Thanks for the etymology of pickananny. I flinched to even use it because, when I was young, I saw it on postcards that might depict a string of young black children, all smiling and eating watermelon, with a caption that might say: Dem pickannies shur do loves dere watermelon!

In my ignorance of its etymology, I was afraid it might have a more noxious origin, although association with the slave trade does forever taint it.

"Canonical topics" is well put.

I also noted that none of Broadsheet's angry men have posted in this thread.

I don't think it's the aesthetics that preclude particpatory compassion. I think the problem is projection. White people, having most of the money, buy most of the stuff. Therefore, advertisers pander to them and, in turn, newsrooms pander to them. It is easier for a white person to project into the tragedy of a white lost child than a black lost child.

And given the magnitude of tragedy that afflicts too many black families, in the forms of poverty, incarceration, and murder (I think I read once that a young black man is nine times more likely to be murdered than a young white man.), some white folks might reason, "Hey, that missing child is just another thing for those black folks. When, oh, when will they get their shit together?"

I'm just guessing here, Asehpe, but in the end, I also think that class matters most and that a po', white, missing, hillybilly child would also be largely ignored. Rich people matter more than the rest of us. Culturally, they do. They garner better care from birth to death. Why wouldn't they garner better care when they are missing?

As regards the Angry Men of Broadsheet who haven't posted in this thread, I just can't be quite as forgiving as you. And I'm equally unforgiving of the feminists who haven't posted in this thread. If your caring is constricted to you, there isn't just a constiptation of compassion: there's no compassion as caring for yourself doesn't count as compassion. The media doesn't manipulate us. We manipulate the media. If enough people were to react in this thread, Ms. Walsh would note the interest and this topic might be placed on the front page of Salon, instead of being given partial placement on the front page of Broadsheet. Ms. Harding did her homework here. She practiced true journalism, as opposed to Ms. Clark-Flory up-page, who told us that she'll never wear pantyhose (Whoo-hoo! As David Terry has noted, Ms. Clark-Flory is fond of talking about her crotch: who goes in it and what does and doesn't sheath it.). And Ms. Clark-Flory's confection gets the sexy shoe shot. We also get to see on Broadsheet's front page some underwear and a model. But Ms. Harding's serious journalism about a deadly serious topic gets nuthin'. We, the people, can change this. If we care, Salon will care. If Salon cares, other media outlets will care. If they care, politicians will care. We, the people, decide what matters. Unfortunately, we, the Salon people, have decided that Ms. Clark-Flory's refusal to wear pantyhose is what matters.

I understand the frustration about people worring about less important topics. But they're writing about the little things that mean so much for their lives -- it's less idealistic, I know, but it's also more human. What can the Angry Men of Broadsheet (to use that imprecise, yet funny, characterization) say about missing Black children? It doesn't feed into the feminist conspiracy they're fighting against. It's better to complain against Ms Harding's use of (admittedly ill-chosen) "lizard brain" (meaning the Complex-R of course) when talking about men. And for the feminists here -- well, it doesn't directly concern the situation of women or their oppression, it's not about rape, it's not about domestic abuse... it's not one of the 'canonical topics', let's call it this way. So they'll shrug their shoulders and look for another thread.

Maybe I'm just saying: don't be so hard on them. It's just human nature, from both sides. And I'm sure all of them -- Angry Men or radical feminists -- are hoping these Black children will be found. (Aren't you, people?)

Interesting word, pickananny. It's actually from my mother tongue, Portuguese: pequenino, 'small one'. It's a diminutive, 'charming' form of pequeno 'small'. You can hear White people talking about their pequeninos, their children; it sounds like a cozy, affectionate word in Portuguese. I wonder why it got associated with Blacks in English. I'll bet it was via Portuguese slave traders.

You raise some very important points here. I had once also speculated to myself that a certain cultural malaise in America might come from the idea that the 'prototypical' White American will become a minority. I wondered a few times what will happen when this actually becomes true.

I'm more into thinking the explanation is class rather than stereotypes about bad Black parents. I think it's also the aesthetics of the pretty-looking missing girls; other missing children will simply have a less heartbreaking impact on viewers.

...it frustrates me to see readers waxing about pantyhose and high heels while this thread just sits.

I'm old enough to remember postcards that portrayed "pickanannies"* as darling and those postcards were purchased by white folks.

And I heard white elders effusing things like, "Aren't they darling," when they saw black children. So, in those situations, black children seem to elicit the same affection from white adults as white children. Therefore, why don't missing black children elicit the same reaction as missing white children?

I suspect it's because of the meme that black parents aren't good parents. Therefore, a missing black child is justice. I also suspect that the indifference is due to the realization among white folks that the day is coming when we will be a minority in America, so a missing black child delays that day. I suspect it's also due to class. It is rich white girls who garner the coverage. I suspect that there are poor white children who are missing that have received little to no coverage. The inequity of response might be due to richer folks having better skills at engaging the media.

* This was the word used on those postcards.