As predictable as the sound of a choo-choo from a passing train, the media is trying to control how we mourn the loss of Renisha McBride.  The media is trying to riff off the popular stereotype that people of color are overly emotional and therefore, unstable.  That somehow our melanin correlates positively with emotional instability, and because of it we are prone to acts of destruction, rage, and violence.  

No one has done anything, from what I can tell, but be vocal and engage in civil protest about the length of time it is taking for the vigilante homeowner to be charged and convicted.  We wait with the family, holding them in our hearts, and we mourn this senseless tragic loss.

Media reports like the one just offered by the Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20131113/OPINION01/311130131 whose headline says,

Editorial: In Renisha McBride case, try to remain calm until we have the facts

This editorial suggests that we stay calm and wait for the facts is talking to the wrong group of people.  These are the facts that we know thus far.  Unarmed, confused, Black woman is lost in a predominately white neighborhood.  Black woman goes to someone’s house in the wee hours of the morning and is shot “accidentally” in the face with a shotgun.  Vague references that once the case is revealed we will see that this murder was justified and reasonable.

We are calm and vigilant as we watch how our justice system unfolds around this case.  The suggestion that we should wait for the facts is illogical, unreasonable, insulting, and it shows how culturally insensitive the media is to how large groups of people mourn.  In this case, a large group of African Americans and our allies.

I say let the mother cry, let her weep loudly and long.

Let us hold her as she cries.

Please direct your remain calm pleas and bring it to those who accidentally might murder unarmed people.