Black V. White and "Looting" and Oh My Fucking God This Is So RACIST!!!!

[Beetwasher]

?x=380&y=242&sig=GHO9i4_aeNXEsJOv2t1OHg--

A young (BLACK) man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) Email Photo Print Photo

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Two (WHITE) residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)

Courtesy of Atrios, here if you're having problems w/ the pics and links above.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_08_28_atrios_archive.html#112545475089735235

On Edit: Actually, this is courtesy of DU poster Imalittleteapot and it's here too:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4515079

[sniffa]

1. nice of them not to credit DU

since it was spotted by DUer, 'imaLittLeteapot'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4515079

[Beetwasher]

3. Oops, thanks for the Heads Up

n/t

[bushisanidiot]

2. The freeptards are falling all over themselves pointing out the black

looters in pics they are posting on their stupid website. they really don't give a rats ass about any victims of the hurricane.. instead, they are using the looting pics as an excuse NOT to send any donations to relief efforts.

if that's what they call "values", they can keep 'em..

[nonconformist]

5. Good old compassionate Christians. nt

[tazkcmo]

4. Gross

Thank God the police that have been assisting the residents in the looting cross all racial barriers. They set a shining example to the rest of America.

No wonder this country has such serious problems. Large portions of it are still stuck in the Stone Ages.

[rox63]

6. The black folks are mostly poor

Which might explain some of the looting. Most of them have nothing now, not even a home to go back to.

[tazkcmo]

9. EEEeeeeewwwwww

I'm gonna be ill. It's not just "the black folks" but also the "white folks", the "police folks" and the "other folks" that are involved, many of which are NOT poor. And given they don't even have a home to take their booty to, what the heck ya gonna do with a flat screen TV in a flood? A raft maybe? Puh-leez!

[KittyWampus]

7. It's Undeniable... As Is The LOOTING & Vandalism Which Many DU'ers

even refused to admit was happening. And when they finally had to admit it was happening (people stealing CRAP like jewelry/electronics)
they went out of their way to rationalize the behavior.

Yup, there's prejudice & bias & warped views of Humanity on the Right AND the Left.

[bushisanidiot]

8. It's easy to judge when you're standing on high, dry ground hundreds

or thousands of miles away.

these people have no power, food or anything clean at all. they have no way of communicating with loved ones or seeing what's on the news. they are desperate and in survival mode.

AWOL Bush sat on his ass on vacation without lifting a finger to get things ready to deal with the aftermath which he KNEW was coming.. he's a fucking CLUELESS leader. the military is overexpanded fighting all of AWOL's little wars all over the world instead of protecting us here at home like they're supposed to.. the military, national guard, coast guard, etc. should be used to help americans first.. we pay their salaries DAMMIT!!

[tazkcmo]

12. I agree about Bush

But that does not rationalize looting. Survival mode does not mean theft and destroy mode. Electronics? Jewelry? That's not survival mode. It's disgusting mode.

[bushisanidiot]

14. Do you think you'd be thinking clearly when you've lost everything

and the situation looked hopeless.. the water continues to pour in with no end in sight. the electonics can be stolen (i have no idea where they would plug a t.v. in because there's no power) or they can be destroyed in the rising flood waters. if people can get use out of those items before they are destroyed then what is the harm?

it's like getting your car totalled then complaining when someone parked next to you opens their car door and it scratches your car. uhhhhh.. that doesn't make a whole lotta sense.

there's way too much attention on the looting and not enough on the people who are helping eachother survive.

and where's president McPussy? he won't even bother to take the straw out of his nose long enough to go tour the area to see what needs to be done. fucking idiot..

[tazkcmo]

15. The harm

lies in people getting shot. You do know a looter stealing non-essentials like a TV or stereo shot a police officer that tried to stop him? That's where the harm is. I can't believe the defense of un-civilized behavior here. Hold ALL people to the same standards. Halliburton is looting Iraq and we rightly condemn them.

[bushisanidiot]

17. Halliburton isn't in a desperate situation. These are people that don't

know if they'll still be ALIVE in a week. they can't call 911.. they can't go to the hospital.. they can't escape the horror they're going through by turning on the t.v. or playing a video game. they are trying to survive..

you can't compare halliburton's war profiteering to what little looting is going on among the desperate survivors of katrina.

[tx_dem41]

16. I have been in that situation twice in my life....

...both due to hurricanes...one in New Orleans and one in Houston. Not once did the people in my communities (or outside as I recall), resort to looting or stealing. Quite frankly, now, the vast majority of New Orleanians are not looting or stealing.

So my question to you...why do you have such little respect for the people of New Orleans to suggest that they have no ability to act as a community, pull-together, and help each other out? Instead, you suggest the only thing they are capable of doing is TAKING from each other. Why do you feel that way?

[bushisanidiot]

19. The poor and the desperate are the ones looting. sure, there

are plenty of poor people who are not looting for whatever reason. i hope they have enough food and clean water to survive the next few weeks/months.. sadly, i think thousands of poor new orleans will perish in the coming days and weeks because they didn't have food/medical supplies, etc..

hopefully, the community will find a way to pull together, but it will be very difficult. the 9/11 attack took out 2 buildings in new york.. this disaster took out whole cities.. it's desperation at a far different level. i can't imagine what they are going through, and i refuse to judge them for trying to survive.

i think the guy with the itchy trigger finger who wants to shoot looters on sight is the true criminal. this is not something Jesus would do..

and i doubt you've been in this situation twice in your lifetime.. america hasn't experienced a hurricane of this magnitude before (at least not in your lifetime).

[tx_dem41]

21. Betsy...1965....NO flooded horribly (although this now tops it)....

...Alicia (Houston..1983)...in both cases, NO electricity for 3 weeks...which means no gasoline, no driving...and very little food outside of canned food.

[bushisanidiot]

22. It must have been difficult to go through those, but N.O. is under water

2 broken levees and the city is 80% under water. this is a major catastrophie and yes, the desperation will drive the poorest people to do things they may not consider under other circumstances.. and again, i wouldn't dream of judging them for it.

and where is AWOL Bush? playing footsie with jeff gannon somewhere?? he sure as shit doesn't care about what's going on outside his bedroom or his bank account.

[Cassandra]

13. I'm quite aware of the criminal element to the looting...

the stealing of jewelry, clothing and electronics, not just from stores but from people's homes. What is objectionable is the media labeling everyone as looters (except white people) even if all they are taking is food and water (which would be written off as a business loss anyway). When there is a disaster, people go to the store. It happened after 9/11 and during the blackout here in NY. Nobody was starving, the water system was fine, business was mostly normal in a day or two but people can't see into the future and don't want to face bare shelves. In NY during the blackout, my neighborhood store would only let people in to shop who had a flashlight with them and, of course, you could only pay by cash. All those upper middle class shoppers who depend on their debit cards to get through the day had a serious problem. I was lucky to have cash that a friend had given me the day before. The restaurants that were smart served until their food ran out and gave it away if necessary. The idiots closed up early and their selfishness is still remembered. AND WE WEREN'T DEALING WITH A FLOOD or an indefinitely long period of disaster.

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. It seems to me that if you live in NO, no matter your situation

last week, today you are poor.

In our consumerist society we have been trained since infancy to value material wealth. Is it any surprise that when the waters are rising and a guy sees a flatscreen about to be innundated, that he figures he might as well take it as let it get ruined? Of course, in another couple hours he'll likely wind up abandoning it cause it's hard to swim while carrying it. Yes, it is survival mode. Not clear thinking, but nonetheless the monetary value of the flatscreen is at least something to a person has has just seen everything he owns float away. If he hangs onto it long enough he might get a couple hundred bucks, enough to buy a bus ticket to Detroit, where there are no damn hurricanes.

Not to wish ill on you, but maybe you should wade a while in their shoes before passing judgement.

[msongs]

10. yeah and all those looters are probably democrats...did kerry win in

new orleans city?

sarcasm folks.

Msongs

[Eloriel]

11. Nominated

This does NOTHING for my mood today, which is heavy-heaerted and tearful, depressed and deeply concerned about everyone in New Orleans while TPTB can't get their shit together enough to help them (Coast Guard aside).

[shance]

18. That's their goal - to ignite more racism.

It's fully intentional.