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Headlines : Human RightsLost In The Flood (A Must-Read Article About the Hurricane)
We aren’t one united race, we aren’t one united class, and Katrina didn’t hit all folks equally. By failing to acknowledge upfront that black New Orleanians—and perhaps black Mississippians—suffered more from Katrina than whites, the TV talkers may escape potential accusations that they’re racist. But by ignoring race and class, they boot the journalistic opportunity to bring attention to the disenfranchisement of a whole definable segment of the population. What I wouldn’t pay to hear a Fox anchor ask, “Say, Bob, why are these African-Americans so poor to begin with?“
*Also See: Race in New Orleans: Shaping the Response to Katrina?* from Democracy Now!
[Posted By ShiftShapers]Republished from Slate
I can’t say I saw everything that the TV newscasters pumped out about Katrina, but I viewed enough repeated segments to say with 90 percent confidence that broadcasters covering the New Orleans end of the disaster demurred from mentioning two topics that must have occurred to every sentient viewer: race and class.
Nearly every rescued person, temporary resident of the Superdome, looter, or loiterer on the high ground of the freeway I saw on TV was African-American. And from the look of it, they weren’t wealthy residents of the Garden District. This storm appears to have hurt blacks more directly than whites, but the broadcasters scarcely mentioned that fact.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Just because 67 percent of New Orleans residents are black, I don’t expect CNN to rename the storm “Hurricane” Carter in honor of the black boxer. Just because Katrina’s next stop after destroying coastal Mississippi was counties that are 25 percent to 86 percent African-American (according to this U.S. Census map), and 27.9 percent of New Orleans residents are below the poverty line, I don’t expect the Rev. Jesse Jackson to call the news channels to give a comment. But in the their frenzy to beat freshness into…
Posted by ShiftShapers
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Yeah I remeber Volcano, what a terrible movie…......
I wonder, if things end up like The Day after Tomorrow, how many people would reach mexico? I say not even half that the one on the film, and the US may not be abble to enter their army too, unless they take away the mexico territory, AGAIN
testing image post…
Okay, I’d like to try to upload an image in its full form to a site, cause I’ve only got a jpeg…. any ideas? this ones a goody….
Can you even upload a jpeg using textile??
Pics here 1& 2 on this thread, on the comments by zark
Caption for Pic #1 by AP
A young 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)
Caption for pic #2 by AFP
Two 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)
As long as race and classism aren’t mentioned, they don’t exist… plus using words to distinguish race would be racist…
I can’t deny that the captioning on the pictures is rascist, but the fact is that if everyone
in America was judged by their personal merits, most blacks are uneducated, uncultured,
lazy (compared to, say, Mexican or Caucasian workers), and are trying harder than
any other ethnic group not to become part of mainstream American society. I say this
from personal experience, having worked brown and blue collar jobs for ten years before
graduating from college and entering a professional career.
Blacks call in sick more often, are not self-motivated when they do show up, complain more,
and are less likely to spend their earnings on something worthwhile (their kids, advanced
education) than other ethnic groups. If I was able, without financial aid (because I’m white,
and my parents are wealthy, but not helpful), to go to college while raising a child and
supporting a wife in a middle-class neighborhood w/o debt on blue-collar wages, why
can’t blacks do the same?
Racism died twenty years ago, and only lazy fuck-ups keep it alive by claiming racism is
the reason they are poor criminals, and not that they are poor criminals because they are
lazy and don’t value education.
These causes are obviously not due to genetics or superiority of one race over another,
because I’ve seen black minorities in other countries (UK, CAN) that have adapted to
the local culture, become educated, and embraced the country of their birth. They don’t
encounter racism.
Maybe what blacks in America need to do is realize that they are, first and foremost,
AMERICAN, and not African-American, or any such subgroup. Just American. Like me,
you, and 300 million others.
...wait…you’re not serious right?
Great piece…
Sure, kyrcant, sure… Racism died. I got a very different vibe being in New Orleans and Texas.
Police kill at least 5 in New Orleans
It’s funny when someone says ‘Racism died twenty years ago’ immediately after making the claim that ‘black people’ are lazy and complain more.
I pray kyrcant was being sarcastic.