Posted on 09/01/2005 5:17:32 AM PDT by AbeKrieger
I knew it would happen - just didn't know when.
I'm talking about television news footage of looters played over and over in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Looting occurs whenever law and order breaks down as a result of disasters natural or manmade. But since the advent of television, looting seems to be a black thing. From the Watts riots in the 1960s to today, you can count on pictures of black folk hightailing it away from some store with electronic appliances, jewelry and furniture.
So while reporters from 24-hour TV news channels poured into the area almost as fast as the rising waters, I didn't have long to wait for the looting story to flash on my television screen. And even though it was expected, I found myself a little sad. But mostly mad.
We journalists have a collective knee-jerk reaction in certain situations, disasters especially. We look for people, things, quotes that will convey what we want or need to convey. But overuse of this practice leads to cliche and stereotype.
In Iowa, where tornadoes are a summertime surety, reporters are always looking for someone to say that the barn-flattening winds sounded like a freight train. At my old newspaper, the first reporter to get that quote was treated to a beer after work.
For television reporters, shots of blacks looting are quick, easy and downright expected.
New Orleans is more than a party-time tourist destination. It's a city where two-thirds of the population is black, so I'm not surprised to see black people looting. Many are poor: The median income for whites is a low $31,971; for blacks it's a subterranean $11,332. Truth is, life in the Big Easy has never been that way for many.
My question is, are blacks really the only looters? Or are they the only ones deemed worthy of camera time? Does 30 seconds of tape, rewound and replayed, tell the whole story? If pictures of looters never made it onto the air, would viewers be deprived of crucial information? Do these images advance the story of the plight of people?
Or do they play to stereotype, prejudice and fear?
Yes, stealing for profit and personal gain is wrong. And I hope those who decided to take advantage of a disaster to haul off flat-screen televisions and DVD players find no way to profit from their theft.
But during a devastating disaster like this, good, law-abiding citizens may do things they would never do normally. On TV I saw people carrying what appeared to be groceries, water, and bags of ice. With no water, power, or way out of town, it looked to me that the "looters" were trying to survive rather than upgrade their stereo system.
Before you say "I would never," just remember that's pretty easy to say and believe as we sit in our comfortable, dry, air-conditioned homes with ice, water and food a few steps away. Hunger to us means we haven't eaten in a couple of hours.
Think about it: Water's at your knees, kids are hungry and thirsty. You'd call 911 if you had a phone and if someone would answer. How could I say that if this were my situation, I wouldn't be one of those people heading out of the Wal-Mart with things that could help my family survive?
So don't draw conclusions about the ways of black people from the few moments of "de rigueur" pictures of looters. Black citizens are also among the weary, the rescuers and the rescued, the resilient, the righteous... and the dead.
They just don't get much airtime.
Look, it's called "upping the ante". So you might well back off now.
See post #120. I should have pinged you as well. It's Pro 6:30
It's been nothing for a long time, but had an excellent PR department, and massive federal infusion of artificial wealth.
The resilience (or lack of it) for an area which produces nothing is illustrated in the competent way the unexpected has been planned for.
That's ridiculous ~ no one should ever feel guilty about helping their own children, particularly in a disaster.
I didnt know you could eat a pair of tennis shoes.....or a rolex......but I guess everything is good with Tabasco.
"I'm sure that some of the theft is survival related."
And who is the victim of these thefts? Could it be that the theft of "necessities" by someone to "feed their children" is putting another person at risk and harming their ability to survive? I read a story this morning that some looters stole food from a nursing home. This nursing home had planned ahead and had 10 days worth of supplies. Now they have none. The end result is the looters might just cause the death of other individuals. They may cause the deaths of people who planned ahead and prepared for the disaster. Is this still an acceptable theft?
That's it -- you nailed it! I will shamelessly repeat your brilliant observation...
Even Jackson and Sharpton aren't going to be visiting New Orleans anytime soon.
I sold a 1982 Honda Civic to a Vietnemse man who came to this nation with nothing--no English, no money. He said he ran naked through a burning field carryng his little kid with him by the arm. He lost most of his immediate family during an artillery attack.
He learned the language, saved money, bought a store, and now lives in a middle class nice home. He put his kid through college (actually, the kid was a junior at the time I met him). He lived with other people in CA for a while until he got on his feet.
I bet my bottom dollar this guy nevr took one cent from the welfare rolls. He simply had your typical honest, hard-working, passion for education ethics so typical of the Orientals.
I have no symapthy for slugs, especially when they are looters by profession. This disaster only shows us what they do for a living every day.
I keep seeing this picture of a Winn-Dixie that's dry, but no one is in there but the camera crew. For some unusual reason the store still has lights! I thought the power was out all over the place.
In a sign of growing lawlessness, Tenet HealthCare Corp. asked authorities late Wednesday to help evacuate a fully functioning hospital in Gretna after a supply truck carrying food, water and medical supplies was held up at gunpoint.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20050901/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina_16
well it's a good thing it's ok in LA to steal food and water when you need it, or these people might be considered to have done something wrong...
*rolls eyes*
"I assure you, if it ever comes to a choice between my family's life and your food, you lose!"
You would really take the food from my family to make up for your family's lack of planning?
Working full time at minimum wage earns $10,712. Its hard to fathom that the AVERAGE black is making only $600 more.
Still waiting for a URL to that story as well.
Your case in point, from personal experience (about the hard working Vietnamese coming here penniless, and succeeding, not blaming others, steeped in lethargy), takes away a main argument you'll hear from the libs in this country in the next few weeks and months. We should use these cases in point and go on the PR offensive, otherwise they are going to try to blame all this looting on Red State America and Red State values, giving up all personal responsibility.
No, it was new orleans, the same store that had to two fat police ladies stealing carts of shoes.
You have as much chance of turning the subject of this thread to the necessities of life, food and water, as the denizens of NO have of drying out their town by this weekend...
But it should be fun watching you try...
The shoes are the first to go! In fact, lots of folks end up without them ~ they are particularly difficult to find underwater.
Then there are the folks who were lounging around home in their underwear when the flood hit.
Yes, more than food might be a necessity!
Thanks for the reference. I notice that it does not refrain from calling a thief a thief and it still refers to stealing. Just that "men do not despise them".
I don't despise them either and under the circumstances I would also steal to survive but I would still be a thief.
The nursing home should have been evacuated BEFORE THE STORM. They were warned. Why did they keep those people around there.
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