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
@ bee your comment is ignorant and prejudice. How in the hell do you know that a white person has never experienced racism? That is a generalization about a group of people based solely on the color of their skin. Like if I said that all black people are ignorant because they think that all white people are racist. That being said I grew up in Atlanta and there were always news stories about black kids being abducted or going missing or being abused or killed. Now some people could even say that is racist that only reporting on the "bad" things shined a negative light on the black community. But if it wasn't shown then they would also be racist for not caring about black kids. Sometimes its about the community is it predominantly black or white? It also depends on what gets reported to the media not every person that something bad happens to calls the news to tell them about it.
@ terry what the fuck are you talking about? where in my comment does it say anything at all about me or "my brothers" being black. I am signed in from my facebook profile where you can very easily click on my name and go straight to my page and see exactly who I am. You make no sense, is the dementia setting in? and why do you put oh my at the end of your comment? would it be a bad thing if my "brothers" were black? In fact I would think it would be fairly obvious from the tone of my comment that i'm white. go take your meds and stay off the internet.
Racism still exists. You can tell by all the white people complaining about the article bringing up race. The fact are that if a pretty white girl (of any age) goes missing, it's all over the news everywhere. Because it raises the ratings on the news. It's not consciously racist, but it is sad. People who are not aware of the dichotomy should probably think a bit harder about it rather than dismiss it.
I believe I heard both cases on Nancy Grace. She has reported on both black and white missing children. Maybe people aren't watching the right news channel! Quit complaining and be proactive, if you want more coverage, call news stations and tell them to report on it!
Is is not also evident by reading all the white peoples comments that this story is being reported? ust because you didnt see it on the news doesnt mean its not there. I believe several people who live in the area have said that it is being reported constantly on their local news, and marie just said she saw it on nancy grace (a white woman) thats national news. @witchkiss I call racism assuming eveyone commenting is white is a racist remark you have no way of knowing that not everyone has a picture up. Also I'm pretty sure I just snapped at an old white racist man so I dont want to hear any crap about me being white and ignorant thank you very much.
And yes racism does still exist, I see it every time whites and blacks are holding up signs trying to deport Mexicans from our country!