Atticus Finch strikes again

[mystery-ak]

Atticus Finch strikes again

 It is intellectually dishonest and cowardly to go out of your way to excise the word black from an article or your speech if the word black describes quite fittingly the culprit in the news story.

Bill Ponton | April 15, 2026

I wrote recently about a reporter, Yasmeen F., who must scour the internet to report on stories of “white people behaving badly” for the Atlanta Black Star. The fact that most of her stories seem to be pure fiction is not my point. Instead, I want the reader to contrast Yasmeen’s reporting with the journalistic style of Fox News in the following article entitled, “Rowdy teenagers swarm DC Navy Yard in waterfront takeover despite police juvenile curfew zone”. Do you see it? Yesss… Fox News reporters judiciously avoid the use of the adjective “black” in their descriptions of “rowdy teenagers” or a “teen takeover”.

What is that exactly? Fox News is not alone. All media outlets do it. They self-censor, but for what purpose? It is obviously not for the purpose of deceiving anyone. One look at the video and you know it is not a flash mob with a bunch of theater kids singing “Seasons of Love”.

So, what is the purpose? I believe it is just another facet of what I call the Atticus Finch complex (a reference to the role played by Gregory Peck in the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird). But you may ask, how does one mentally place themselves in front of that fictional Southern courthouse, standing up to a mob hellbent on lynching an innocent black man, by leaving the word “black” out of an article about black rowdy teenagers?

This is my guess; by leaving out the descriptor “black,” the reporter is making a token gesture toward defusing any white anger directed at blacks that the article might incite. In essence, doing as Atticus Finch would have done in telling the white mob to calm down and go home — the “Great White Father” keeping his children in line. It works equally well in cases of teen takeovers or mass transit stabbings. The problem is not havoc in the street, but the reaction to that havoc.

My objection to all of it is simple. It is intellectually dishonest and cowardly to go out of your way to excise the word black from an article or your speech if the word black describes quite fittingly the rowdy teenagers.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/04/atticus_finch_strikes_again.html

[Fishrrman]

"I believe it is just another facet of what I call the Atticus Finch complex (a reference to the role played by Gregory Peck in the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird)..."

When I was younger, I thought I liked that book and film.
After the experiences of life, today, not so much.

I'm even of the opinion that Harper Lee didn't write it -- or at least the finished version that made it into print. Someone who can write (and write well) would have more than "just one book" in them. I realize there was something of a sequel from decades later, but still...?

[Smokin Joe]

All I needed to see was the video. Movement patterns, interactions (fights) among the crowd all seemed to have a signature style of interaction and action.

Maybe that is not so much the case, but they just didn't move like a geriatric crowd of ICE protesters.