USA Today has an article exposing the differences in the way that people are handling the disaster. It's an interesting article. It doesn't really dive into the reasons why the looters are predominantly black, but it's still worth the read.
Dennis Prager talked on the issue of the looters being overwhelmingly, if not completely all black. It's not an issue of skin color. Hispanics were the majority that looted during the Los Angeles riots. It's an issue of values, morals and ethics. It's not that white people are in any way morally or ethically or especially naturally superior to any other race. Whites gave us Nazis, Communism, and many other horrible atrocities. But clearly, the blacks who are looting don't have the moral bearing of the blacks and whites who have chosen not to loot. Desperation can do many things to a person, but even in the face of the worst circumstances a person still has control over his behavior.
Posted by Portia at September 2, 2005 02:49 PM | TrackBackRed Guy in a Blue State has blogged about how different news agencies report on looting. AFP (Agence France Presse) shows a pic of a white couple who have "found" food; AP shows a picture of an African American who is "looting".
Our prayers are with the police and military, that they will get an immediate handle on this with as few casualties as possible.
Posted by: Dee at September 2, 2005 04:35 PMIt is a truly revealing look into a society when you see how they handle adversity. It would appear that New Orleans was one major trauma away from being a Third World city. It's legendary political corruption, laid back style and procrastination finally got the best of it's most vulnerable inhabitants. We will help them rebuild their lives, but if this city continues to operate as it has in the past, this will all have been for naught. In the meantime, we'll have to listen to all the hand-wringing and whining in the search for "meaning", blaming W and positioning themselves at the trough once again. May God have mercy on us.
Posted by: Dad at September 3, 2005 11:43 AM
