Comments on: Missing Harlem Teacher Spotted in Midtown (Updated)

By: D. Bell

D. Bell — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:21:48 +0000

Hi everyone:

I’ve had to give too many reminders about personal attacks in the comments section lately. As I’ve stated before, making personal attacks does nothing but detracts from the discussion at hand. There is actually a code of conduct for commenting on this blog. You can find it in the FAQ section. If you haven’t taken a look or you haven’t read it in a while, please take a few moments to see what is considered good ‘Netiquette. It has nothing to do with agreeing or disagreeing with each other – it is about making your point without degrading others.
On that note, it is my opinion that this post has gone completely off course, therefore I am closing the comments.

Thanks.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:42:36 +0000

People – Missing White Woman syndrome only applies when a woman of a color and a white woman go missing at the same time and the white woman receives all or the bulk of the attention.

When someone young goes missing, especially during a slow news summer, it gets noticed. If you can find me an example of a black/latino/asian woman who went missing at the same time as Hannah Upp and was ignored in favor of coverage about the white victim, then I’d believe you. Otherwise, you’re simply complaining that the disappearance of a white person got ANY attention at all.

What are people supposed to do? Pretend she’s not missing so as to not shake the false-racism sensors in people such as yourselves?

By: D. Bell

D. Bell — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:03:09 +0000

Emotions are really high regarding this situation and it is a ripe environment for misunderstandings. I think both sides are not “hearing” each other. To the friends and families, please know that the comments are not personal attacks on your loved one (with the exception of the “crack” line.) The point that people seem to be attempting to make is one that has been an issue in the black community for a long time. You may not have heard of the the “missing white woman syndrome” but it is an actual term used (see Wikipedia,) and was reported on by Anderson Cooper of CNN back when Natalee Holloway went missing. It was an issue then because during that same period, a black woman went missing, but didn’t receive the any media attention. The theory is that there is a bias in who gets media attention when they go missing. Again, it is not a personal attack on any individual, but it is the connection that some people make whenever one of these cases arises. From the comments that I’ve read, no one is judging her (other than the first commenter), they are judging the news agencies. I agree that we should all wait to find out why she felt that this was the only option she had before we rush to judgment — though we are all entitled to our opinions about the situation. As an aside, I think it is pretty cold-hearted that there are people who only care about those of their same race. I just wrote a post about the 13 year-old black child being killed (old enough to be a student of this teacher) and for only the black readers to care would be a sad state of affairs in this world that we live in. There are people who say that they believe in the “change” in this country that Sen. Obama speaks about, but they still hold onto the old attitudes. I find that disheartening. I personally work with people of all races and would be concerned about them if they disappeared. I would hope they would be just as concerned about me. And for the record, if it is wrong to have compassion for someone who is in pain (whatever the circumstances) then I’m just going to have be wrong. I stand by that. Be blessed.

By: jen

jen — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:46:46 +0000

No one has the right to judge this girl unless they’ve been in her shoes. Hannah if you somehow read this I want you to know that its OK. If you’re half the girl that your friends and loved ones say you are, you were a perfect target for the administration of the DOE. Fellows are recruited in droves to patch the gaping hole left when teachers discover the reality of NYC public schools. The only thing that really matters is your work with the kids. You’re young and smart. Get yourself into a competitive graduate program Pace sucks anyway. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad, you did what you had to do for yourself. IF your friends are teachers they will understand and if they don’t they weren’t your friends. Every day you let go by your anxiety will get worse, just come home, get it over with and move on.
Sincerely,
Jen-FORMER Fellow and Pace student

By: anonymous

anonymous — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:28:18 +0000

It’s called, Missing White Woman Syndrome, you can read about it at Wikipedia and yes, it’s rather sad to see Uptown Flavor become part of the fascinated crowd fawning, up in arms, and monitoring another Missing White Woman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome

By: justme

justme — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:29:08 +0000

I think what people are trying to express is that whenever a white woman is missing, the media makes it into a huge story while if another woman of any other race is missing-it’s a non-issue or a two second sound bite, It gives the impression that the life of a minority woman is less than.
This is no fault of the missing woman family but the fault of the media. It’s a sad commentary.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:34:38 +0000

Friends and family gathered around and did their best to get this story to media outlets out of a concern that on a human-level – not something specific to race, sex, or religion – makes complete sense when someone you know goes missing, and you don’t know what’s occurred to them. When someone in your life suddenly disappears, it is on a gut-level, terrifying. If Hannah was Asian, Hispanic, or Black, we would have done the same. Take a look at the people who came together for Hannah – we cut across all backgrounds and we came together as people who are concerned for another human. Petitioning media outlets to take this story on was no easy task, but we all came together to do what we could. As of yet, we still don’t know what the circumstances are, and people should strive to not pass judgment before being clear on the facts first.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:45:57 +0000

Midtown, I am really trying (hard) to reserve judgment until we get all the facts, but I totally agree. There has been some speculation that she may be suffering from a mental illness disorder.

By: midtown manhattan

midtown manhattan — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:36:43 +0000

What makes me sad is that Ms. Upp may have inadvertently caused trouble for woman down the line who truly have been abducted. Whenever young women, like Ms. Upp fake their own disappearances in order to gain attention, it takes attention, time, resources, manpower and tax payer dollars away from cases that do need help.

This is like the boy who cried wolf. The more times we hear about fake abductions, the closer we become to people acting slower on real cases for women who really are in need!

By: D. Bell

D. Bell — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:41:39 +0000

Reader:

We give equal attention to all missing persons in Harlem. If you are a long time reader, then you know that we have featured Latino and Black missing people as well. We try to lead by example, rather than giving them a taste of their own medicine. Thanks for your comment and we appreciate your continued readership.