African American
Related: About this forumWhy Is No One Coming For The Parents Of Toddler For Death of 5 Alligators?
I was just talking about this to a friend of mine last night.
http://wearyourvoicemag.com/identities/race/no-one-coming-parents-white-toddler-death-4-alligators
In all this passionate frustration over the killing of Harambe the gorilla, I cannot recall seeing anyone not one person issue a prayer for the family of black toddler, thank their God for granting the childs safe return to his parents.
I cannot recall seeing any posts expressing empathy for the mother and father of that Black child.
I cannot recall anyone blaming the zoo in the way that people are blaming Disney for not warning tourists about the presence of alligators in the lagoon.
The sad, painful and frustrating truth is that no one seemed capable or willing to identify with those Black parents.
Like every other institution in America informed by race, that inability to identify with pain and suffering of black families involved in animal tragedies is neither accidental nor incidental. Its national heritage.
forjusticethunders
(1,151 posts)Cultural memes affect people's thinking even if you don't think they do.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)People were horrible, I think I read another piece last night that said that some in the media even said the little Black toddler had some evil master plan--at age TWO--to commit mayhem.
Warpy
(111,359 posts)because no one was taking the zoo to task for having an enclosure vulnerable to toddlers.
I guess one of the other differences is that gorillas are endangered and alligators are not.
I am a little surprised that no one is calling the parents of the kid killed by an alligator out for having a toddler out at 9 PM and not keeping a closer eye on him.
I guess being white means it's never your fault and being black means that it's never anyone else's fault.
Number23
(24,544 posts)to be custom made for children, including very young ones, it's a zoo. If you have enclosures that children are sliding right through them and into harms' way you need to do a redesign yesterday.
bonemachine
(757 posts)about their differing responses.
My gut says that the answer, rationalizing or no, is that most people would say on first examination that the difference was that one was an animal in a zoo, the other a wild animal attack.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)I think the piece is less about individual opinions and about the tide of social opinion.
bonemachine
(757 posts)But the bulk of responses are made up of individual opinions, right?
People rationalize all sorts of things in all sorts of interesting ways, I suppose...
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)And the gator kid DIED. Apple vs. Orange.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Ounces rather than tons when the one is compared to the other.
"Apple vs. Orange." I'd rationalize negligence vs. negligence the same way as well... if compelled to by my biases.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)The bulk of the sympathy (as it should be) is with the family.
In the first instance, the police actually investigated the family for possible criminal responsibility. http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/31/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/
hedda_foil
(16,375 posts)Found a photo but it won't post.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/15/child-reportedly-dragged-into-lagoon-by-alligator-near-disney-resort.html#
liberal N proud
(60,346 posts)It is too easy to blame someone else in todays society. It's never me!
A lot of people here love to demonize any corporation for anything they can.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)librarylu
(503 posts)alligators aren't currently endangered. For another they aren't cute. I remember when they were about to be listed there were claims conservationists cared more about alligators than about black children.
It's sad that innocent alligators had to be euthanized and searched for remains but they're, you know, reptiles.
I noticed things seemed to settle down here when it turned out the gorilla kid's parents were black.
At least no one at the zoo has been reported as saying, "Oh, it's only a black kid. Shoot the kid."
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Letting your 3 year old accidently slip away at a gorilla exhibit, or swimming with a 2 year old at 9PM in a zone marked no swimming, are both acts of slightly careless judgement that don't rise to the level of criminality.
anoNY42
(670 posts)Preface: Warning, anecdote follows.
I am a Florida resident and parent of a 2 year old, and the Disney thing is one of my nightmares. However, my wife hard-heartedly blamed the parents for letting the kid get too close to water in Florida. As to the gorilla incident, my wife blamed the zoo and empathized with the parent, since we know how toddlers wander.
Maybe that just means my wife is not a racist?
JustAnotherGen
(31,907 posts)He was hard hearted as hell towards that little boys parents.
Stellar
(5,644 posts)Different strokes, I guess.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)Its not a secret that there is a gorilla in the gorilla cage, and maybe you should watch your kid.
I can understand somebody not realizing the danger in a beach, at disney.
JI7
(89,276 posts)Zoos are places with animals taken out of their natural habitat and put in cages and other enclosures.
Most parents would assume things are set up so a small child can't easily get into dangerous places.
The same shit you say about the mother at the zoo could be said about the parents in Orlando.
It would be like someone going to Costa Rica and saying - but I didn't know they had snakes here or crocodiles - because I'm not from here.
Stay out of the marsh and the jungle - that's what 'common sense' dictates.
I don't discount the need for Disney to install signs - but I'm getting really perturbed with the idea that common sense wasn't used because of the 'region' one is from.
Who the fuck travels without knowing the dangers? And I'm talking anywhere in the country - or the world. Oh fiddle dee - I didn't realize there were terrorism alerts, water alerts, zika alerts, etc .etc.
JI7
(89,276 posts)And the brand has a lot behind it. Especially for those who want to travel with kids.
People see the whole thing as a set up make believe without the dangers you would face in the"real world".
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)The Gorilla is an endangered species, and the killing of the Gorilla broke as the news was released.
Aligators not not endangerd, they might just be a bit overpopulated. I can understand most not caring if the gator was killed. Also, since a few suspected gators were not killed until hours after the incident, that did not make a lot of headlines. Some people even now don't realize that a few alligators have been killed since the incident.
JustAnotherGen
(31,907 posts)I treated as a cesspool of stranger danger. But - I'm very well traveled. Jungle smart if you will.
Nay
(12,051 posts)both sets of parents were correct to expect that:
A 4-yr-old who gets separated from his parents cannot accidentally fall into, or get into, an animal pit.
A toddler on a groomed, man-made beach(with beach chairs and umbrellas, and kids' movie night on the beach) at Disney World cannot be snatched by an alligator.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)I would assume they were set up so no one could get in or out of the enclosures.
On the other hand, I would expect alligators - wild creatures and not enclosed or controlled in any way - in any fresh water in Florida.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)but FL is famous for gators. They get acclimated to humans and are often spotted in public.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)be safe.
i can understand a drunk adult being able to get into a cage, but a zoo should be designed such that a kid cannot.
Orrex
(63,225 posts)But then again, they praise God when raccoons are chased out of the dumpster at the local McDonalds.
They're a bit God-happy, is what I'm saying.
But you and the article make a brilliant point.
K/R
Ms. Yertle
(466 posts)the child in Cincinnati lived, and the Nebraska child did not.
OTOH, do you remember when the mom put the child on the railing at the Pittsburgh Zoo, and he fell into the wild dog exhibit and was ripped to shreds in front of his mother? There was PLENTY of criticism of that (white) mother.
I think it depends more on the situation than the color of skin.
MFM008
(19,820 posts)Anyone remember the scene in Crocodile Dundee with the woman at the edge of the lake and it grabs her water bottle around her neck?
Disney should fence off all water areas rather than kill all the gators, they will get through and
people will continue to IGNORE signs.
Gators haven't survived for millions of years because they are stupid.
pnwmom
(108,995 posts)And Disney lured the families down to the beach for a "Beach Night" during prime alligator feeding time.
Disney also rents little boats and kayaks and rafts that they let families use on that body of water.
Disney was NOT disclosing the risk.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)there is no empathy overall because black life, child or adult, to the majority, is worth much less than white life. Just a fact of american living. Always has been a fact for over 300 years now and always will be.
UMTerp01
(1,048 posts)I saw articles written about the criminal history of the father of the little boy in the zoo incident and the father wasn't even f*cking present when it happened. Did they look into the background of this Disney incident father? Seriously doubt it.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)And then they investigated whether to charge the parents with anything - parents plural including the dad who wasn't there. They might have been hoping to find some excuse to claim he had a parole violation and stick him back in prison.
Horrible.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,907 posts)pnwmom
(108,995 posts)who were outraged that, due to the awful, ignorant parents at Disney, five alligators had lost their lives.
And I strongly blamed the zoo for not having barriers that could keep a toddler out. Both the zoo and Disney were to blame. The mothers in both cases were doing their best, but no parent can be 100% perfect 100% of the time.