Jezebel's NappyHeadFlo on the heart-breaking apathy the public shows about the lives of Black and Brown women.
I think about Cláudia Ferreira da Silva along with the 200+ Nigerian girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, and wonder why is it that we are so desensitized to the violation and deaths of Black and Brown women? Many people, including myself in regards to the Cláudia Ferreira da Silva case, were not aware of such tragedies. While I believe that a significant amount of the ignorance towards Cláudia Ferreira da Silva and the Boko Haram kidnapping was due to Western bias, I also believe that the apathy towards stories like these are due to the victims being Black and Brown women. The Westgate Shopping Mall Attack in Kenya received ample amount of coverage by many of the mainstream news outlets, but not until an outcry occurred via social media and other outlets did coverage of the Nigerian School Girls reach adequate levels. The Westgate Mall Attack included victims both male and female (with some Americans injured), while the all of the victims in the Boko Haram attack were Black girls.
