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.
True, but he indicated that due to hurricanes in Galvaston they were prepared .
Problem with New Orleans, is that they should have known that this could happen, should have prepared and updated the levies. California has the same problem, people keep rebuilding in hillsides that are unstable, fire hazard areas and earthquake faultlines, then complain when the government doesn't bail them out.
FEMA and Insurance Companies just declined to cover the Laguna Beach landslides, as they should in N.O. Even if they scraped the entire city and dumped in the gulf to shore it up. Just heard large percentage of NO did not have Flood or hurricane insurance.
We all swore
If we ever got caught
We would pay the Mini-Mart back
Yeeeees sir, Yeeeees Sir.
Yet, they never show the video of all the white folks looting the Walmart. Are the white folk all up the street stripping the shelves of mayonaise and Wonder Bread at the Target store?
/sarcasm
I keep reading about looters stealing ice. Where the hell is all this ice coming from when the power has been off since Monday?
Recipe for uncivilized anarchy.
So you could look in the face of another pathetic *individual* and just steal his last candy bar?
The idea that these scumbags were doing anything other than showing their true nature is false...
Their apologists use the same arguments the open borders lobby uses..they are just dealing drugs, stealing, raping, killing in order to feed their families blah blah blah..
How many babies needed Quaalude,Valium,Demerol,amphetamines,Oxycontin,Zanex, or Viagra stolen from the pharmacies....or big screen plasma TVs..we saw "the refugees" floating down the street..
You can take the boy out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the boy..not without a serious transformation anyway.
Christian ethics are no longer taught in schools or valued by the mainstream media, public schools, or in the entertainment complex thanks largely to the ACLU and it's Marxist scum enablers and fellow travelers..
Even the US Air Force recently announced it is against Christians who dare to share their faith...right here in America..
How many looters are the children of absent fathers?..
How many schooled in socialist agenda...absent of Christian morals..and brainwashed by 'the vindictive' preaching of entitlement dogma
If you truly have God in your heart ..the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" means something..and environmental pressure will not cause you to go out and start taking that which does not belong to you..
The taking non essential survival items is evil...as is taking survival items without leaving an IOU or keeping track of what you owe and who you owe it to and when you have the means.. PAYING IT BACK.
We use the label Sociopath on those who lack a conscience...and feel that they are 'righteously' simply 'taking back' or 'getting back' at something or someone 'who wronged them'
I'm not sure what label to use on those who advocate such evil...journalists,public school teachers,rap artists,movie stars,TV personalities,college professors,lawyers, etc?
Perhaps looting is a fun time when all the laws are relaxed just for settin' things right'...I saw a lot of smiling laughing faces mugging it up for the cameras..
This garbage is what the main stream Marxist make sure the looters have imprinted in their little minds from day one elementary school.
The only thing holding back those who do not have God mediating their actions..is a gun wielded by someone willing to use it..and a state who backs up those who protect themselves and their property.
Which is why the NWO will come on the heels of lawlessness..and how lawlessness will be encouraged and used to bring it about..
When the ministers of the law (the police) sit back and simply let looters loot..when officials say 'don't shoot them'...and when cops themselves are filmed looting...
I believe the book of Revelation refers to this as "The Lawless Man Is Loosed"...(in the heart of man)
The Chief of the Miami PD gave the green light to looters when he declared that 'the day of shooting them is over...and that people are more important than material possessions" (Bet he doesn't feel that way about HIS material possessions though)
Even the Supreme Court says your property belongs to the state..as 'the state' can dispose of your property any way it sees fit"...(when you cannot dispose of your property anyway you see fit...it is no longer your property but belongs to someone else's who can)
Private property is the heart of America and freedom..when the state says it is no longer...then the state acts as God and we are truly lost.
You either put it in the hearts of citizens when they are young that they cannot steal and are not owed anything other than to live in a law abiding society or you put a gun to their head and shoot all who cross the line..
If you teach them (and all kids for that matter)...or encourage them with the notion that when they steal and hurt others they will not be held accountable as long as 'certain' environmental factors are present (natural or man made disasters)..and then keep providing them with more and more rationalizations for their evil..they will be in a constant state of thinking evil is OK and they have a right to do evil...
With this line of thinking.. America will certainly have to become a Police State...and soon.
Which is of course the plan of certain leaders who pretend to be Americans
The very lives of citizens are no longer their own property as we witnessed in the Terry Schiavo debacle and for that matter in the 43 million pre born US citizens murdered in America since Roe V Wade
Once the lawless man is loosed in the hearts of Americans and in it's police force...we can kiss our freedom bye bye...
Naturally this is Satan's plan and that of his agents.. the destruction of America and Israel..
He might very well succeed with the former..and if he does it will be..because we squandered our inheritance..
The good news is Satan was defeated at the cross..and regardless of whether our nation survives...
All things come to an end..including all life apart from Christ.
imo
"But it's obvious that the food in those stores is just spoiling anyway."
That is why the looting has now progressed to a point that is uncontrollable and the trucks are being held up. How do the looters know that the food in the stores aren't earmarked for distribution in an orderly fashion? How do the looters know that the food isn't what the store owner was planning to use to feed his family?
The answer is that they don't know and they don't care.
Jesse's busy consoling Chavez who was so insulted by Pat Robertson.
But if your house is under water so are your emergency supplies. I'm certain that some of these folks did believe that they were prepared. Note I said 'some'.
When you think about that probably is what God told Noah
Here is her email. She is horrible. Trust me I live in Philly and skip over her crap of a column as much as I can...
lherndon@phillynews.com
And I assure you, pro-theft advocate, that if you ever show up on my property looking to steal, you'll lose.
Your posts are disgusting.
bookmark
"...Ever been in an area that got flooded when you didn't expect it? 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..."
The warnings about the approaching storm was HEADLINE news for several days and people were supposedly just sitting around in their underwear? Don't you agree it would have been smart to put some food, water, medicine, and clothing into a backpack in preparation? I'm getting the feeling that many of the more successful looters are truly enjoying the "party atmosphere" down there.
~ Blue Jays ~
Nice twist. You made the statement, then want to twist my words to make you feel better. By your statement you would gladly steal food from my family to feed yours. This was your defense of looters, not mine. You then vilify those persons that would protect their food from your theft.
Keep twisting. It just supports my views of the substance of your posts.
Which passage is that?
Of course, 1 could argue that was only bread for a God who obviously doesn't need it. Mortal humans, etc, do.
Here is her email lherndon@phillynews.com
Her column is usually fish wrap. Trust me I live in Philly...
You are not alone in either case.
"we have the advocate of keeping the nursing home people trapped in the destroyed city ~ hmmmmm?!?!?!?"
Keep up the twisting. If it makes you feel better defending the dregs of society.
That has more to do with looting than the color of ones skin.Thanks for saying it so well.
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