Like everyone else, I watched the video of Antoine Dodson’s uncomfortably hilarious comments regarding his sister’s assault by an unknown intruder SEVERAL times. Since the day the video posted, the story has only gotten bigger with many people taking some, shall we say, ‘creative‘ license with it. Now, Dodson has a twitter page, a youtube channel, and has apparently hosted some meet-and-greets to talk to his “fans.”

The Alabama news station that aired his comments came under fire with many people rehashing a point of view that has bothered me for a very long time. That being their suspicious that the news cameras always pull aside the most “ignorant” minority to get their opinion and air it intentionally to make minorities look bad.

Let me quickly say, as a minority female I’m 1000 types of sensitive about how gender and race plays out in the media. In fact, with this being a media analysis blog, sometimes I have to avoid addressing certain trends I notice so that this blog doesn’t accidentally turn into the bastard sister of Racialicious.

Having said that, the belief that there is a spirited effort to embarrass minorities in those situations is a lazy perspective that begs reconsideration. The truth is, news cameras typically interview people who are standing near the place of the crime. In the case of violent or physical crime, it’s not surprising that the people nearby might not dress or speak English the way some segments of society would like them to. It’s also not surprising that they wouldn’t be super concerned with their image or even aware of it. I know that’s surprising in a society that has taken personal branding to new and unchartered territory.

Dodson’s comments, while not particularly articulate, were still eloquent and relevant. When he says “Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband because they raping everybody out here (sic),” he’s essential saying that you need to protect your family because anyone could be a victim. His accent, grammar, and dramatic delivery didn’t distract me from that message.

Where I differ with the Alabama news is on airing Dodson’s threat to the intruder. I don’t think it’s inappropriate for a news station to broadcast someone threatening to “find” someone. However, I wasn’t bothered by the fact that Dodson made the comments. Remember, though he has perfect comedic timing, this was a serious situation in which his sister had only hours before been attacked, he’d fought off the perpetrator, and was still visibly upset.