic non-Black /non-Asian goes in the White pile. Knowing this fact we should look at the latest census info where whites (including Hispanics as the FBI crime stats do) were 78.1% of the US population. Blacks were 13.1%. Some will suggest there are many blacks who go uncounted…care to guess how many Mexicans and Hispanics go uncounted as well? I would bet it’s easily twice as man, likely 20 times or more as many due to their being here illegally. Care to guess how much lower the white murderer rate is than black murderer rate when removing Mexicans and Hispanics from the data? Yeah, it’s a freakin HUGE margin.

    If you wanted to produce a reality show about beaches would you choose locations in Michigan, I mean there are plenty of beaches there, or, would you choose the coasts? See, densely populated areas give the most bang for the buck, and we know black murderers are largely living in cities, while white murderers are more spread out.

    So, since the stats that include Hispanics and Mexicans are pretty close in total number (actually, even the blacks lead here), then you take into account the fact that the “white” data is SIX TIMES THE SIZE why isn’t black crime six times smaller? Why is it basically even to a population six times larger? Hymm, and knowing this, why would anyone produce a show anywhere far from black towns? There’s a reason white don’t know what it’s like to have to drop to the living room floor while watching tv.

    I’m not racist, by the way, it’s purely culture that blacks have adopted or been forced into in some ways. I feel badly for them, especially the kids. So many of the kids grow up with crappy parents who couldn’t care less about their education, in fact some get angry and beat them for doing well in school. The whole goddamn culture goes about rewarding thuggish crap and talking down to success, “you ain’t better than me,” “trying to act white,” “sellout.” What ridiculousness. Utter ignorance is rampant, which is why cops in ghettos have it made, ghetto culture is retarded, they are too dumb to cover their tracks, the only way they get away is by running fast or pure dumb luck.

    The very fact your argument is so easily debunked leads me to believe you’re from the ghetto and have the same moron mentality I see 24/7 in the DC ghetto. Everyone is so simple and stupid, everyone flies off on stupid crap, killing people over the smallest mis-perceived slight. There’s too much ignorance in your argument to bother to go through it, besides, the Phoenix U probably didn’t prepare you understand logical fallacies. By the way, I went to grad school at Maryland University. Second masters for me, first was at Penn. The difference between school was tremendous, I would rate Penn at an 8.5 in toughness, U of MD a 2, and that’s being generous. See, MD U has a ton of kids/adults who they do NOT want to fail, so they lower their standards. I could list 100 examples of fellow GRAD SCHOOL students who didn’t have a 12th grade grasp on English and would copy/paste Wikipedia for group projects. They were black 100% of the time, and I’m not exaggerating at all. Again, I”m not racist, it’s not race, it’s culture, and I’m only stating facts, facts that people CHOOSE to ignore because doing otherwise will earn that person the unfair label. Keep ignoring the truth, because that’s worked so well.

    Blacks are 1/6 the population of “whites” in the FBI crime stats. Divide “white” crime numbers by 6 and you’ll find out what black crime stats SHOULD be.

  13. Unfortunately, the facts speak the loudest. Blacks make up 12% of the population but commit over 50% of all crime.

    I find it interesting that when they obtain information about the victim, they state that “the victim was planning on going to college” or “he just graduated but was trying to make some extra money by selling week”. I find that hilarious. When they dive into the case further, they are usually drug dealers or users or car-jacked somebody for the vehicle.

    The other thing I find interesting is that most of the women victims have multiple kids or is pregnant with no father at home. THIS IS THE PROBLEM WITH THE BLACK RACE. THEY WANT TO MATE LIKE RABBITS BUT DO NOT WANT TO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RAISING THE CHILD.

    Personally, I find the show funny as it shows these people act like animals, lie when they get caught and are only sorry when they do get caught.

    Grow up and act like humans.

  14. “According to homicide statistics released by the FBI in 2009, the number of reported homicide cases for that year showed that black offenders were at 5,890 while white offenders were at 5,286. The difference is not that significant. So why does The First 48 continue to show black-on-black crime?”

    According to the Census Bureau, this country is 78% white, 13% black, how can you say the difference is not that significant? If the numbers were even, there should be 6x more white shootings than black shootings. (78/13=6)

    Don’t use statistics if you don’t understand them.

    1. Exactly, “statistics are not racist”. Black population is 13% yet commit more than 50% of the crimes. No wonder the police and Whites stereotype and prejudge. After all, those are just words in the dictionary. It’s common sense to do so looking at your own statistics.

  15. I do have to agree though with the fact that there are too many ignorant white people, and this DOES become the only exposure to black people for some whites, and it is definitely bias. The MURDERERS on The First 48 do not represent black people at all, some of these comments generalize way too much. Think about it, if you made a show about the most violent white people, say the worst 1%, and showed their crimes to black people that had no exposure of whites, they would think we are all monsters, unless of course they knew not to generalize. =)

  16. They film in these cities because they go where the crime is, i.e. cities with large black populations.
    Face up to the facts, people-the numbers speak for themselves.

  17. Perhaps if black men helped raise their children (72% black kids raised by single mothers) these children wouldn’t be so predisposed to crime.

  18. You want to talk about something racist then let’s talk about this web site. A web site dedicated to the black experience. If I started a web site dedicated to the white experience, I would be a racist, but a web site dedicated to the black lifestyle that’s okay. What a dirty double standerd.

    1. Like white people already don’t have enough websites dedicated to their experiences and exposure. Your seriously delusional man! Why are you even on this website then? How did you even get here? Are you purposely searching out black websites just to write something offensive? And is that seriously the best you can come up with? Why is that everyone who is white and who has no intellect just pushes that comment out there. “If I started a web site dedicated to the white experience, I would be a racist,” Get over yourself. That’s the typical response by white people who have no intellect and who are out of touch with reality say…Try thinking of something more original and push on man!

    1. @Jase If you really are Native American, then you of ALL people should know better. How many sites and pop culture outlets cater to Native Americans? Not many. People who are in the minority, and this can go beyond race, all want something to relate to. If it means a website, then so be it. Most outlets may not directly say “whites only”, but let’s face it, that’s their target audience. As a woman into hair & beauty tips, I know that it is not always a case of “one size fits all”. My skin is brown and my hair is kinky so all beauty/hair tips don’t apply to me. General Hair/Beauty sites have their target audience, and I know when their tips aren’t directed at women like me. You see this with dating sites as well, which is why you may see Culture specific sites like Black dating sites, Asian dating sites, Latino dating sites, because people of color know that general dating sites have their special demographic. Another example, but not race related…stores for plus sized women. Why were they created? Because the majority stores didn’t cater to them. Once again, because the majority doesn’t cater to them….hellooo. That’s the whole point. Up until 2008, there had not been a non-white president in the U.S. There still isn’t a woman president. What does that tell you about us….that as a whole, the U.S is still very much sexist, racist, and just gonna throw homophobic in there because it’s true. And when you think about this startling fact, then you start to realize that minority related outlets are VERY much needed. The only people who take issue with websites like this are those who are the clueless racially privileged and take it for granted.The fact that this has to be explained to someone who claims to be Native makes me wonder if you’re lying. We may all bleed red, but we all have differences as far as culture & such. The problem is that people are not accepting enough of those differences.

  19. I just watched two whole seasons of this show in a short few weeks.

    I think you ought to be happy with this show generally as they go out of their way to try and show the human side of many of the offenders, who , frankly, come across as barely human in many cases.

    There are a good few commenters here that I truly admire, both for their honesty about the genuinely high crime rates of Blacks, and also those who said it was time to look within your own communities and start to figure out what the hell is going so wrong when this is the fruit produced?

    Ps: extra thanks to the person who pointed out that many crime stats include Hispanics as “White” which makes for some very dishonest results.

    1. Mary, stay in your lane and worry about your meth head cousins, you despicable c*nt! Trying to stress the Hispanic issue, pretending that white folks are immune to committing crime. No one is in denial about black on black crime, but what people need to be worried about are the white folks getting away with crimes daily. And if black on black crime is the biggest crime issue, why do white people feel so threatened and always “pretend” to be so concerned?

  20. 1) I don’t get Jase’s comment. You don’t think its ok to have businesses or services that cater to a specific culture or race? We are all different, so there are going to be sites that cater to the difference we all have. I don’t have a problem if another race or culture wants to create something that speaks directly to them. I would have a problem if I wanted to learn more about this race or culture through that medium and was automatically rejected because I’m not one of them. So you don’t like anything that would cater to your culture? Whatever.

    2)I’ve watched my far share of episodes of First 48. I can understand where the author is coming from, because they are targeting high crime areas, mostly cities where there is a large amount of blacks. And its another program showing blacks as violent criminals, which has been done before. But the show is about showing what these officers have to go through in solving crimes. They just choose violent crimes. Trust, I would like to see a show about busting these white collar crimes and how much of this actually goes on. But its easier to show violence. I mean, America loves violence right? I don’t think the producers are racist, but they are playing off the same old stereotype.

    1. Chris you are completely right. I’m going to post some commentary from the email thread that was sparked by this article.

  21. From L. Mack:

    Errr umm…not sure who wrote the article and apologies if its someone anyone on here knows…but its BS (in my opinion). The First 48 is FAR from the most racist show on TV, its an actual reality show that shows the reality of wherever they film (all in cities as you need to be where murders actually happen). No producer created plotlines, no characters acting out to stay on the next season. If anything like one commenter said, you get a more human side to a lot of these kids (literally) who are killing other kids for ridiculous reasons, usually drug related. Its sad and disturbing but real. Shows like BBW and Love and Hip Hop are so much more offensive to me (I watch those too mind you). haha

    Sorry if the intention was to comment on the actual article, looks like some crazies are in the mix…scared me away.

  22. From T. Moseley:

    I haven’t read anything but the emails herein. I’ll just say that I’m sure, Leisha, producers take leeway in choosing the stories they’ll air and catering to what their audience wants to see (and likely believes crime to be). I would need to see the demo-graphical breakdown of murders in the country (as it’s a national show) then compare to what they air on the show to believe it isn’t racist.

  23. From L. Mack:

    Well what would be more accurate is to look at the murder breakdowns in the actual cities they shoot in (Miami, Detroit, Charlotte, Dallas, etc.) and compare with what they show in those cities.

  24. From T. Moseley:
    but producers choose those cities (and my point is they choose those cities to accommodate their viewers perception of what crime looks like) you should also check out the viewership demo on A&E. Same production company, same producers, same show, would have a different cross section of the country if Telemundo was paying their license fee.

  25. From J. Wood:

    Well, but Leisha’s point is well taken. The simple, terrible fact is that the black murder rate is the highest in the country, and that all of the several most violent cities in America (1. Flint, 2. Detroit, 3. St. Louis, 4. Oakland, 5. Memphis, 6. Little Rock, 7. etc., etc.) have a minimum 40% black population and often majority black populations from which the large majority of that crime usually originates. But even in a violent city with a relatively low percentage black populace (#17 Miami has 22% black residents, 60%, Kansas, #16, has about 26%) you apply a 50% national murder rate to that and it’s still the inevitable statistical extrapolation that blacks are committing well more than half of the murders and violent crimes in Miami, let alone in places like Birmingham (#7), Atlanta (#8) or Memphis, where blacks make up a solid majority.

    Of course Tash is right that they could choose not to film in places with such large black, and black criminal populations. But while I don’t think the producers are racist, I think they’re going for ratings, and I think it’s logical for them to go to places with high crime rates, which statistically are going to correlate to the black population in the area. Could the audience be racist, however? I think people are fascinated by crime and violence no matter what the color of the perpetrator. I do think there is a part of the white subconscious that is afraid of black people anyway and so, perhaps this show accentuates a perverse fascination some whites already have. It would be hard to quantify that though.

    I think that really the main issue is what can we do to create a situation where we don’t have to worry about shows like this portraying us negatively because there is not that much crime and despair out there for them to portray? Ultimately the existence of a show like the First 48 is just a reflection of the real problem we face in the community.

  26. Yes blacks kill, but I really think its because of the poverty. No one talks about what history did not to long ago (slavery). I realize that there is no excuse for crime, but I feel that crime within other races get portrayed as the shooters being insane or mentally unstable. These crimes go unnoticed and overlooked a great deal. Look at the NJ school shooting! Barbaric coward shoots innocent babies so he must be crazy right!? Wrong! Wake up people!!!!

  27. Like others have said, I think it has more to do with the producers going to places with high murder rates. They have a show to make and can’t wait 6 months for a murder to happen in a small town with a majority white population. I also feel that they probably get more excited about a white murderer simply because it adds variety to the show.

  28. Also, if you ever watch the InvestigatioDiscoverychannel, which is murder mysteries 24/7 . ,Almost all of the murders are white on white.

  29. Nobody talks about slavery? I wondered how long itd be till someone went back nearly 300 years to that! The people who sold black slaves were black themselves doing damage to their own people, can anyone see a pattern emerging here of black mentality? While the black slave trade was going on the white slave trade was alive and kicking a long time before and continued at the same rate as the black slave trade with some very educated people finding evidence of higher numbers. If your going to pull that card because of the fact you are killed more and murder more than any race in the USA you really should do your homework first, maybe Thats why as an earlier poster said ther’d only been 1 black President. That coupled with you only making up 12% of the population and the main reason by most black people along with some very prominant members of the black community who the young see as role models stating “I voted for Obama cause hes black and any member if the black community not voting for.him is an Oreo black on the outside white on the inside” speaks volumes about why the black community is failing really doesnt it? Wake up and smell the coffee, educate yourself so you can educate the nexr generation to not have kids to different mothers dotted everywhere swerving maintenance payments and not have your kids idolising drug.dealing.gangsters making millions.and.giving zero back to the community. You need a hand up not a hand out and until you stop playing the victim like numerous people have played on here youll consign yourself to.”ghettos” killing each other because someone looked a second to long at your girl.or you thought someone stole a crack rock off you that you later found.in your pocket. STOP PROTECTING AND IDOLISING CRIMINALS AND RING CRIME STOPPERS if you leave the refridgerator open the majority of its contents will go bad. Stop leaving your communities open to gangs and idiots like people posting.on here who honestly believe white dead bodies are stashed all over white communities. One person can make a difference a whole neighbour hood can make a change.

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  35. I am disgusted by this show. I went into a rage after watching a few episodes my hands were shaking and I wanted to spit in a white person’s face. We need to organize DO SOMETHING to get this show off the air

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