On Brian Nichols and stereotyping

For several days, I have intended to call attention to this post at Silver Rights about humanizing Brian Nichols. Though the examples given of the dehumanizing of Nichols come from identified right-wing sources (Project 21), this sort of thing goes on frequently when the subject of news is not a white male. Whether it is an assertion that Nichols' goal in life was to kill white people or 24/7 reporting of Martha Stewart's courtroom clothing, there is often an underlying agenda. I think that agenda is usually not conscious. This is just a very racist, sexist society, and we automatically think in ugly stereotypes. Only constant whacks on the head to the media will make it stop, but the whacking must be ongoing because the news media is a major part of the problem.