12/09/2013
Novelist Daniel Stashower reviews a book about the killing of Jayna Murray, right, by Brittany Norwood, below left. He describes the crime:
The drama began with an after-hours confrontation between Norwood and Murray, two sales clerks at the luxury yoga store, apparently triggered by Norwoodâs attempt to steal a pair of yoga pants. The clash somehow escalated into a mind-numbing frenzy of violence during which Norwood bludgeoned, choked and stabbed her co-worker to death, using at least five different weapons and inflicting 331 separate wounds.
Later he says this:
Morse also presents an effective portrait of the two families whose lives were destroyed by the crime. It speaks volumes when Jayna Murrayâs mother, walking through her murdered daughterâs apartment, canât bring herself to throw away an empty can of Diet Dr Pepper. The author gives equal sympathy to the close-knit Norwood family, caught between their
horror over the crime and their unconditional love for Brittany. At one stage Brittanyâs brother Chris refuses to be caught âplaying the race cardâ (the Norwoods are black, and the victim was white) in a drama that could easily have been reduced to the dismissive shorthand of black-on-white crime. âItâs not race,â he insists, even as he struggles to make sense of the charges against his sister. âIâm not saying that.â[âThe Yoga Store Murder: The Shocking True Account of the Lululemon Athletica Killingâ by Dan Morse,November 29, 2013]
Thatâs the seventh paragraph, and itâs the first mention of this vital factor. Thatâs doing better than some news stories about this.
You may know that the Associated Press Style Guide is used by almost all papers in the United States. This is what it says about whether you should say what race someone is.
Race:
Identification by race is pertinent:
In biographical and announcement stories, particularly when they involve a feat or appointment that has not routinely been associated with members of a particular race. [I. E. the "first black" to do something good is relevant. The thousandth black to commit an armed robbery is not.]
When it provides the reader with a substantial insight into conflicting emotions known or likely to be involved in a demonstration or similar event.
In some stories that involve a conflict, it is equally important to specify that an issue cuts across racial lines. If, for example, a demonstration by supporters of bussing to achieve racial balance in schools includes a substantial number of whites, that fact should be noted.