During Katrina - They Called This "LOOTING"

[kpete]

[malaise]

1. Tut Tut!

Those are white people- it's still looting for others

[marble falls]

2. There's salvagers and there's looters - the difference is black and white.

[dalton99a]

5. Precisely

[MyOwnPeace]

9. Clearly!!

Interesting perspective taken here.

[a kennedy]

16. Ah, exactly.

Salvaging my ass.

[olegramps]

25. When Whites kill a Black it is self-defense. When a Black kills a White it is murder.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

27. The AP thought there was a difference between looters and salvagers

[LAGC]

29. Yeah, funny how that works, isn't it?

No implicit bias there in the mainstream media.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

40. I remember that page.

Still enrages me.

[BeckyDem]

3. No one will be arrested.

White people salvage to sustain themselves and their families.

Black people are opportunistic thieves. 2018 and we are still mean and hateful.

[Wounded Bear]

4. Only the black folk...

the white folk were "foraging."

[Garrett78]

6. During Katrina, it was looting vs. finding:

?resize=350%2C269

[Honeycombe8]

13. I hate to tell you, but that has been debunked.

There is a difference between the two pics, so it doesn't mean what you think. It's been debunked in Snopes. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hurricane-katrina-looters/

The gist of it is, the pics were taken by two different news orgs. For the first, the photographer actually saw the people go into the store and take items w/o paying, so he called it looting.

For the second, it was a different news org. They said they were careful about characterizing things like that, because the situation was so bad there. But for this picture, the photographer did not see the people go into a store and take anything. There were other people in the water, black and white, and there was a grocery store nearby with 5 feet of water. There were supplies floating outside the store among the people. So the photographer surmised that the people did indeed just find stuff. As for why he shot the lighter skinned people, he was just looking for the best shot, and that was it.

[Garrett78]

14. Debunked is too strong. There's a lack of context, yes.

We can't know for sure that there was subconscious racist intent, but that's true in general--we can't know what's in one's subconscience. But we know massive disparities exist when it comes to media coverage, police activity, calls to police, department store profiling, school discipline, and on and on and on.

In the circumstance in question, we're talking about people getting food that's going to be spoiled whether it washes away or it sits "inside" a severely damaged structure for months to come. Like in the photo from the OP. Those supplies aren't being washed away. They are clearly standing inside a structure.

[Honeycombe8]

38. Actually, no. The photographr of the top photo...

said he saw them taking items from a store that they hadn't paid for.

The photographer of the second photo said he did not see them take items fr a store that they hadn't paid for. Those people & others in the water were surrounded by items floating in the water from a nearby flooded grocery store, so it was logical conclusion that those people had "taken" the items after they were floating in the water, as opposed to going into a store & taking items off the shelves.

So there is a very real difference. And the main photo in the OP is from a NYT story...and the "taking" is referred to later in the article as looting.

I recently almost chastised a revolting Trumper acquaintance for falling for what appeared to me to be a fake "antifa" sign in a pic he posted. I called to his attention that there was no verification for that pic of a supposed sign of antifa, and how stupid was he to fall for an obviously fake pic. (I unfriended him, instead.)

So I would be remiss not to point out other "iffy" pics, just because they support a theme of my party.

We don't need to use that sort of stuff. We have truth and facts on our side. At least that's my opinion.

[Garrett78]

41. It's not looting in any of these instances. It's food or other goods needed for survival that...

...will be wasted if not consumed. None of that stuff would be available for sale again. It'll be a long time before normal conditions return.

Again, we don't know what's in a person's subconscious, but we do know media coverage is often subject to implicit bias.

[7962]

46. You also have to remember that facts are only important when they fit a certain theme.

I just had a post hidden that was all factual, but doesnt echo what the masses on DU like to hear. I dont post fake shit and, like you, I point it out ALL the time on FB, much to the chagrin of some friends. But here, even posting factual information can be viewed as a terrible offense.
And your stated opinion in the last line should be EVERYONES opinion. In MY opinion!!

[brush]

47. Looting food from a flooded store during a hurricane? Bullshit. It's blatant media bias.

[lunatica]

49. I don't buy that

Never will.

[lame54]

32. The press debunks a story that makes the press look bad...

How convenient

[Honeycombe8]

39. Well, you could post any picture...

and make it represent something, as long as the truth about it doesn't matter to you.

Democrats don't need to hype pics or photoshop pics. We do have the truth on our side. The dead body of a woman from Charlottesville, a black man getting beaten by neo-Nazis, the dying black people in the convention center in New Orleans after Katrina, the dead black people on the bridge after being killed by white officers for trying to leave New Orleans....

[Honeycombe8]

7. I found the source of the photo, with the NYT article. It IS referred to as looting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/us/looting-stores-hurricane-michael.html

That tweeter didn't read the article, I guess...just the caption to a photo.

The taking of things from store(s) IS referred to in the article as looting.

A short drive from Mr. Foster’s home, looting had been seen Thursday at a half-wrecked dollar store, and while some people came for things they wanted, most had come for things they needed — drinks and food.

On Friday, in a sign of the change that could soon roll out across the city, the store was being guarded by military personnel in a pair of Humvees.

[Takket]

8. I went to the tweet and is just a picture. No source given.

[Honeycombe8]

11. I found it. I edited my post to put the link. nt

[Merlot]

15. Good thing the military personnel are guarding dollar store profits.

[lunatica]

50. During Katrina I saw video of looting by New Orleans police.

The reporter tried to talk to them and they squirmed away.

[irisblue]

10. I checked "Search Google for Image" by hovering over the photo.

Original story here
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/us/looting-stores-hurricane-michael.html

Info on the original tweeter here
Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui
”Local artist.” Former Editor-in-chief
@Wirecutter
. Editor-at-Large
@ArsTechnica
. I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground. [e-mail]
Chicago // New York // RockiesInstagram.com/jacquichengJoined December 2006

Hope this helps Honeycomb. 😉

[Honeycombe8]

12. Yes, I found it, too. I edited my post to incl. the link. Thx. nt

[dugog55]

17. Also,

during Katrina the displaced people were called refugees (blacks), during Michael they were called evacuees (whites). I have heard this repeatedly on newscasts. Sometimes the distinction is subtle, but they always manage to sneak it in.

[malaise]

20. And they didn't separate the men from the women

That simple

[LovingA2andMI]

18. Well....

Only When Black Folks Do This To Feed Their Families During The After Effects of having little to nothing after a Hurricane, it is called Looting.

When Caucasians do it, its called Borrowing. Do Ya Know?

[whopis01]

19. You can't tell the difference between salvaging and looting?

Seems pretty black and white from what I’ve seen....

[Catherine Vincent]

21. Where's that pesky reporter informing them that they are looting?

[Hekate]

22. What a difference some melanin-deficiency makes. Yes, I remember Katrina excruciatingly. nt

[IronLionZion]

23. White entitlement encourages taking what they want from anyone

as long as they are being intelligently resourceful and not black.

Black people are considered criminals even if they have not committed any crimes and are definitely very dangerous even if they don't have a weapon. If black people were salvaging supplies, they would be shot. If a black middle school student even knocks on a door for directions he gets shot at.

[Nitram]

24. Yeah, I saw a similar photo and immediately thought of how after Katrina they called that "looting."

It was described as people getting "necessities" in the caption I saw. So if black people do it, it's looting. White people? "Salvaging" or getting "necessities" from a demolished store. If they were taking TV sets I would call it looting, however.

[Trust Buster]

26. It's a picture with two people in it.

[certainot]

28. katrina was used as a political tool - cheney rove withheld fed support knowing they could blame

democrats with 1500 invisible unchallenged radio stations

they withheld help waiting for black on white violence. they were expecting it. they wanted to be able to use it in next elections. they were disappointed but still leveraged it to win a bunch of La elections, with even dems believing the talk radio fox bush bullshit about how local officials should have been able to prevent the disaster.

and then it as disaster capitalism for rebuilding NO

[rickford66]

30. Any goods insured cannot be sold later.

If insured, the insurance company will take possession and destroy them. Sensible laws are needed to cover these situations where foraging is necessarily. Maybe if a forager left ID info etc ?

[TexasBushwhacker]

33. I worked for Whole Foods during Katrina

All power was out, so refrigerated and frozen goods would spoil quickly, plus there were all the perishibles; produce and baked goods. They just opened the stores up and let people help themselves to everything.

[homegirl]

34. TraderJoe's

in Santa Rosa, CA moved all stock, produce and perishables to area shelters during the Tubbs fire last year.

[TexasBushwhacker]

36. It's great when companies voluntarily provide goods

But we shouldn't have to depend on that. That's what FEMA is for. Trucks should be loaded with supplies and ready to deploy when a storm is on the way, not days after.

I will say, I felt the local government here in Houston/Harris County did a stellar job during Harvey, keeping us posted about what was going on and what areas were going to be affected by flooding. I live in a flood zone, though my apartment did not flood. At one point a National Guard truck came through our complex with horns blaring to pick up anyone who wanted to evacuate on the spot. But Houston is a big city and we've been through this many times before.

[homegirl]

55. Sanat Rosa

Trader Joe's was damaged by the fire and is currently being repaired and expanded. Thanks to the volunteer work of the employees the food was moved, donated to the local fire evacuation shelter.

Recent Florida hurricane damage sadly it looks like FEMA and the Trump administration are failing, once again!

Notice it was "local government" in Houston, glad it went well for you.

[TexasBushwhacker]

56. That's one of the perks of living in a big city

We HAVE a local government. I doubt that Mexico Beach has much in the way of local government. Its county isn't even that big; less than 200K residents. But Florida gets hit by a lot of hurricanes and should have a better response to them at the state level.

[rickford66]

42. That seems like the best way to handle it. Good for them.

They can give it away, but if they want to collect insurance, the goods go to the insurance company and cannot be resold and will be destroyed. It's just a waste while there are people who need those goods. That's why there should be some laws concerning looting/scavenging under these dire circumstances.

[TexasBushwhacker]

53. Depends on the insurance company

I imagine in a catastrophe like Katrina they just take pictures and have an inventory report to account for the loss. Insuring a big grocery store is expensive and insurers don't want to lose an account of nickel and diming a claim.

The funny thing is, Whole Foods may have never become the company it is today if it wasn't for a catastrophic flood at its original location. They used it as an opportunity to move to a bigger space in a better location and got extended terms from their vendors so they could get up and running again. They had no insurance, so it was a joint effort of employees, investors, vendors and even some diehard customers that got them back in business in 4 weeks.

[True Blue American]

44. Thank you for that

I see a big difference between people taking food supplies and 42 inch TV’s.

I may be wrong but trying to survive and stealing things you just want makes a big difference.

Whole Foods understood people need to live, and perishable foods would be gone any way.

[LisaL]

31. Looks like there is water damage?

All these items would presumably have to be thrown out and can not be sold anymore.

[Buzz cook]

35. White people scavenge Black people loot.

It happened during Katrina as well. Nres stories changed the verb with the color of the person.

[ck4829]

37. Well you see, there's white the difference between the two hurricanes

[rickyhall]

43. IMO: Looting is when someone breaks a window carries out a tv.

Scrounging food is survival.

[True Blue American]

45. Right!

[brush]

48. Of course, but too often the word used for black people is "looting"...

while it's "salvaging" or "foraging" when it's white people—it's blatant media bias.

[lunatica]

51. Exactly!

[Hortensis]

52. Many of these people can't get near where stores

used to be -- dangerous rubble everywhere. They have no food supplies and no power. Some have no running water. Some have no homes and are staying with friends and relatives or in cars stranded by impassable roads.

Isn't that bad enough without badmouthing them as symbols of racism? Could anyone spare a moment of decency to first think about these people and what they're going through? What many have lost and will never have again?

THEN trash them?

[Scurrilous]

54. K&R