Pilot plays race card

One of the things that you can count on when it comes to the Virginian-Pilot is their crusade to paint Norfolk Vice Mayor Paul Riddick as the worst person – bar none – in the city. As I look back over the reports of the Pilot over the years Riddick has served on council, I cannot find a SINGLE time when they had said anything positive about the man.

Such is the firestorm that they ignited today surrounding Riddick’s remarks on his radio program. For those who are unfamiliar, black plainsclothes officer Seneca Darden was shot and killed by white officer Gordon Barry back in May. After a state police investigation, Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Doyle on 7/29 said that no criminal charges would be filed, primarily because of errors by both officers. As a followup, the editorial board interviewed police chief Bruce Marquis and wrote this editorial on 8/1. Also on that day, a lengthy article about the police chief discussing the events appeared on the front page. In both the article and his interview with the editorial board, the chief is quoted as saying:

“Had they not blown off their assignment… the events would not have happened such as they happened,” Marquis said.

From the same article:

Kenneth R. Melvin, attorney for Darden’s widow, Brindle, said that Darden was simply reacting as a police officer to news of a double shooting nearby.

“I’m very much concerned that the Police Department is taking such a defensive position. They’re blaming the victim,” he said.

[…]

The chief acknowledged the department did not have a policy regarding uniform patrol officers who are assigned to plainclothes assignments. No department in the region did, he said. Such a policy is being prepared, he said.

And, of course, the Pilot had to make sure that everybody was aware of the possible race angle:

Marquis was asked what role Darden’s race may have played in what happened. Barry, who is white, and Darden, who was black, were in a predominantly black neighborhood.

“If you want me to take this uniform off and be Bruce Marquis, black man in America, versus Bruce Marquis, police chief of Norfolk, I would have to question, gee, you know, that could have been me,” he said. “And given this, do I feel comfortable with this? No.”

I have to say that I was quite surprised to see the chief say the things that he said in the article. I don’t think he really understands the way things work around here. Race is not something we openly discuss, at least not in mixed company.

Adding a bit more fuel to the fire was the article yesterday about officer Darden’s mother, who is, naturally, upset at the portrayal of her son.

She denounced any effort to blame her son’s death “as a fault of his own,” charging that Marquis and Doyle are the real “guilty” parties.

“My son died doing what he loved,” she wrote. “We seem to be forgetting the fact that he was shot six times in the back like an animal while trying to defuse a situation.”

Then there is this morning’s article. Riddick has a radio program that airs at 6am on Wednesday mornings on a black radio station. The audience is, well, black, and Riddick often says things on the station that he doesn’t say in public. It’s like a little private club, except it is on the airwaves. Of course, that means that anyone can listen in (and trust me, they do). So apparently, on his program, he called for the chief to apologize or leave:

“For Chief Marquis to somehow blame Seneca Darden for his own death is outrageous and cruel,” Riddick said. “It is time for us to run Marquis out of town on a rail. If he does not give a full apology to the black community and to the Darden family, then we must insist on his removal.”

Of course, folks are all over this. But let’s look at a few things. First, I looked back thru the Pilot archives and couldn’t find a single instance of the paper citing Riddick’s radio program prior to today’s article. The fact that Riddick has a radio program is not a secret. I have no doubt that someone called the Pilot and told them what had been said on the station and they went and got a copy of the tape. The question is why. Why today? And why this topic? As I said, Riddick often says things to his radio audience that he doesn’t say in public. Is this the perfect two-for one: an effort on the Pilot’s part to fan the flames of a very sad situation and to also continue to brand Riddick as a prejudiced?

Secondly – and this point I argued with a white friend of mine this morning – Riddick wasn’t talking to the Pilot. And he wasn’t talking to white people, either. He was talking to his black audience, many of whom reside in his majority black ward. I know it is difficult to grasp but a lot of what Riddick says is simply him voicing what he is hearing from his constituents.

I don’t know what Riddick has done to make the Pilot dislike him so. I know of no one else that the Pilot demonizes like they do him.

Don’t blame Riddick for bringing race into this. Place the blame where it belongs: on the Pilot.