The Washington Post has editorialized against colorblind public policies, but it has embraced colorblindness in an area where color presumably does matter — in describing the appearance of individuals. And in an instance where appearance matters in alerting readers to keep an eye out for suspected criminals.
Thus, we read in October 26’s Post of an abduction from a garage at Tysons II Galleria mall near Washington: “Police describe the suspect as muscular, about 6 feet 1 inch tall and about 190 pounds, with short dark hair and dark eyes.” In fact, the police described the suspect as muscular and dark-skinned, about 6 feet 1 inch tall, etc., etc. So, at least, the warning posters at the mall said the next day. But the police description was too politically incorrect to be reproduced by the Post, which is evidently more afraid of getting angry calls from black “community leaders” than it s interested in helping apprehend a rapist.
