MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall is a longtime advocate of domestic violence awareness and a supporter for survivors. Hall’s older sister was murdered in 2004 and police speculated that her death was the result of domestic violence after they found her body beaten and left behind in a swimming pool.
Hall, host of Investigation Discovery’s “Deadline: Crime,” told HuffPost Live on Monday that she isn’t ready to cover her sister’s death on the show. Despite support from her nephews, her sister’s children, Hall said she is hesitant to open up about the death in fear she may subject her sister’s life to public scrutiny.
“My sister battled substance abuse in her early years, she overcame all of those things, and I’ve watched people dissect life and the value of life based on someone’s mistakes,” she told host Nancy Redd. “People don’t see her as the perfect victim, if you don’t live the perfect life then you must have done something that caused this to happen to you” she said.
Hall also referenced victim blaming, particularly in the case of Devvra Keyes who died in a similarly violent crime in 2010. Hall will cover Keyes’ death in the upcoming third season of the show.
“I don’t know how I would feel if I read a tweet from someone and it said ‘Well you sister made her bad decisions’ or ‘She picked the wrong guy,’” Hall said. “I think it would put me in a very dark place, and I’m not ready to expose her to that.”
She started a crowdrise fundraising campaign for the organization Day One, which “provides education, supportive services, legal advocacy, and leadership ship development” for survivors living in New York City.
Hall also shared her response to people who often ask her about the challenges she’s faced as a black woman in the news business.
“Every time a young girl comes in and asks me for advice, if you start your conversation with ‘how hard is it as a black woman’ or ‘how hard is it as a woman,’ I turn you around,” Hall told HuffPost Live. “We cannot look at the roadblocks and see the road at the same time.”
Watch the interview with Hall below:
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