I feel that this piece as an opinion article did a good job of bringing home some of the issues associated with being a mother and raising Black men in America today. As the issue is presented it may only effect a small minority of our nation, Black mothers with boys. Yet as a nation of diverse ethnic backgrounds all minorities together make up the overwhelming majority of our citizens. I believe that this article is very timely in light of recent events in the Trayvon Martin case and can bring to the fore front an issue that has been effecting our nation while it is current and on the minds of our citizens.

Several news values have been reflected in the news article, “How to raise African-American boys like Trayvon Martin to be careful, but not paranoid.” One of the first news values that could be identified in this particular article was the value of impact. Clearly, this article will have a strong impact on the African-American population in general, especially those with children. After the shooting of Trayvon Martin, many parents have started questioning whether or not their methods in raising their children are efficient. At one point in the article, the author tells the story of one African-American male who had “Just turned 22 and was now out of the most vulnerable demographic group-African-American males between 13 ... More »

This article has some of the qualities of good journalism but lacks others. The disadvantages of the article are that it doesn't strive for fairness- it seems to be agreeing with the part of the public sentiment that is in current discussion about the dangers of "being black" but does nothing to discuss other racial facets of the race related crime. Other news reports have, for instance, discussed how only what blacks where become stereotyped as dangerous, and this author, obviously a black mother, ignores this concept of socialization. However, the story is very timely, as the media and society in general are now at the stage of analyzing Trayvon's death, and in this sense, ever new opinion like this one is also educational. ... More »