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.
Funny you should bring up storing water etc. My husband has always made fun of me hoarding things for a rainy day. We live in a very rural mountainous area and should we have a major storm or flood, there wouldn't be help for days or even weeks. How do I know this? Well, we went through a flood in 1972 caused by Hurricane Agnes. Luckily my parents always had a lot of food so not only were they prepared but they also helped the neighbors.
I hope every freeper will donate to the Red Cross or another charity that they trust because you NEVER know when you might be the one that needs help!!
Understood. My family teases me about having stored water also. Maybe they'll start storing their own now.
You reap what you sow. Many of these looters have spent their entire lifetime being told they are victims, that their plight in life is the sole result of racism on the part of whites who want to keep them down. They are second and third generation single-parent families. They depend on government for housing, food, health care, education, jobs and transportation.
It pains me to write these words, especially against the backdrop of what we're seeing from that area. I worked for a major daily newspaper and have seen firsthand the results of the quest for 'diversity'. At every level there editors who make sure that certain pictures or descriptions are not used because they fit a stereotype.
Looters should be portrayed, and dealt with, exactly as they are encountered.
Not doubting you, but I would like to see the scripture reference...
Also if there were some good footage of white folks looting, I dare say we would see that played over and over.
Please quote. I can't recall where that is. And it's probably in the OT, not the NT.
Well, DU-U-UH, babe....if the population is 2/3 black, what do you think the likelihood is of cameras picking up images of black looters??? Go buy a clue, DUmmie!
"Looters should be portrayed, and dealt with, exactly as they are encountered."
No matter what their ethnicity!!
EXACTLY another point I had thought of when I started seeing pix. Some have plenty of fat to feed themselves.
It's interesting how you folks who want to shoot someone taking a can of beans from an abandoned store find it necessary to change what other people actually said.
"seems to be a black thing".
Thank you Lucia.
We thought you were gonna say it was all Bush's fault.
What I see are a bunch of people out in chest high water barely able to move who might have a box of milk or something.
The place (New Orleans city) is flooded!
It's their law ~ respect it!
Several points.
First, all the looters are not black. Certainly the vast majority are; that much is clear.
Conversely, all blacks are not looters -- though some (including some here on FR) would have you believe otherwise.
Thirdly, with people being evacuated, those who grabbed "petty stuff" (i.e., the 'opportunistic or desperation looters') will be forced to leave said stuff behind in order to get out of New Orleans. They won't be able to carry that stuff on the buses out of town. The hard core looters; the gang bangers, the thugs, the animals, will try to stay behind. They will die. They will kill each other off, they will stumble into a stray alligator or snake or fire-ant nest, they will fall into an open manhole hidden by the fetid water, they will succumb to disease, they will stumble into a military or police patrol and get shot; they will die. And good riddance to all of them.
Finally, looting is wrong. Period. I don't care about "their law" as you put it, it is wrong. What part of "thou shalt not steal" do you not understand?
Your state probably has comparable laws ~ you might look into that before you have a natural disaster and you get a hankering to start shooting your neighbors for shopping without paying down at the Safeway.
No need to justify your response by telling us that you are a minority. You would just be giving into PC crap that only minorities can criticize minorities. However, it is great to see that the views you expressed are held across racial divides. Thanks for the input.
When one person or a small group of people pull up with a tractor trailor and take all the food, they are taking it from another person ... in fact they are taking it from everyone else who needed it.
I have no problem with the food being taken by the proper athorities and dispensed in an orderly manner to ALL.
Maybe you were looking at the Red Cross and the National Guard bringing in food. How does a half naked barefooted individual carry off a whole truckload of food?
I like it! I like "undocumented shoppers" too.
you must have missed the pics from the walmart where people were pulling up with extended bed pickup trucks, pulling trailers and loading them 10 feet high with loot.
"What I see are a bunch of people out in chest high water barely able to move who might have a box of milk or something.
The place (New Orleans city) is flooded!"
When thugs loot a nursing home, threaten hospitals and begin carjackings it is go time. Time to knock some heads and show them who their daddy is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.