Captain: Now, as you can see, this kid is white, which means people actually give a shit.
Schmidt: Sir, for the record, I would just like to say I would give a shit even if this kid was black.
Schmidt: Sir, for the record, I would just like to say I would give a shit even if this kid was black.
The American kids are more sought after here than they are in Children of Men. They're blonde Holy Grails filled with precious U.S. blood, with every character utterly devoting their lives to getting them one way or another. The clear implication is that if you have a kid you're allowed to kill anyone you want, and that girl-children are the most precious, in possibly the purest expression of the tribal-caveperson id ever committed to film. Their fate soars above that of an entire country.
Peter: Don't worry, Lois, all he needs is an after-school activity to get his mind off the Army. Just something to distract him. You know, like all of America gets distracted whenever a cute white girl dies.
(cut away to a police officer giving a press conference at a school bus crash)
Officer: We regret to report that not all the children on board the school bus survived. We have identified the body of one victim: nine-year-old Becky Gunderson.
(the reporters "Awww" in sympathy)
Officer: No, wait. That's, uh, Becky Gutierrez.
(the reporters groan)
Reporter: That's not news.
—Family Guy, "Saving Private Brian"
"We find our viewers are more interested in urban crime creeping into the suburbs. What that means is a victim or victims, preferably well-off and/or white, injured at the hands of the poor, or a minority."
—Nina Romina, Nightcrawler
Fin: If these girls were murdered in the Village or the Upper West Side, the media would be all over it. 1PP would issue a task force. Five black girls aren't even on their radar.
Cragen: ... Finished?
Fin: No, I'm just getting started.
Cragen: This is no different than any other investigation.
Fin: No? An East Side socialite disappears, we got fifty cops on it. Black girls start getting executed, we got four cops. That sounds equal to you?
Cragen: Look, I know where you're coming from.
Fin: No, you don't know where I'm coming from. There's no way you can know where I'm coming from.
Cragen: Don't you dare presume to know what's in my head.
Fin: No matter what you say, Captain, you're not black and you're not from the hood.
—Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, "Rooftop"
California is the first state to introduce an "Ebony Alert" system for missing Black women and children. This is in addition to the existing alert system for missing white women and kids: the news.
— Michael Che, Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update
Dante: Madre Linda has her own Missing White Woman.
Marienne: Missing White Woman Syndrome is America's favorite pastime next to pοrn.
Joe: Missing White Woman...?
Dante: Syndrome. When upper-class, attractive white ladies go missing, they get tons of media coverage. Doesn't happen for other victims.
Joe: Yeah. Well, the media has a thirst for anything salacious, right? [internally] Why do I feel like I'm failing a test?
Marienne: We're speaking of a specific phenomenon. When white women receive disproportionately high attention, a clear message is being sent. White ladies deserve to be rescued. The rest of us can fend for ourselves.
Marienne: Missing White Woman Syndrome is America's favorite pastime next to pοrn.
Joe: Missing White Woman...?
Dante: Syndrome. When upper-class, attractive white ladies go missing, they get tons of media coverage. Doesn't happen for other victims.
Joe: Yeah. Well, the media has a thirst for anything salacious, right? [internally] Why do I feel like I'm failing a test?
Marienne: We're speaking of a specific phenomenon. When white women receive disproportionately high attention, a clear message is being sent. White ladies deserve to be rescued. The rest of us can fend for ourselves.
