Missing 5-Year-Old Jhessye ShockleyThere are several striking similarities between the disappearances of 10-month-old baby Lisa Irwin and 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley. Both children are girls, both were last seen in their homes. Lisa has been missing for over a week, Jhessye has been missing for nearly a week. Police investigating both cases have been challenged by strings of dead-end tips and a lack of evidence in general. The mothers of both Lisa and Jhessye have made tearful televised pleas for their children's safe return.
Right about now you may be wondering why you haven't heard more about Jhessye Shockley, or maybe even why you haven't heard of her at all, when Lisa Irwin's story has been plastered all over the news.
The fact of the matter is, you probably haven't heard much about Jhessye Shockley because of the one striking difference between her and Lisa Irwin:
Lisa Irwin is white. Jhessye Shockley is black.
I know it's a hard and ugly truth to swallow, representative of a reality we don't want to believe exists anymore. But sadly, nothing else explains why the country is currently obsessed with finding Lisa Irwin and largely unaware that Jhessye Shockley is even lost.
We know everything there is to know about Lisa Irwin's mother, Deborah Bradley, from the details of her divorce to what she had to drink the night Lisa vanished. Meanwhile, Jhessye Shockley's mother was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2006 for "injury to a child" and deemed a "threat to the well-being of her children," and no one seems to know or care how or why she got out of jail early.
Jhessye's three siblings are now in the custody of Child Protective Services, while Lisa Irwin's two brothers are at home, being sheltered from the press.
The main thing, one might argue, is that both girls return home safely, not how much attention their individual cases get. But when it comes to missing children, often the higher profile a disappearance, the higher the likelihood that child will be found.
The situation is already tragic. Now it's tragically unjust.
Do you think Jhessye Shockley's race is the reason why she isn't getting as much attention as Lisa Irwin?
Image via Glendale, AZ Police Department
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Comments 1117
I don't think skin color has anything to do with it. There are many other factors that contribute to how much attention each unique situation gets. How many other stories are out there similar or of equal importance to these that we know nothing about?
And, you sound like a racist honky.
As a note to the author: There are several studies to back up your claim of racial media bias concerning missing children among other things. You should have not only found but also linked to them so all of these people won't just claim you are pulling a race card when this is a studies and confirmed phenomenon.
Here is one I found: http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/3/0/5/9/p230591_index.html
I am sure any reasonably interested poster could look this up as well and find tons of statistics backing up your claim. But most won't. Instead they will give their OPINION based on NOTHING. So, it is your job OP.
race card, please. the BABY is getting press because it tugs at the heart strings more than a 5yr old. For me personally they both tear me to bits but I'm talking about the rest of the world.
Okay, Janelle.
I do think skin color/hair color/cuteness all factor into what children get their stories told. You rarely hear about a plain/ugly white girl on the news either.
However this story could have a different reason. I have heard (somewhere) that stories where the family is suspected immediately don't usually get the national media coverage. It appears that this girls family was suspected pretty quickly if the siblings are all in Child protective services. And I dont think that was the case with the baby. Her family is only recently falling under suspicion. (I thought).
It does bother me a great deal that most of the time, it is white children that we hear about missing. If it is a black child - it is a smart, beautiful, well-educated student that makes the news - like that makes them more worthy of being found.