Toronto Shooting

The media have been in hysterics the last few days about the tragic death of Jane Creba, the 15-year-old girl caught in the crossfire of a Boxing Day shootout in downtown Toronto. There has been much hand-wringing about gang violence, the illegal cross-border trade in guns, etc., etc. And so there should be - these are extremely serious problems.

But why is it that such issues are only brought to widespread attention when the victims are like Jane Creba - young, attractive, middle-class and white? Would there have been anywhere near as much attention paid if the person killed was not a pretty innocent teenager out shopping with her parents? Of course not. Only when the violence strays out of the enclaves inhabited by the have-nots do the haves sit up and take notice. Sad.