Pride, Prejudice, and Death

See, my sister got raped, so a man got killed,
Local boy went to prison; the man's buried on the hill,
Folks went back to normal when the closed the case,
But they still stare at their shoes when they pass our place. -- The Tragically Hip

As the stomach turns in my sleepy hometown, some juicy new tidbits of information have been released in the Medicine Hat triple homicide, which made national headlines yesterday. I am unsure if the news was official, but CBC Radio publicly stated the 12-year old girl that was arrested in connection of the triple murder was in fact, the daughter of the slain man and woman, and the biological sister to the pre-teen male, whom was also killed either late Saturday night, or early Sunday morning.

This also means that to protect the identity of the youth who was charged in this case, the names of the deceased cannot be released to the public. But that protection of confidential information has already been blown wide open, as local media have already published names of the deceased.

Medicine Hat News, I would highly suggest contacting your insurance broker and your legal counsel; the potential to have a claim against you for publishing what is considered to be confidential information may be in the works.

But that isn't what I wanted to discuss here. Even us internet journalists -- "bloggers" we are often called, have to play ball by the rules.

But somehow, journalists think that it is in their divine right to disseminate information that is little more than filler; designed only to sell newspapers and inject even more fear into an already frightened community.

What I heard this afternoon on Wild Rose Country, a CBC Calgary Talk Show, made me so angry, it nearly made me sick. The host, Donna McElligott, interviewed two Medicine Hat News Journalists, who were covering the Medicine Hat massacre. One of the guests, Tenille Tellman, explained to McElligott and the CBC listeners how she researched the persona of the adult accused, Jeremy Steinke.

Interviews with area citizens who knew of the accused described to Tellman that Steinke and the 12-year old female were "Goth", or "Vampires". To further explain this subculture to her readers and listeners, Tellman explained that she researched the internet, and though she did not disclose -- to my knowledge -- the sites she searched, she explained she entered "Medicine Hat" into a search box and found some sixty-odd registered members who published public profiles on the web. She did not indicatecite if Steinke had an on-line profile, however she did indicate that she found a large presence of these "goths" or "vampires", who dress in black clothing, wear black makeup, engage in scarification or other forms of self mutilation, and listen to stark, depressive, or otherwise angry music.

It was about then that I switched off the radio, which (conveniently) was about five seconds before I would have ripped it out of the dash of my car and would have thrown it out the window.

I consider this to be journalism of the lowest common denominator, and Tellman should have known better. What Tellman accomplished in her public address on CBC Calgary radio this afternoon was classify this triple murder in the same category as the Columbine Massacre, and to a lesser extent, the Taber Shooting (more than likely, due to geography).

With respect to the accused being considered of being members of the "goth" subculture, I have two words for Tellman and the rest of the world: So what?

So what if the accused dressed in black clothing? So what if they wear black makeup? So what if they pierce, tattoo, brand or otherwise mutilate their bodies? So what if they listen to music like Marilyn Manson?

Instead, what was accomplished was instilling more fear into a community that is already scared senseless. Would it have made any difference if the two people accused in this murder case wore oversized clothing and listened to Rap music? Would it have made a difference if they wore fashionable clothes and tried to blend in with people of their own age groups? Would it have made a difference if the color of their skin were different? It shouldn't; but it does.

The community of Medicine Hat is a small one, with less than 60,000 residents. There are a higher-than-average percentage of senior residents in this city, and it is -- largely -- a religious community. I can almost hear the sermons at the churches this Sunday, as evangelist preachers will rant about the evils of the "Devil music", and how it poisoned the minds of the accused, and drove them to murder those three people in cold blood. I can see the reaction of this -- as it has already begun -- as the residents of Medicine Hat will have a greater fear and resentment to those who dress in black clothing and wear black makeup.

I imagine more violence will rise out of this tragedy, that fearful and ignorant residents will pick fights with these "goths" on the sole assumption that if they look the same, they must act the same, or at the very least, hold the same beliefs.

I want to say this for the record: Why are the "goths" being singled out as mindless bloodthirsty barbarians? This is prejudicim, and it is wrong. Why should they be looked upon as if they were some sort of religious cult? Most "goths" are no different that any other subculture; they just wish to stick out, rather than blend into their surroundings.

In my teenaged years, and young adulthood, I noticed that my peers had two types of personality traits: some wanted to not be noticed, and others wanted to stand out against the grain. In other words, there were trend setters, the trend followers -- which we often referred to as Lemmings. In this case, I cannot say whether Steinke et al. were considered as trend setters or trend followers, but I can safely say that they didn't want to be referred to as part of the masses.

If a person wants to dress a certain way, there must be some reason. One thing that I have been trying to come to terms with in recent years is to determine why people do the things they do to themselves. By this, I mean, that I don't understand how a person can be so unhappy with their self-image, or their life, that they must resort to tattooing, piercing, or cutting themselves in order to make themselves feel more attractive. The only conclusion I can surmise is that these acts of pain are -- in some way -- sexually gratifying for them.

But this doesn't make them cold-blooded killers; and neither does the music they listen to.

In my youth, and formative teenaged years, I had witnessed so much prejudice, ethnocentrism, and racism that I decided to do something about it. I went on a crusade, grew my hair long, dressed in offensive clothing and did my best to educate everyone I knew about the wrongs of "judging a book by its' cover". When I look upon it, I became so involved in my beliefs that I began to preach to anyone who cared to listen.

I spent much of my young adulthood talking to my peers, and I managed to knock some sense into many of them. It was obvious; at first many of them were scared by my appearance, and after time, they began to appreciate and respect the golden heart that existed under my fearful appearance. I cannot count the number of times a person had said to me: "You know, when I first met you, I thought you were scary, were an asshole, were violent, were some Devil-worshipping ingrate, but now that I know you, I have discovered that you are one of the kindest people I have ever met". This was the point where my brain would exclaim: "Hallelujah! We have converted another infidel!"

To bring my rant back into perspective, I am sick and tired of the ignorant masses categorizing subcultures, thus creating a moral panic into the community. The media is such a powerful tool, and it allows those with the [publishing] power to instill fear into the masses, and this is a product of circumstances the masses don't understand. By this I mean that the masses don't understand why some people choose to dress in black clothes and black makeup -- which is exactly the same reason why they don't understand why some people drink alcohol, or abuse drugs. It's the same reason why they don't understand why some religions don turbans.

It's ignorance, pure and simple. And I have had enough of this uneducated intolerance.

We can't migrate beyond the facts, and the facts are that the two people accused in the local massacre were a 23 year-old male and the 12-year old daughter of the deceased. The clothes they wore, and the music they listened to -- is irrelevant information.

And the same goes to the "Trenchcoat Mafia".

Please prevent the spread of fear. Use your brain.