Journal Sentinel Supplies Grist for the Mill

Why is child care fraud front page news? Granted, fraud is WRONG, an affront to the taxpayers of the State of Wisconsin and should be punished. No doubt, these Deputy Dog Watchdog Reports on the subject are intended to put the bad guys (in this case gals) on notice: This bilking of the system won’t be tolerated.

Well, newsflash! The articles aren’t targeted to the “perps.” They’re intended to let law-abiding citizens know that law enforcement is on the case of these bad people! And by the way, the writer MUST put the perps’ pictures with the articles because they’re public enemies.

Please, give us a break! Anyone who has been waiting with baited breath to read the Watchdog’s latest installment can rest assured that grapevine gossip has probably done more to whip people into shape than the incendiary updates could or will ever do.

When is the paper going to stop contributing to the perpetuation of the stereotypes of people of color in the City, in this case black women, as crooks and predators by making front-page news of their exploits? Child Care fraud is OLD NEWS and as such should be relegated to the Local section, at best.

Now, there were other articles in today’s paper that, had they been on the front page, would have contributed better to the paper’s tabloid status than the one of which I write: shredded reports of priest abuse, Hmong marriage gone bad or better yet, Fatalcare update about another bad black woman. But wait, the latter wasn’t even about the woman, it was about her husband. Why was HER picture in the article?

`Nuff said.