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.
I'm all for showing equal opportunity looters.
Where are you getting that idea? I haven't seen anything organized yet in New Orleans. Widespread, yes. Organized? ha
Funny stuff at http://www.negrospaceprogram.com/
~ Blue Jays ~
Disgusting. A so-called "Man of God" using the name of Jesus to justify theft. I've truly seen it all.
He had better pick his potential victims well, he'd be a loser at my house too.
See Governor Bradford's Diary.
Wouldn't have mattered how high they were if they were not secure.
Dued....take a breath!
And the OJ verdict was a man-made disaster. Worthy of looting and killing, you know.
No looters are stealing ice. FEMA has sent many thousands of tons of ice to New Orleans. It is being distributed free of charge.
Proverbs 6:30
They say what they say whether we like the words or not.
There will always be thieves. On the other hand, there are also poor people with no resources. Word coming out just now is that TENS OF THOUSANDS of them died in the storm. I don't begrudge their survivors taking what they need to survive.
You shouldn't either.
No, your posts are disgusting. You would deprive my family of food they need to survive and would let them die like dogs in the street.
Many people who thought they'd survived the worst of the storm got caught up short.
I agree that they don't know and they don't care.
I found it interesting yesterday when one of the news folks reported that a big message went out in the media for folks to do something....I think it was evacuate New Orleans.
Then she pointed out that with no electricity, the only ones who might possibly have gotten that message were those who had an old, battery operated radio.
No cell phones, no TVs, radios, internet, newspapers.....You are very right when you say they don't know.
They do know if they're hungry, though.
Where is your sense of charity? Have you no love for the unfortunate in our midst?
nice...
Note to the mainsteam media...more pictures of white looters, please! Preferably pretty young blonde females.
I can clearly see a white woman.
No matter how many looters you end up shooting, the fact is you are taking a position that it was better to keep the nursing home people trapped in a destroyed city than to have relocated them in a timely manner.
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