Last week a 26 year old UVA graduate, Jayne McGowan, was murdered in her home here in Cville. Two men — 22-year-old William Douglas Gentry, Jr. and 18-year-old Michael Stuart Pritchett, both of Caroline Street — have been charged with capital murder and are being held at the jail.
What is ridiculous is how many people are using this senseless tragedy to further their own political goals. Head over to cvillenews and read the comments page. It's filled with discussions of pro- and anti-death penalty advocates trying to make a point. Few are discussing Jayne as a person. It's ridiculous.
It's too soon to hijack this woman's murder for your own beliefs or political stance [if there is ever a time when that's appropriate]; her funeral was today. Those who have done so, regardless of stance, should be ashamed of themselves.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
To be fair, we don't know Jayne as a person. It's simply not possible for us to talk about her on those terms. All of us discussing this on cvillenews.com feel angry, scared, or confused by her murder. But we have nothing to say about her as an individual, so we're left talking about her murderers and how best to punish them.
True enough, Waldo, but I wish we were focusing more on Jayne [whom I did not know] and her family. The debate on that thread is important and has merit; my point is that I wish people had chosen another place to do it.
Not an attack against cvillenews, which I enjoy reading, but more against people like Michael P and Falstaff. There's a time and place for everything, and I don't think this was either for a lot of those comments. But, that's the double edge sword of the 1st Amendment, right?
I understand entirely. Just a couple of nights ago I was talking with Ed Deane, the man whose wife and grandchildren died in the car accident nine years ago that's gotten so much attention in the past few months. On the one hand, we were talking in basic political terms about how commonwealth's attorney Jim Camblos had failed to prosecute the woman who had caused the accident. On the other hand, we were only occasionally dipping into the talk of the painful source of all of this -- the terrible deaths of his loved ones.
It's just easier to talk about big concepts in times of very specific tragedies. Whether it's avoidance, coping, or just writing what you know, it's natural to fall back into a traditional role and pattern of banter and debate. Whether or not that's healthy -- or even good -- is less clear to me.
Post a Comment