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.
Relax! No need to panic.
These are certainly the few malcontent crackers in the crowd.
Probably relatives of Tim McVeigh.
1 Winn-Dixie - All the more reason for these people to hold off and just grab a FEW things - NOT RACKS-WORTH.
And BTW, there're plenty females out there - fat 1s, too. (I don't think I've seen a fat *man* yet, incidentally).
Hmmmmmm. That's a pretty telling admission.
I didn't think so. You have changed the subject again so that you can justify folks taking a can of beans down at the Safeway.
The vast majority of the looters that we have been seeing are more concerned with shoes, televisions, DVDs, and other sundries than with necessities.
You can keep the insults. I'm not interested.
You are fond of misquoting people aren't you? Not just me but others on this thread as well.
I didn't say one single word about "feeling guilty" or "helping their own children"..
If you don't like that, take it up with God or somebody.
Excellent points. In the excitement I forget about bringing up such observations.
I agree with you Jude. The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Go to the above thread to see that hurricanes in this area are nothing new. They strike this area on average about every other year. Some years have 2 or more. Sometimes it goes 3 or 4 years without one.
Hurricanes in this part of the world have been ongoing for longer than humans have been recording weather in this part of world. It's part of the natural cycle.
What does one say about a city that gets built below sea level in an area prone to devastating hurricanes?
All you can say is "bad decision."
It was a bad decision for anyone to stay in that region once the weather bureau had confirmed the hurricane was heading that direction. It was a bad decision for looters, homosexuals, heterosexuals, black, white, etc., etc.
I had a class on mass behavior years ago by a prof who said that if a fire alarm goes off in a building, most folks stand around discussing whether or not its real. Those who survive when it is real, he would say, are those who immediately leave the building. They can discuss outside the building the validity of the warning.
I would not steal under ANY circumstances.
What I would do if law enforcement wasn't present is organize an orderly method of legally commandeering the food and distributing it fairly to all.
Where's Je$$e an RevAl? Shouldn;t they be showing up any minute with the race card?
Do we know that the police were "stealing" or were they commandeering those shoes under orders?
In Iowa, where tornadoes are a summertime surety
In the first few paragraphs, the author has unintentionally comitted a cradinal sin of writing. Don't contradict your own thesis.
1) Looting occurs as a result of disasters
2)After all, tornadoes are a summertime surity;
Ergo, looting occurs in Iowa in the summertime. Must have missed those reports.
So why weren't one third of the looters white?
Exactly.
It is still theft. There is even the requirement to make restitution.
It just that the reason makes it understandable.
You have no idea what a classic contributon you have made to the historical body of black humor; albeit unconsciously.
well according to the reporter that asked them... they were there to stop the looters....
ROFL !
Yeah, only whites. Better send a bunch down from central casting. Uh, and throw in a few Asians as well.
And now there are reports of looters stealing emergency generators from the helicopter evac rescue station and shots being fired at rescue helicopters.
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