"Looting" versus "Finding" (Sickening racism in news)

[BloodyWilliam]

Look at the races of the people in these two photos, then read the captions describing what they were doing:

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10208301530

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/photos_ts_afp/050830071810_shxwaoma_photo1

Holier than thou bastards.

[Xenotime]

1. Lack of respect for human life.

[KingFlorez]

2. There is no difference

JJ on Good Times called stealing "finding", so all these people are thiefs.

[displacedtexan]

3. GGGRRR!

Be sure to read the DU Blog Box column this Friday (on the home page). I'm including some great links re the current racial injustice in NO.

[BloodyWilliam]

4. In all fairness...

The photos are on Yahoo! News but DO come from two seperate sources, so that's two editors, two policies, etc.

Still, it's damn funny how they're categorized.

[SteppingRazor]

5. It's not even the same press agency, much less the same writer...

So, while it's another obvious, sad example of our institutional racism, it's not as though one person refered to whites as "finding," and blacks as "looting." Just sayin'.

[musette_sf]

7. Okay, you want one from the

same press agency, same writer, and even the same paragraph?

Check out this paragraph from AP writer Kevin McGill. This is a direct quote from the article, no editing has been done:

"On New Orleans' Canal Street, dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates on clothing and jewelry stores and grabbed merchandise. In Biloxi, Miss., people picked through casino slot machines for coins and ransacked other businesses. In some cases, the looting was in full view of police and National Guardsmen."

In New Orleans, they are "looters", but in Mississippi, they are "people"... even though they are "ransacking", they are still "people".

[SteppingRazor]

8. No editing has been done... except by editors.

All of whom (myself included) hate having two sentences with the same subject so close together.

[musette_sf]

9. geez, go on and split hairs, will ya?

Same writer, same article, same agency, and you want to split hairs that the only reason they're in the same bloody paragraph is because of EDITORS?

[SteppingRazor]

10. Just sayin'...

If I got a story that had two sentences in a row both refering to "looters," I'd probably change one of them to "people" or "mob" or something apropos.

Now pass me another hair, will ya? ;)

[musette_sf]

12. as a writer and editor myself

I think if I had the issue at hand in front of me, I would think twice before using "looters" to describe New Orleanians, and then ending up with "people" to describe Mississippians.

Maybe the more neutral "people" could have been used for the NO group, and "victims" could have been used for MS? Or vice-versa?

Or maybe if they wanted to stick with "looters" for the NO group, the more appropriate synonym for the MS group could have been "vandals"?

I'm just sayin'... institutionalized racism sucks.

[BloodyWilliam]

11. Actually, that's a pretty good point

I'm by no means trying to show my example as proof of institutionalized racist atitudes. Rather, I just found the contrast to be strange.

That said, I'd change the subject to "people" or "mob" or something different, just to keep the paragraph from reading blandly.

/journalist. :)

[VolcanoJen]

6. OMG.

Thank you so much for finding this, William.

[Ciggies and coffee]

13. Who was it that said...

Today, racists wear suits and ties instead of robes and hoods?

[bvar22]

14. Different new agencies? Covert Racism?

The Yahoo stories combined into one JPG.