To the editor:
I was dismayed to see in the first entry of your Police Beat section by Tanisia Morris a description of would-be thieves as “three black men.” I remember in the late 1960s or early 70s that the race of persons accused of a crime was no longer published in newspapers, which was one of the advances of the civil rights movement. I often glance over the Police Beat and cannot remember a perpetrator being described as “a white man.”
As a resident of Riverdale for over 13 years, I’ve been glad for the increase of residents of multi-cultural backgrounds. I hope the writers of The Riverdale Press, the ethical views of which I respect, are more careful to not encourage insidious fears that people of color are bringing crime to our neighborhood.
Marion Fennell