Why does it seem Black people die only on Thursdays? Obituary pages are complicated
If today is like most Thursdays, the obituary pages of the Gainesville Sun will be dominated by black and brown faces.
From time to time, readers ask if we have some policy that segregates obituaries by race on certain days of the week. It's a reasonable question.
The short answer is no. But traditions related to death are some of the deepest cultural practices in any society, and so it should come as no surprise that factors that shape the obituary pages fall along racial lines.
Funeral homes here, as in many cities, tend to serve racially distinct groups. Some predominantly serve Black families. Others serve mostly white families.
Local politician Cynthia Chestnut married into a family with deep roots in Gainesville that for several generations has operated Chestnut Funeral Home, an institution in the Black community. She told me that most Black families prefer to hold funerals on Saturdays.
Publishing obituaries on Thursdays gives friends and extended family members enough time to plan to attend Saturday funerals. And, according to Chestnut, the grocery store coupons that usually appear on Thursdays mean the newspaper ends up on more kitchen tables.
Funeral traditions among white families are more varied, including on which day of the week services are held. So there's less emphasis from funeral homes to place obituaries on any given day of the week.
I got my start in journalism as a reporter in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As a cub reporter, it was my job in the afternoon to write obituaries for everyone in that small town who had died the previous day. Usually that meant four or five obituaries per day.
Every obituary involved a minimum of three telephone calls. First to the funeral home to get basic details. Then to the family to get a more personal account of the person's life. And finally to at least one colleague, friend or other person who knew the person in a different context.
It was good training. Obviously it involved calling families at a difficult time. But nearly always, families welcomed the opportunity to share the unique details that make each person special. And certainly it made me more attentive to getting the small facts correct. Families don't readily forgive errors in obituaries.
It wasn't always easy. We included unflattering facts as well as achievements. We inquired about the cause of death, and included that wherever possible. Everyone "died." We didn't use euphemisms for passing from this life. We published obituaries as news, as soon as possible after a person's death regardless of what was most convenient for funeral planning. Those things didn't always sit well with loved ones.
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In recent years, the Gainesville Sun and most other newspapers have moved away from having reporters routinely handle obituaries. I think that has benefits and drawbacks.
One obvious downside for families is the cost. While death notices remain free, a long obituary can be expensive even though that often pales in comparison to other costs associated with the death of a family member.
On the upside, families are in control of what appears in obituaries just as they are in when they appear in the newspaper and online. People don't just die. The words used to note their passing often convey their faith. Families may include pets among the survivors. They can add their own emphasis to a person's accomplishments and avoid mention of any misdeeds.
Obituaries remain one of the most important elements of the newspaper to many readers. Even if, as we hope, no one we know appears there, it is a way to connect to the community.
Reporters do still write obituaries as news stories but it happens too rarely. Usually it involves someone who is well known for some reason. And because until recently many opportunities for acclaim were closed to people of color, a disproportionate number of public figures in the generation passing away are white, and often male.
We need to broaden our reach into diverse communities by highlighting those who have significant stories to tell and who have been influential in other ways. If you know of someone whose life story is important to our community, whether that person has just died or remains with us, please let me know by writing me at doug.ray@gainesville.com.
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Douglas Ray is editor and market leader of the Gainesville Sun. Reach him at doug.ray@gainesville.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Newspaper obituary pages often seem racially segregated. Why is that?
