What Pictures of the Looters really may say (BARF)

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | September 1, 2005 | Lucia Herndon

[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.

[A Jovial Cad]

Amazing, isn't it? I never knew FR had so many savants with a criminal bent until the obscene looting broke out in NO, and the justifications and smarmy sobbing about what hero's these scummy looters were started popping up in every thread with a dreary regularity.

[xzins]

Mt 12:4 - How he (David) entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

[muawiyah]

That's why I used the term "organized". The place is a wreck. If the criminals can do better at organizing it than the government, maybe the wrong people are in charge eh?!

[muawiyah]

Why would I want to loot your house when there are real grocery stores with real food.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I am amazed at what a perfect Pollyanna you are.

Look, I realize you're only trying to see the best, but you're being absurd.

People have posted here the genuine stories about all these criminal things (some particular things might not be widespread, but the LOOTING IS).

You cannot twist a "file" shot of a damaged store where nothing is happening as proof that I'm seeing things when I saw on TV hundreds of people mobbing a grocery store, making a mess of it and making off with boatloads of food per person.

Why don't you just check CNN/Fox/Headline for the updates? They'll tell you the stories of trucks, hospitals and shootings at emergency personnel are TRUE. I know you don't want to believe it but that's how bad the human animal can be.

[7thOF7th]

I agree, if they are scavenging food that is one thing, but when you see TVs and jewelry and other material items being carried off that is a reflection of this cultures morals. Shame on them all!

[muawiyah]

No she isn't.

[A Jovial Cad]

You're a filthy liar. I would support every effort to feed, house, clothe, and sustain ANY family caught up in this tragedy.

What I WOULD NOT and DO NOT support is the rampaging obscenity that is going on in NO as we speak in the form of looting, and which has nothing to do with providing life-giving sustenance to families. Peddle that bilge over in DUmmyland, or some other moonbat forum.

I say again: your posts are simply disgusting. And now you've revealed yourself as an inveterate liar. Get lost.

[the OlLine Rebel]

You must not be aware of what happens at lots of big businesses. I've been in hurricane/blizzard cases before where the stores are officially "out" but they have UPS generators to have a bit of lite & keep fridges running - thus, perishables going. Sans that, the dry ice comes in. Never mind where ~I~ work has generators - and believe me, given the size and nature of this place, they are massive.

[CSM]

"Where is your sense of charity? Have you no love for the unfortunate in our midst?"

Nice try. In fact you are showing your lack of consideration for others when you support the theft of food from my family to feed your family. Keep trying tho'.

[hoboken109]

Totally agree with you ..How stupid of people to even think that reporters are purposly only showing black looters. Then again when did the MSM ever rely on facts or reality for that matter.It's what looks PC that counts. Maybe they should hire a few white actors to play looter and film them just to not appear racist.

[the OlLine Rebel]

PLEASE tell me, WHAT pix is every1 talking about? I don't see any here.

[CSM]

"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."

In conclusion, according to you, it is OK for looters to not heed the evac warnings and steal from other people that made preparations but didn't heed the evac warnings. I think I get your position now.

Did you hire a couple of looters to get you some diamonds and pearls?

[muawiyah]

What you said was: "And I assure you, pro-theft advocate, that if you ever show up on my property looking to steal, you'll lose."

What you should have said is: "You poor man, let me bind up your wounds, and here, I will pay for your keep at the inn ~ ..."

Instead you just want to shoot me while I glean for my starving family.

You then justify your hardheartedness toward me on the basis that "others are stealing big time".

Sounds like you missed Sunday School AND Hebrew School both.

[general_re]

Post 94. Can't see them?

[The Toll]

I realize this is off topic a little but I would like to reach people who are mad about this looting. My sister is currently in Mississippi and my parents are desperately trying to get back in to check on their home. They may be in bad shape for a long time to come. Many of the bridges are out and some of their employers may have taken a hit. My family and many like them are good hard working people that do not act this way. I am asking that you please not let this looting harden your heart towards them. Thank you for any help that you may have provided as well.

[hoboken109]

Looters should be portrayed, and dealt with, exactly as they are encountered.
and I believe they are >

[ladyjane]

In most other disasters I've been in or seen the population pulls together, starts volunteering, starts helping people out, starts trying to improve the situation. What I'm seeing in New Orleans is more like Mogadishu.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I still don't go for that "take it before it spoils" - how do the various businesses account for it?

And it's not addressing the fact many are taking TONS of food at once.

In my Pollyanna mode, I believe for many people they're just 1 person taking alot for alot of people left at their apt complex or neighborhood roofs.

[kcvl]

Lucia Herndon has been at The Inquirer since 1984, working as an assistant city editor and feature editor. In 1992 she began writing The Family column. She is a passionate advocate for families, especially children, and is a strong proponent of children's literacy and quality education for all. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, she graduated from Drake University in 1973 with a degree in journalism. She worked at the Des Moines Register before coming to Philadelphia.

Her column on the family appears Wednesdays in the Daily Magazine, and her column Good Deeds appears weekly in the Sunday Image section. Lucia Herndon's e-mail address is lherndon@phillynews.com