Mississippi's Invisible Coast
Dean
Apparently, some people aren't black enough so they just don't matter.
It reminds me of Congressman Harold Ford Jr., the millionaire politician's son who went to the very best private schools in Washington D.C. and had his wealthy parents send him to the best schools in the country. Yet he had the audacity to say, without apology on national TV, "I personally benefitted from Affirmative Action."
Yeah. That's what the so-called "liberals" have to say about poverty and suffering: "If you're black, you're automatically a victim. Anyone else, you're just a rich b***ard and we don't give a damn about you."
Racist elitist scumbags and traitors to the whole idea of liberalism that they are.
(Hat tip: Seawitch.)
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama suffered a lot of destruction and lives torn apart by Katrina. The only story that national media focuses on is New Orleans. That was the intent of the article. To try to paint it as something else is wrong.
The limousine liberals and they're MSM lapdogs persist in the belief that blacks are helpless children unable to act like responsible people or deal with complex issues, given instead to fits of rage and violence unless constantly placated. It's pathetic and insulting to a large segment of our population and shouldn't be tolerated. As Tyrone said, Americans are AMERICANS, and that is the story.
Kanye West is a racist idiot. That's a given. But he has a right to say idiotic things. Please explain what law he broke that would justify fines or prosecutions, so I know what law to write my Congressman to press to get revoked. (Well, arguably he slandered the President; but that's a civil matter, and it's up to the victim to pursue the complaint.)
I believe that if freedom of speech does not extend to racist idiots like Kanye West, then it doesn't exist. The answer to his hate speech is more speech, not fines or prosecution.
But sadly, the Mississippi reporting is about racism. You see struggling people. Politicians see voting blocs. Media organizations see market segments. They can't be bothered with individuals, except as those individuals represent the media-selected categories of victim, victimizer, savior, etc.
couldn't it also be that new orleans has more resonance with the average american than the mississippi coast? people identify with new orleans regardless of whether or not they've been there. it's like new york city or l.a., it's an american cultural center. many americans not from the south or from mississippi may not relate to it in the same way they'd relate to new orleans. isn't that an equally reasonable hypothesis? not saying that racism isn't there or isn't a factor, but i am saying it's not a given. and it certainly isn't even mentioned in the article dean linked. at first i thought there must be a mixed up link or something. there are plenty of more blatant examples of media racism (like the tookie williams stuff, or even discrepancies in reporting about "looting" versus "foraging" after katrina), i don't see why dean feels the need to try to fit this square peg in that hole.
As for Mississippi, I give a shitload more about them than I ever will about a bunch of spoilt-asss Louisianans.
As for Cobb, you're a moron! I wouldn't want a white Jesse Jackson. That man's a race-baiter and you're apparently stupid enough to bite!
"George Bush doesn't care about rednecks."
i'm not saying you're wrong, but surely you'll agree that your thoughts on NOLA are outside of the mainstream. since it's to the mainstream that the media tries to cater to maximize profit, i'm not surprised by the storyline they chose to construct for katrina (i.e.: one that doesn't mention much about any state other than louisiana, and doesn't mention much about louisiana save for new orleans).
That's a feature, not a bug. :-P
I acknowledge the possibility, though it's not true of myself. New Orleans just doesn't loom large in my mind.
I didn't understand that article to be about race at all. It was about, "Hey, there are a lot more places that need help than just New Orleans. Why is there no news coverage over here?" And the answer, perhaps, is racism. The media and certain vocal liberals turned New Orleans into a symbol of "how we treat black people;" and they're not letting go of that storyline just because some white people are suffering, too. It is racist to make a story about race when it isn't.
The "looting vs. foraging" example was completely disproven, by the way. If one individual had made both comments, that might have indicated some bias. But in fact, the two photos and stories that inspired such a stink were shot by two different photographers and written by two different reporters and published by two different news agencies. There's simply no proof that any given individual would've said, "Oh, blacks are looters and whites are foragers." Instead, you had different word choices by different people.
And if that's not enough proof, there's the eyewitness reports of the photographers. One said, "I saw those people in that building, looting." The other said, "I saw those people scooping up food that was outside the store, floating away on the flood."