I’ve noticed lately, in the print and TV media, that race is usually not offered when a suspect is described. Has anyone else noticed this? I am going to post examples with links before long, but I find it highly stupid for the news to report that the police are looking for a murder suspect, for example, and give a description like, “the suspect is 5′10″ – 6′1″ with dark hair and brown eyes.”

Did someone decide it was somehow racist to tell a suspect’s race? For arguments’ sake, let’s say there are 1 million people in Davidson County who fit that description. Wouldn’t it make sense to eliminate some of the possible suspects by adding race to the description? Is the media afraid of reporting the truth?