9.3 Bias in Death Notices & Obituaries
What is interesting when looking at the history of death notices and obituaries, is who is honoured and acknowledged and who is not. Historically there has been a tendency for obituaries to predominately acknowledge the deaths of white men, particularly affluent men (Starck, 2008). What began with the early Roman death notices that honoured only notable male citizens (The Origin, October 6, 2020), continued through the centuries. The result is that many people and their loved ones have been denied public recognition of their deaths and tributes to their lives.
In 2018, The New York Times (NYT) publicly acknowledged their history of biased obituary publishing practices. As noted by Padnanni and Bennett (March 8, 2018), the NYT admitted that from 1851 to 2018 their obituary section has been dominated by men, predominately white men. In an effort to correct this injustice, it began publishing an online website entitled “Overlooked” (2018), that features obituaries/stories of “other remarkable people” who have died over the years. The “Overlooked” project continues to grow as more people are regularly added to the website.
Click the following link to read more about the NYT “Overlooked” project:
Click the links below to view the NYT’s “Overlooked” webpages:
Click the following link to read about the life of Viola Desmond. Although not a traditional obituary, it is an “overlooked” and long awaited Canadian tribute to Viola Desmond, honouring her life and her civil rights activism that began in Nova Scotia in the 1940s. The 2017 tribute was published online the year prior to the release of the Canadian $10 note featuring her image (see image to right).