Mental health charity’s ‘racist’ post with Indigenous stock images deleted

A mental health charity has been slammed for a racist depiction of Indigenous people in a social media post it was trying to use to raise awareness about mental health issues that disproportionately affect Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.

The post contained two statistics: that Indigenous people are nearly twice as likely to die by suicide and nearly three times more likely to be psychologically distressed than non-Indigenous people.

It looks like the foundation might have added to that distress however.

“If I don’t carry my spear does this statistic still apply to me?” Ngarabal man Anton Schirripa wrote on Twitter with a screenshot of the post showing the two statistics next to a cartoon of a man in tribal paint holding a stick.

“This isn’t even a well-drawn stereotype,” he added in a follow up tweet, pointing out the clothing is more Egyptian than Aboriginal.

“Imagine not realising how harmful this kind of stereotyping can be for Aboriginal peoples, especially young Aboriginal men, and then using it in a mental health campaign? These racist depictions directly contribute to mental illness,” he said calling on the charity to “do better”.

The charity was quick to publicly apologise for its error, calling the post “inappropriate”.

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Feds Close Investigation Into Another ‘Hate Crime’ Hoax

Federal authorities have closed their investigation into a “hate crime” incident in Madison, Wisc., where a black woman claimed four white men threw lighter fluid on her and set her on fire after shouting a racial epithet.

Eighteen-year-old Althea Bernstein claimed she was the victim of a June hate crime attack. Her story was uncritically reported across the nation. CNN, NBC, Good Morning America, and most major print publications told a horrific story.

Althea Bernstein, 18, told investigators she was stopped at a traffic light in the city at around 1 a.m. Wednesday when she heard someone yell a racial slur through her rolled-down window, according to a police department incident report

“She looked and saw four men, all white. She says one used a spray bottle to deploy a liquid on her face and neck, and then threw a flaming lighter at her, causing the liquid to ignite,” the report states.

But after an investigation by the FBI, which included examining every scrap of video available, no evidence ever emerged of a “hate crime” and, indeed, Bernstein was nowhere to be seen.

Washington Free Beacon:

“After reviewing all available evidence, authorities could not establish that the attack, as alleged by the complainant, had occurred,” U.S. attorney Scott Blader said in a Friday statement. A statement from Madison’s chief of police stated that “detectives were unable to corroborate or locate evidence consistent with what was reported.”

In a statement released by police, Bernstein and her family said they “appreciate the detailed investigative efforts by all involved in this case.”

You’d think the media would have been taught a lesson after the first 50 hate crime hoaxes. Instead, they doubled down on this one, reporting every detail with that hysterical tone they get when they think America needs to be taught a lesson.

CNN and NBC haven’t gotten around to issuing a correction yet.

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