Joy Reid chalked up the media attention over the Gabby Petito case to “missing white woman syndrome” and appeared angry over the coverage. The case has garnered significant media attention due to Petito’s sizable social media following.
“The way this story has captivated the nation has many wondering; why not the same media attention when people of color go missing?” Reid asked on her show. Reid chalked it up to “missing white woman syndrome”, which is actually a term used in anti-white circles since the 90’s.
Reid defined the term, which was coined by newscaster Gwenn Ifill, as a way to “describe the media and public fascination with missing white women…. while ignoring cases involving missing people of color.”
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Reid’s segment came hours after authorities found a body, believed to be that of Petito, in a Wyoming state park. She cited the ongoing missing person case of Daniel Robinson, who went missing in the Southwest this past June. Reid questioned why the Petito case had so much coverage while the Robinson case had received little coverage.
Reid’s guest, Lynette Grey Bull of the Not Our Native Daughters Foundation, blamed lack of coverage in certain missing person cases on systemic racism. “One of the main factors and one of the key factors that a lot of people don’t want to talk about is that it’s racism. It’s systemic racism. We’re still fighting oppression in our tribal communities. We are still facing inequality across the board, whether it comes to our community, housing, jobs,” said Grey Bull. “I mean, you can pick any topic in any country and have an issue there.”
Reid recently sparred with vaccine skeptic Nicki Minaj. The American rapper said Reid “lied” about her stance on COVID-19 vaccines, and rehashed the anti-LGBT scandal faced by Reid by calling her “a lying homophobic coon”.
