Table Of ContentSavage Portrayals
SAVAGE PORTRAYALS
Race, Media, and the
Central Park Jogger Story
NATALIE P. BYFIELD
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia
For
Clarence, Kenya, Camara,
and Judi
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
Copyright © 2014 by Temple University
All rights reserved
Published 2014
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Byfi eld, Natalie P., 1960–
Savage portrayals : race, media, and the Central Park jogger story / Natalie P. Byfi eld.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4399-0633-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4399-0634-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4399-0635-4 (e-book)
1. Central Park Jogger Rape Trial, New York, N.Y., 1990—Press coverage. 2. Rape—
New York (State)—New York—Press coverage—Case studies. 3. Violent crimes—New York
(State)—New York—Press coverage—Case studies. 4. Discrimination in criminal justice
administration—New York (State)—New York—Case studies. 5. African Americans in
mass media. 6. Hispanic Americans in mass media. 7. Racism—United States. I. Title.
HV6568.N5B94 2014
364.15’32097471—dc23 2013016594
Th e paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992
Printed in the United States of America
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Reconnecting New Forms of Inequality to their Roots 1
2 A Jogger Is Raped in Central Park 28
3 Th e Position of the Black Male in the Cult of White Womanhood 46
4 Salvaging the “Savage”: A Racial Frame that Refuses to Die 75
5 A Participant Observes How Content Emerges 106
6 Th e “Facts” Emerge to Convict the Innocent 129
7 Th e Case Falls Apart: Media’s Brief Mea Culpa 153
8 Selling Savage Portrayals: Young Black and Latino Males
in the Carceral State 168
9 Th ey Didn’t Do It! 182
Notes 199
References 215
Index 227
Acknowledgments
I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL for the generosity of spirit of the members of
the Central Park Five—Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Ray-
mond Santana, and Korey Wise—whose lives provided the inspiration for this
project and who have embraced me as I worked to tell a part of their stories.
Th e idea to write about the media coverage of the attack on the Central Park
jogger began for me while I covered the story as a journalist. At that time,
what the account should look like and the message it should deliver were just
a blurry image. My journey to completing this book included many diffi cult
roads that I could not have traveled had it not been for the support of numer-
ous people, whose belief in my project—which sought to forge an alternative
path, away from traditional metanarratives in sociological research—kept me
going through many dark days when the task seemed impossible.
Early support came from members of my dissertation committee at Ford-
ham University, particularly Robin Andersen and E. Doyle McCarthy from the
university’s Communication and Media Studies and Sociology and Anthro-
pology departments, respectively. Since our days in the sociology doctoral pro-
gram, the intellectual generosity of Joyce Weil has been a continuous source of
help to me.
My current home institution, St. John’s University in Queens, New York,
has provided institutional and fi nancial support that has helped bring this proj-
ect to fruition. Th e university’s Institute for Writing Studies has been vital. My
writing partnership with Anne Geller, director of the institute’s Writing Across
the Curriculum, sustained me, particularly during the school year. She heard
and read many versions of signifi cant parts of the manuscript. Her insightful
questions prompted the self-refl ection needed as I worked to create my narra-
tive path. I must also thank the director of the institute’s Writing Center, Harry
viii Acknowledgments
Denny, who helped me wrestle a chapter of the manuscript into shape. A grant
from the St. John’s Center for Teaching and Learning supported my work with
Herstory, the memoir writing group whose structured memoir writing peda-
gogy provided a foundation for some of my work. I am indebted to Herstory
and its founder Erika Duncan, who read and critiqued my early forays into
memoir writing. A grant from the St. John’s Summer Support of Research Pro-
gram was invaluable for helping me complete the project. My department at
St. John’s provided institutional support via several graduate research assis-
tants, particularly Donna Truong and Frances Adomako, who provided im-
portant help. I am very thankful for the encouragement I have received from
colleagues in my department, particularly Roderick Bush, Judith Ryder, and
Roberta Villalón.
I am also indebted to colleagues outside my institution who read draft s of
the proposal and the manuscript and provided guidance, mentorship, and de-
tailed and thoughtful feedback. In particular, the intellectual support and gen-
erosity of Carolyn Brown, Judith Byfi eld, Karen Fields, Venus Green, Wanda
Hendricks, Donna Murch, and Deborah Gray White propelled me forward. In
addition, I thank Deirdre Royster, whose insightful comments early in the pro-
cess were instrumental.
I must express my deep feelings of gratitude to my colleagues, friends, and
family outside of academia, whose various forms of support helped make this
book possible. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon supported my
project in their own work. In particular, Sarah Burns provided research sup-
port. My editors at Temple University Press have been invaluable. In particu-
lar, I thank Janet Francendese and Mick Gusinde-Duff y, as well as copy editor
Lynne Frost, who have been central. I am also deeply grateful to my extended
family, whose support for me is always palpable. I thank my parents, Hugh
and Ruby Byfi eld; their lifelong support has been inspirational. I also thank
my siblings, Judith, Brian, and Byron. Th e Browne, Dock, Sheppard, White-
head, and Wright families also have been the core of my world for decades and
have kept me going. In particular, my mother-in-law, Sarah Dock, and lifelong
friend Ruth Browne have championed me unfl aggingly. My fi nal words of thanks
go to my husband, Clarence, and my children, Kenya and Camara, to whom
this project is, in part, dedicated. Th eir support throughout this long process
has been breathtaking.
1
Reconnecting New Forms of
Inequality to their Roots
Measuring the Distance between the Eras of
Color-Blind Racism and Jim Crow Racism
THE PERSONAL and professional agendas I pursue in this book grew from a
desire to right a wrong. In 1989, members of the media, as well as portions of
the political establishment and elements of the criminal justice system in New
York City, wrongfully accused a group of black and Latino male teens of sexu-
ally assaulting a white female who had been jogging in Central Park. She would
become known simply as “the jogger.” Six teenage boys were charged with the
crime. Five of them would eventually be convicted in two trials; the sixth would
settle the charges against him in a plea bargain. About thirteen years aft er the
prosecutions, the Manhattan District Attorney’s offi ce petitioned the court to
vacate the convictions because the actual rapist had stepped forward admitting
his guilt. Th is person, a known and convicted serial rapist and murderer already
serving a life sentence, confessed to the attack and said that he had acted alone.
Only his DNA could be connected to the jogger. Despite these developments in
the case in 2002, some members of the political establishment and the criminal
justice system continue to support the wrongful convictions of the young men.
Th e rape of Trisha Meili, a twenty-eight-year-old investment banker work-
ing in Manhattan’s fi nancial district, drew international media attention through
a narrative focused on an allegedly new type of street crime called “wilding.”
Simply put, the term meant intentionally behaving in a crazy manner, causing
harm to others, and damaging property. According to police, the rape of Meili
was the culmination of an evening of wilding in Central Park that began with
other incidents of physical assault and harassment. With that police declaration,
rape and wilding would become joined in the public consciousness. Although
