Lucia Herndon
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.
That's why they make firearms. Prior planning is good.
You stated that you supported the theft of food from my family to ensure the survival of yours. Is that really your position, or did I misunderstand your post?
It's called "generators", UPS/uninteruptable power supply. Big businesses will try to have those on hand (hell, they're probably forced to by "law").
I don't know when you were watching, but that Winn-Dixie was STUFFED full of people making a mess of the place - lots of them pushing 2 carts-worth.
Now, it COULD also be that some people are just taking boatloads for their ENTIRE apt complex.....
There is no "white woman" in either picture. I suggest you take a real good look at the content.
"Here, darlin'. Eat this color TV. You don't feel like TV? Well eat this AK47 then."
No, I'm not defending the "looters". However, this particular little story needs a URL.
Thank you for your anecdotes about lawlessness.
I can't believe the absurdity of people who don't GET this - from the get-go there was clearly more than just "survival" going on!
Almost right away I heard of guys trying to take CARS! In the water! Where were they going to go?
Isn't that what I understood you to say?
As far as that store having a generator, ......... ? Stuff happens I suppose.
(Liberal-type blame-the-victim divert-from-scumcriminals alert)
Actually, it looks like the first is from AP and the second from AFP - two different wire services, and almost certainly two different authors. Giving everyone the benefit of the doubt here, it may simply reflect the propensity of AP to label everyone a looter, where AFP is a bit more circumspect.
This is the best justification for the 2nd Amendment one could wish for. Keep and Bear...and be willing to use.
It's a shame you even have to add that to your post. But it's probably a good idea. Some really good people on this forum have been hammered in the past few days for posts that were just stating the obvious.
It tells me there are Louisiana cockroaches in New Orleans. These people are the most disgusting vile creatures on God's earth. And they are racists...robbing white people mostly. Wonder if the Dems will still stand up for them after their looting and killing and gang wars inside the SuperDome.
I'm disgusted.
Then notice how the people in Mississippi acted? They were calm, sane, and respectful.
good one!
I think you have to mitigate the situation by the fact that, with the water rising at the time, the food, if not removed quickly, may well have spoiled, so the option quickly becomes take it all or leave it to spoil.
Better it be recovered, and put to use, than left to spoil while people starve waiting for evacuation.
I believe Walmart said "take what you need" to the residents, since their inventory was a rightoff anyway.
Do you think about these things much before you propose them?
I'm not stupid.
I have relatives in the middle of that mess.
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