Making Race A Part Of News Reporting For No Reason

Recently a few sensationalistic stories came to light: women were found to be hiding things in their privates. Some of these women happened to be Latina. And, perhaps most amazingly, some news outlets chose to emphasize the race (or ethnicity, whichever you favor) of these women over the fact that they were either criminals or managed to hide everything from credits cards to pills to knives inside their bodies!

The problem is, Terra, decided to headline it’s story “Hispanic Florida Women Caught Hiding Fraudulent Items in their Genitals.” I’m not sure what the fact that these women are Latina has to do with stealing — unless, of course, you’re trying to allude that Latinos are criminals. We’ve seen this before time and again, not only because Latino actors only get to play gang bangers and immigrants, but when a TV personality false claimed to be raped she described her assailant as Latino.

Adding race to the picture is not only pointless, but is damaging, especially when there’s such a ridiculous story already there to tell. How can you possibly make a story more interesting than women stashing knives in their privates by adding that the women in question are Latina? Beats me. In any case, here’s a wrap up of the events of May 3 in Florida:

  • Ann Marie Hernandez, 46, of Pompano Beach concealed a fraudulent credit card and fake driver’s license in her privates.
  • Gloria Esther Perez, 26, of Fort Meyers was found to be concealing one knife in her privates and another in the folds of her fat.

I don’t know about you, but most Latinas I know would never dream of doing such a thing. But, just for good measure, Terra throws it out there that this kind of activity (from Latinas, no less) is “disgusting.”

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

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