I saw this article shared on the Buckhead Community Improvement District’s Facebook page, and I had some concerns. A version of the word “rioting” is mentioned five times in the article (not including the headline), with some version of “looting” appearing three times. In the fourth paragraph, someone was finally quoted acknowledging “the extraordinarily difficult times for the African American community,” but there was no other mention of the purpose of the (largely peaceful) protests otherwise. (Please also note that the current conversation is about the Black community, not just the African American identifying members of the black community.) “Violence,” “hurt” and “damage” were all used in reference to property or fringe looters. No mention of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, racial injustice or police brutality.
 
Do you have an internal review system to examine your articles for racially biased language? This type of media representation of the issue is part of the problem, though I recognize that the undertones will strike a chord with many of my fellow Buckhead community members. I encourage you to rethink writing articles like this, and implement a review process that at the very minimum includes one black person. I see from your “About Us” page that there are no black people in leadership, and from this article I assume there are no black journalists or authors either. I encourage you to do better when discussing this topic.
 
Starr Bruner
Buckhead
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