When Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal authorities, thousands of people took to the streets. Their deaths received extensive media coverage. Public officials responded. Community organizations mobilized. Social media filled with calls for justice.
When Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed by federal authorities, the response looked very different. Attendance at demonstrations was significantly smaller. Many people never heard his name. Outside of communities already engaged in immigrant justice work, his death received far less public attention.
That difference raises an uncomfortable question.
Why do some lives become national conversations while others barely make headlines?
This isn’t about suggesting that Renee Good and Alex Pretti deserved less support. They deserved every person who marched, every article that was written, and every demand for accountability.
The question is why that same energy isn’t consistently extended to everyone.
Who Gets Seen?
Media coverage influences public attention. Stories that dominate headlines are shared more often, discussed more frequently, and remembered longer. Stories that receive little coverage often disappear before much of the public ever knows they happened.
But the media isn’t the only factor.
Communities also make choices about where they invest their time, outrage, and solidarity. Those choices are shaped by many influences, including familiarity, personal experience, politics, and, at times, unconscious bias.
Most people do not consciously decide that one person’s life matters more than another’s.
Yet disparities in public response can still emerge.
It’s worth asking ourselves difficult questions:
- Would I have shown up if Lorenzo were white?
- Did I share one story while scrolling past another?
- Have I accepted unequal attention as normal?
Unconscious bias doesn’t always appear as overt racism or explicit prejudice.
Sometimes it appears as silence.
Sometimes it appears as deciding a story isn’t “my issue.”
Sometimes it appears as waiting for someone else to speak first.
The Cost of Silence
Public attention matters.
Families fighting for justice rely on communities to amplify their voices. Large demonstrations influence elected officials, journalists, and institutions. They communicate that the public is watching.
When some families receive thousands of supporters while others receive only a few hundred, it sends another message as well.
It tells marginalized communities that society does not always respond equally to their suffering.
Whether intentional or not, unequal outrage reinforces unequal systems.
What White Allies Can Do
Solidarity is more than agreeing with a cause. It requires action, especially when the people affected are not people who look like you or share your lived experiences.
That means:
- Showing up even when the victim isn’t white.
- Learning and saying the names of people whose stories receive little attention.
- Sharing stories that mainstream media overlooks.
- Questioning why some tragedies dominate headlines while others disappear.
- Having honest conversations about unconscious bias with friends and family.
- Following and supporting organizations led by directly impacted communities.
- Continuing to advocate long after cameras and reporters leave.
Real solidarity is measured by consistency.
It cannot depend on race, immigration status, political affiliation, or media attention.
Justice Must Be Equal
Justice cannot depend on race.
Media attention cannot determine the value of a human life.
If thousands can rally for one family, then we should be willing to rally for every family facing injustice.
Every community deserves the same compassion.
The same outrage.
The same determination to demand accountability.
The Question Isn’t Whether You Care
Most people believe they care about justice.
The harder question is who we care enough to show up for.
If justice depends on race, it isn’t justice.
If outrage depends on headlines, it isn’t solidarity.
The next time someone’s life is taken, don’t wait to see whether the story becomes national news before deciding if it deserves your attention.
Ask yourself:
Will I wait for the headlines?
Or will I stand with the family before the rest of the world is watching?
Because equality isn’t measured by what we say we believe.
It’s measured by who we’re willing to fight for when no one else does.