Katrina: Maybe Not Racism

So the murder, rape and mayhem that allegedly went on in the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center in the wake of Hurricane Katrina turned out to be gross exaggerations.

Dr. Louis Cataldie, the state Health and Human Services Department administrator overseeing the body recovery operation, said his teams were inundated with false reports about the Dome and Convention Center.

"We swept both buildings several times, because we kept getting reports of more bodies there," Cataldie said. "But it just wasn't the case."

Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan said authorities had confirmed only four murders in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina - making it a typical week in a city that anticipated more than 200 homicides this year. Jordan expressed outrage at reports from many national media outlets that suffering flood victims had turned into mobs of unchecked savages.

Many bloggers are deriding this state of reporting as racism—that the mainstream media were too ready to believe the worst of a population that was poor and black and to report such. I’m not quite ready to take that plunge just yet, however; not all the way.

What I would like to know is this: who was passing the information to the media about these non-existent murders and rapes? I’m betting that the source was a believable one, one that had no sinister reason to lie about this sort of thing. (Surely in a city that had as high a murder rate as New Orleans did, such stories would be a bit plausible.) Would some of the evacuees themselves tell reporters about some rapes and murders so that the reporters would broadcast the (mis)information and, therefore, fuel the national public outcry to get those people out of there?

After all, that’s pretty much what happened.

I think the professional media is quite liberal-to-leftist and regularly bristle as they proverbially pat us black folks on the head and say, “we’ll protect you from those evil conservatives.” But instead of jumping to lightly supported conclusions (like they often do), let’s sit up and think this thing through minus the emotionalism.

The media believed ugly rumors about black people told to them by black people: by the evacuees and by the (black) New Orleans police chief. And, in the media mindset, why would they these sources say things to make other black people look bad unless it was true? That’s laziness (on the media's part), not racism.

No matter how much disdain many of us have for the mainstream media, we shouldn’t mistake sloth for malice.

(Thanks to Wizbang)

UPDATE: Dean Esmay emphatically disagrees.

See:

More on Media Racism

Comments

[DarkStar]

Question: Why the assumption concerning the poverty level of the people left in NOLA?

Question: Where were the media showing PWT?

[baldilocks]

Are you asking me about my assumptions or the MSM's?

[Anna]

I believe this is what is going to happen. Despite the facts, the blame will never be taken from Bush's shoulders. The reason? The republicans would not consent to an independent investigation, thus anything said on Bush's behalf will not be taken as actual fact, but partisan cover-up. (Pelosi will be the most vocal about it, too.)

[DarkStar]

Yours.

What was covered as well as what wasn't covered, for me is key. As well as personal past experiences dealing with the media, as far back as the 7th grade.

[baldilocks]

I got mine from observing the crowd, many single women with children/grandchilden, no car to leave and/or nowhere to go: usually poor. (It's a generalization, of course. There were traditional families there who chose not to leave.)

Many also self-reported that they had no savings and lived paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford to leave.

[Mescalero]

You make a interesting, but in some ways trivial point. The MSM swallowed this stuff about black people in New Orleans because they wanted to use it as ammunition against George Bush. I recommend that you go back and look at the tactics used by one Adolf Hitler in the years preceeding 1933. Guess what, he did exactly the same thing. Not only that, the Neville Chamberlains (i.e., liberals) let him get away with it!

[baldilocks]

MSM swallowed this stuff about black people in New Orleans because they wanted to use it as ammunition against George Bush.

I'll buy that they want ammo against GWB and that they may have though that broadcasting alleged crimes to the world would serve as ammo, but how is believing what they got from these sources equivalent to racism? And, again, why *wouldn't* they believe the horse's mouth, so to speak?

BTW, I've been re-reading Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich on and off for a while now, so I'm pretty familiar with Nazi media tactics.

[teal marie]

Laziness, yes. Haste, too, though. The rush to get a story first, to grab some glory. Tragedy brings out the rivalry in reporters and its a race to be first, not most accurate. Newspapers and Television have deadlines, stories have to go through production, typeset to page, proofread, edited, etc. It's a hasty business by nature. At a newspaper you can get in more trouble screwing up an ad than a story. I don't know how much TV differs from newspaper in that respect, but I'll bet it's the same frantic choice between speed or accuracy all too often.
Now Louis Farrakahn, on the other hand, that's malice for you. I just don't get how it benefits any race.

[Justin]

I think Teal Marie is right--and in general, a lot of perceived "bias" comes from laziness and sloppiness.

[baldilocks]

Isn't that what I said? :-)

[Warthog]

A different race issue is the question: Will illegal immigrants replace the displaced blacks of New Orleans? There are allready signs this is going to happen. I would like to read what you think of New Orleans becoming another L.A.!

[Justin]

Isn't that what I said? :-)

Probably, but I'm tired and Teal's was shorter. ;-)

[Chuckie]

Juliette?
First, I want to you to know how much I enjoy reading your blog. Your comments are well thought, intelligent, and balanced. That said, you would definately kick my butt in debate, both verbal and written.
I am a white man. I had a black stepfather during my formative teen years. And the whole race issue on Katrina really has me upset.
First, it was/is PEOPLE who suffered and are suffering. Yeah, there will always be racist bigots in this world, no matter how far we progress. The people who are using the race card seem to be coming from a polictical point of view, as opposed to a HUMAN point of view. That really digs at me. My 10 years in the Army taight me that people are just that. We all bleed, sweat, love, and want to be loved, and all of our shit stinks...(Sorry for that rough analogy but it came from a former platoon Sgt.)
This isn't race. People of ALL Colors, all across the Gulf are suffering, thier lives in ruins. As much as I support our President and government, I don't think any of them are smart enough to program a "Racial Profiling Storm." Natural disasters seem to be a pretty much equal opportunity destroyer.
All I got to say is we better darn well get together as a nation or we are in Deep Kimchee. The Enemy watches all this division and finger pointing (They DO Google), rub thier hands together in glee, dip the pita bread into the dish, and says, "Allah Akbar. Thanks God for the American Miss-Media."
BTW, you could make a fortune in marketing Baldilocks Action Figures or wall posters...Hahaha
ALOHA and have a Fantastic day...

[teal marie]

Baldilocks action figures? There's a wicked tempting thought. };-)

[Chuckie]

Action Figures..Better yet, battery operated one's that would kick butt at the first sign of stupidity...hehehe...

[teal marie]

LOL!
Thanks for the brainstorm.

[Rocky J. And Bulwinkle]

I sign as Rocky J. squirrell , But my freinds call me Rocket
and for good reason My side kick Bulwinkle dropped the extra l
In the first part of his name because Humans where confusing him as a Bull which ia a bunch of poo-poo cause He's a great big MOOSE { " get out of the city and go to a national park in the North or sumpthing At least read a book " } Dont promote zoos or
Winkle and I will dive bomb you're
tourist ass and the Bulwinkle eats roughage and alot { THINK ABOUT IT } Any ways Whats racism? You Humans are REALLY FICKLE GET REAL

[Dean Esmay]

Dude, seriously, I know you think I'm wrong but look what the reports are saying:

Tens of thousands of people in that Superdome. And it turns out to be six dead. Not six hundred. Not sixty. Six. Four from natural causes, one an OD, and one an apparent suicide.

No one shooting at anyone. No one's throat slashed. No babies raped or stuck into ice coolers. None of that shit.

Six dead. Four probably tragic losses because they were old and frail and needed their meds and couldn't handle the heat and whatnot. One loser who OD'd. One crazy person who offed himself. That's it.

In other words, we got tens of thousands of people stuck in a bad situation, well over 99.9% of whom were law-abiding, helping each other out, taking care of each other in a situation that totally sucked.

In other words, poor folks in New Orleans were no worst to each other than poor folks in Biloxi: trying to make the best of a bad situation, and hot and sticky and uncomfortable, but working with each other so all would be okay.

That's it. Why did we buy into this shit about masive stabbings and shootings and rapes and murders? It didn't happen!

[DarkStar]

it was brought into because it's believable about Blacks.

it would have meet more scrutiny if it was white middle class.

look, i can take you to white middle class high schools and locate the druggies in about 2 hours. but the media doesn't do stories about that. but they will do stories of drug use in "minority" schools, or crime in minority schools.

[DarkStar]

I got mine from observing the crowd, many single women with children/grandchilden, no car to leave and/or nowhere to go: usually poor.

That's an observation, not of you being an eyewitness, but of watching the media present to you their view.

Many also self-reported that they had no savings and lived paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford to leave.

Again, their view.

Where were the white families who were there? How about the families in the other states affected? Did you notice that when they were shown, they were white? Even in areas with a sizable Black population?

Consider this: a white conservative talk show host was blasting on what Blacks weren't doing in a local situation. I called in and told him that if he had chosen to contact the Black group he was criticizing, he would have found out, like I did when that group was on Black radio, what they were doing.

Off air I gave him contact information for the group and he said he would follow up with them. He didn't.

Another case, another talk show host had Greg Kane as a guest and they were both going off on Blacks. I called in and made the point that some of what was being discussed was attempting to be addressed by local and national groups. In fact, one group Kane had written about. The host said, straight up, that negative and sensationalism sells.

So, if sensationalism sells, and I think that's something we agree on, then doesn't it make sense that the views given were given based on bias, which includes racial bias?

[MAGS]

I think it was just human nature. I have read that after every major disaster in the usa (and all over the world in fact) there have been rumors of looting, armed gangs roaming the streets, rape. Go back and check out reports from as far back as the San Francisco earthquakes. Guess what? you will find the same thing! I think in a time of confusion, chaos and fear, a rumor gets started and it just spreads like wildfire. i don't believe anyone was thinking, oh, if we report this, they will get us out of here faster. it is not a racial thing. most of the victims of the turn of the century san francisco quake were not black, and the same thing happened! I was in thailand not long after the tsunamis, and was being told of all the rumors going on there (remember the reports talking about all the children who were being snatched to be trafficked into prostitution? Where is that story now?). there were also so many ghost stories coming after the tsunami. Again, just human nature, nothing more.

[MAGS]

I think it was just human nature. I have read that after every major disaster in the usa (and all over the world in fact) there have been rumors of looting, armed gangs roaming the streets, rape. Go back and check out reports from as far back as the San Francisco earthquakes. Guess what? you will find the same thing! I think in a time of confusion, chaos and fear, a rumor gets started and it just spreads like wildfire. i don't believe anyone was thinking, oh, if we report this, they will get us out of here faster. it is not a racial thing. most of the victims of the turn of the century san francisco quake were not black, and the same thing happened! I was in thailand not long after the tsunamis, and was being told of all the rumors going on there (remember the reports talking about all the children who were being snatched to be trafficked into prostitution? Where is that story now?). there were also so many ghost stories coming after the tsunami. Again, just human nature, nothing more.

[wayne]

Well, the first of the two folks who started the whole "racial conflagration" bit has just resigned. Bye Bye, Compass don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out. Say "Hi" to Oprah for me.

Hey Compass, if all Hell was breaking loose why were all of your police resources sitting in places they could get drowned? Why were you such a good leader that half your force was Gone With The Wind?

Now we just need to Nagin's and Blanco's heads on poles for their roles in it and the circle will be complete. It's all so much crap.

If we could only get Bush off his guilt trip long enough to stop throwing away money indiscriminantly maybe we can salvage something good from all of this. Like not rebuilding the worst parts of a city below sea level. Maybe canceling Federal storm insurance for idiots who build houses in flood zones OR ESPECIALLY ON BEACHES!!!

[baldilocks]

Dean:Why did we buy into this shit about masive stabbings and shootings and rapes and murders?

This question was answered in my post. (You bleep out profanity on your own blog.)

DarkStar: You asked me where the black and poor perception came from with me, so I told you. I never claimed to have been there, so it is implicit that my opinion isn't as valid as those who were there.

And since this post isn't about my impressions, but the impressions of the professional media who were there, I'd say that you simply are using my words to play your usual contrarian game.

[Jamie Dawn]

Smart post.
I thought the same thing when I heard that much of the reporting about horrible crimes in the superdome & conventin center were false.
I think lies were purposefully told by evacuees in order to get help there sooner. I don't blame them for the lies, though, They did need help.
Sloth was a good word choice.

[ralph phelan]

"Why did we buy into this shit about masive stabbings and shootings and rapes and murders? "

My first response is to say "Because we believed Mayor Nagin?" But then I remember that I had him pegged as a dishonest idiot even before the hurricane hit - so why did I believe him about this?

I do think it was in a sense race related - if a white guy had been repeating these rumours I'd have wondered if they were driven by racism, but it just didn't occur to me that Nagin would slander "his own people" this way.

[ralph phelan]

Upon further reflection:

"Why did we buy into this shit about massive stabbings and shootings and rapes and murders? "

Because we're still used to believing that most people don't habitually lie and make stuff up. That's true of most of the people I actually know, and it's hard break the habit of trusting people.

When the subject of "Crappy Mayors" comes up I think of Nashua's Bernie Streeter, who keeps on finding new unnecessary expensive things to build with my money. It's hard to keep my mind wrapped around the idea of a mayor so crappy that he'd designate an emergency center and forget to stock it with food and water, a mayor so crappy that he'd be inviting people back into town two days before another hurricane came and broke the levees again, a mayor so crappy that he'd repeat unsubstantiated atrocity rumours as fact on national TV.

Anyone who's not from New Orleans is going to have a really hard time generating 10% of the skepticism needed when dealing with that guy. I really don't feel to bad about the fact that I was unable to.

I do feel embarrassed about the fact that I believed the stories the MSM was telling. After Dan Rather, I should know better. Once again, it's hard to get out of the habit of trust in basic competence and human decency. I'll have to try hard not to repeat the mistake of applying that trust to journalists.

[Mike]

I'm old enough to remember when reporters reported what they knew to be true, instead of the high-flying rumors.

[DarkStar]

No, I'm not being contraian.

You told me and I responded to provoke further thought.

Look, for some time now, I've been "asking" the question, "If you know the media is biased and gets information wrong, sometimes on purpose to suit their view, why trust them when they report on matters of race?"

Look what I wrote on Sept. 5.

http://www.visioncircle.org/archive/004570.html

[Mescalero]

Baldilocks--

You take me to task for pointing to obvious liberal media racism by playing a very obvious poor/black card. Everyday we hear and read about the media failures about reportage from New Orleans, but do you hear and read it?

Go back and take a long hard look at what Shirer says. Then talk to a few of those who survived that horrible ordeal of the Jews in Europe, as I have. After that read some other sources, like Richard Rhodes' "Masters of Death". Isn't it interesting that many recruits in the Nazi-SS saw their involvement in this odious group as a good "career" move -- kinda like Bobby Byrd's thoughts about his initial involvement with the KKK!

Believe me, I know race-baiting when I see it. That includes Noam Chomsky's making academic anti-semitism acceptable in the late 1960's. That includes the Black Panther newspaper plagiarizing anti-semitic diatribes by Nazi war criminal Julius Streicher against Jews by cleverly replacing "Jew" with "Zionist".

Sorry bout that, but the MSM swallowed the racist line big time. It will be interesting to see how the journalist sleaze wiggle their way out of this one.

[baldilocks]

Mescalero: Take you to task? No. Just didn't agree. Did I not say that I buy your theory about the media and GWB?

(This part is for Darkstar a little bit also)I just don't think that most of them are as cunning as the Nazis. And besides the Nazis didn't have the Internet to contend with.

[baldilocks]

One more thing, Mescalero: if the big media swallowed what you call this racist line, then the feeders--Chief of Police Compass and Mayor Nagin--hold a good portion of the blame. Those two were responsible for putting out solid info and they failed.

Ironically, I think the media would have questioned reports of black misbehavior more, had the mayor and the police chief of NO been white. As I'll say one more time, they figured that the black authority figures wouldn't lie about or be misinformed about any purported crimes committed by their black constituency; a weird racism of a sort.

[Mescalero]

Baldilocks--

I suspect that we agree for the most part, but you give too much credit to cunning Nazis and completely neglect the racist Stalinist bunch, you know those guys who justified the murder of 10 million Ukrainian peasants in the early 1930's, justified the grotesque purge of loyal Jewish Communist Party members as part of the cleverly disguised "Doctors' Plot" in the early 1950's, and now pose as members of organizations such as Moveon.org and International ANSWER.

Understand where I'm coming from. The use of race (that is to use race in a negative sense against a helpless people for political purposes or political gain) is by my definition racism. The MSM in the grotesque Katrina affair fell into this category, and there's no way they can recover their credibility.

In my opinion, Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco have a lot of explaining to do, and, in Nagin's case, he'd better have a good explanation for his use of the poor/black race card. Was or was he not the mayor of New Orleans? Was or was he not in charge when he was most needed? The answer to these questions has nothing to do with skin color, race, or political affiliation. The emerging answer to both questions appears to be not only NO but Hell No! The same goes for Kathleen Blanco.

[Donggun Lee]

I think that the American Government should have taken more care towards the Korean people involved in hurricane Katrina.

[teal marie]

Interesting thought, Dong. I did a little googling and came up with two stories, both a few weeks old.
one said -
Some 300 Koreans living in New Orleans have evacuated to Baton Rouge and Houston where they are being lodged in Korean churches or in the homes of Korean hosts, report the Korea Times and the Korea Daily. Others fled as far as Philadelphia. An official from the Korean Council of Houston said there were many Koreans in Biloxi, where more than 30 deaths have been reported. The majority of Koreans living in the Gulf region as small-business owners and many fear not only the loss of their homes, but also their livelihoods.

Another said -
A North Korean radio station called New Orleans the American Pompeii Tuesday and blamed the Bush administration for the considerable loss of life in the disaster.

Do you have any new info on what became of the Koreans in New Orleans?