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The wrong explanation for Clayton's tragedy

Once again, some see race as the reason

239 comments

The wrong explanation for Clayton's tragedy

POSTED: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 8:19 AM

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As if the killing of Autumn Pasquale isn't horrible enough, some anonymous postings on this and other news sites insist that race is the reason for the 12-year-old Clayton, NJ girl's death.

Autumn was white. The two suspects are black. And for some people, this explains why she was strangled.

It's as foolish to judge public opinion by reading comments on websites as it is to judge people by race. So I won't go there.

I will say that in small-town Clayton on Tuesday, I saw blacks and whites united in their grief about the death of a fellow human being. This truth speaks more eloquently than handfuls of hateful words ever could.

Kevin Riordan @ 8:19 AM Permalink | 239 comments

239 comments

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Comments (247)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:03 AM, 10/24/2012

I was wondering how long it would take before the ignorance of most people latched on to making this a race issue. Congratulations everyone, you did not disappoint!!

— BMan

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:04 AM, 10/24/2012

Since comments are closed on the other articles, I wanted to take this opportunity to say I hope these two murderous thugs are back-doored many, many times in prison. Here's hoping their cellmates are offensively girthy and unbearably repressed. Fish!

— So_many_haters

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:06 AM, 10/24/2012

RIP Autumn :*(

— BMan

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:07 AM, 10/24/2012

Kevin - your article is a disgrace.

— hipdaddy

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:17 AM, 10/24/2012

Riordan wrote this article to distract us from the real issue. The editorial board of this paper has been very vocal in their opposition to trying minors as adults and is openly hostile to the idea of giving minors an adult sentence for an adult crime.

I can't wait to read how Riordan and his fellow "journalists" justify a juvenile trial and lenient sentence, assuming they are convicted, given the nature of this crime.

Not so easy to write those type of opinions when the victim isn't some faceless old guy in the wrong place at the wrong time.

— barlowjames1

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:24 AM, 10/24/2012

Ha! Try being a white person driving through Kensington. You get looked at like you have 3 heads. Racism is alive and well.

— Matt

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:34 AM, 10/24/2012

Where's Al & Jessie when you need them?

— bmax

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:37 AM, 10/24/2012

Let's picture this situation the other way around. If it was two white kids that killed an innocent little black girl I could almost guarantee it would be considered a racist issue. The whole world would know the story and it would be a huge controversy. It's a shame how the world works. What happened to this little girl is an absolute tragedy and my heart breaks for this family. Hopefully the justice system does it's job and prosecutes these two scumbags!

— Umightnotlikeit

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:44 AM, 10/24/2012

It is about race when people make it about race, unfortunately this is a case of two idiots (no matter the color) killing a beautiful girl with a life to live over a damn bike....truly senseless. Somehow I think all races feel so much better when killers and victims are the same race. Ask yourself that and answer your own question. For me the answer is always the same because victims are innocent souls and killers are scum no matter the race. God bless the innocent and I have no mercy for the guilty no matter the race. Race doesn't matter only life and if you truly believe that we are all equal in God's eyes then what else matters. I could go further but what is the purpose you are what you are and you will believe what you believe.

— BCRock

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:44 AM, 10/24/2012

I don't believe it is racist to point out that there is a bias in the way that the media reports on certain crimes. The reality is that for better or for worse, race is an issue that continues to factor into how we perceive both victims and perpetrators. Seriously, if two white teenage boys lured an innocent black child into their home and murdered her for bike parts, there is no doubt that the race of the victim and the race of the perpetrators would become part of the reporting narrative, and questions would be raised about whether the race of the victim factored into the crime. The history of race relations in this country can't be ignored and it does affect perceptions and assumptions, even though maybe it shouldn't. In this very tragic case, I don't think the race of the victim was a factor, but I won't condemn anyone for asking whether this story might be taking a different turn if the perpetrators where white and the victim black. And although it is a legitimate question, I hope one day we don't have to ask such a question.

— karmadarma

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:47 AM, 10/24/2012

Heartbreaking for the girl's family. Doesn't appear to be a racially motivated crime, so far. But there sure is a double standard on this site and elsewhere in the media concerning race. Some writers on philly.com were 'insisting that race is the reason' for Trayvon Martin's death from the very beginning, weren't they?

— jonnyd

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:51 AM, 10/24/2012

This all has gotten dramatically worse since Nobama was put in the House.

— moretoit

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:55 AM, 10/24/2012

Were these boys wearing hoodies?

— MtAiryDweller

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:57 AM, 10/24/2012

It is not a race issue. It is about parents not showing and teaching these -----about the respect for life. They never show their children love. Whenever they recognize that someone has what they want they kill and take it. If they recognize a peer is loved by their families they bully and beat them. We know who they are. My granddaughter has suffered so much through out her school years by this type of "female bullies". It gets carried into adulthood.
Glad they are off and away....hopefully for life.
My prayers are with the family of Autumn.
By the way I am Black.

— msbakery