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This is everywhere but i love it. Kanye West was at a huge hurricane relief benefit and went off he just calls it like it is...
West and Mike Myers had been paired up to appear about halfway through the show. Their assignment: Take turns reading a script describing the breach in the levees around New Orleans.
Myers: The landscape of the city has changed dramatically, tragically and perhaps irreversibly. There is now over 25 feet of water where there was once city streets and thriving neighborhoods.
(Myers throws to West)
West: I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food." And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!
(West throws back to Myers)
Myers:
And subtle, but in many ways even more profoundly devastating, is the lasting damage to the survivors' will to rebuild and remain in the area.
The destruction of the spirit of the people of southern Louisiana and Mississippi may end up being the most tragic loss of all.
West: George Bush doesn't care about black people!
September 3 2005, 14:00:52 UTC 6 years ago
The looting/finding reference is not so clear cut- the "finding" picture was captioned by a photographer who was observing the actions of those people in particular, who supposedly found food floating outside a store or something. I agree it's awful for the media to posit scavenging as "looting" when people are desperate for survival. However the side-by-side comparison of the two photos that's been circulating is a little misleading.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/lo
The reason troops were authorized to use force is that drug addicts and criminals were running around shooting and raping people and stealing from hospitals, as the mayor pointed out in his rant. In those circumstances military force was appropriate. Relief was late but couldn't begin until order was restored.
That Bush sat on his ass while thousands of mothers, children and elderly died in a stadium for 4 days is the tip of the iceberg. The underlying problems are systematic racism, the welfare state, the lack of military resources due to Iraq, budget cuts to the Army Corps of Engineers, and Louisiana's lack of an evacuation plan for the imprisoned and the poorest of the city's population.
Whoa sorry for the rant!!
September 4 2005, 20:36:39 UTC 6 years ago
September 4 2005, 21:49:20 UTC 6 years ago
September 5 2005, 08:35:18 UTC 6 years ago
huh?
sorry, kid... i just read that link and it's pretty unclear.there's a lot of conjecture at that link and the fact is... things like this are not conscious decisions where an editor says 'if the photo's of a black person, write "looting" and if it's of a white person, write "finding"'... it just isn't that cut-and-dry... however, these photos exist and the captions exist and it's a shame that there haven't been examples to contradict the assumptions laid bare in them.
not to mention that major media is more into covering stories about looting, raping and shooting than it is into covering stories about the levies being 'left behind' by budget cuts and war spending and the inability of our governmen to so much as send down 300 buses and cart people off to a safe haven.
i'm sorry, i don't even know if i know you, but this whole thing gets mad under my skin... and i don't like that you've got poor folks being portrayed as maniacs - drug addicts and criminals - when, in reality, you have a lot of people who've just had their lives utterly destroyed and there are some bad apples, but the story ain't about the real tragedy... fecked ehp...
September 5 2005, 10:56:09 UTC 6 years ago
Re: huh?
Hey Puck, it's Dave :)I agree it's fucked up for the media to sensationalize the scavenging of food to survive. None of the photos of people with food should be labeled "looting."
My point is simply that the popular example (the one I'm assuming Kanye was referring to) is a bad one b/c the "finding" photo was not in fact based on an assumption. After all the buzz the photographer posted the following on a messageboard:
"I wrote the caption about the two people who 'found' the items. I believed in my opinion, that they did simply find them, and not 'looted' them in the definition of the word. The people were swimming in chest deep water, and there were other people in the water, both white and black. I looked for the best picture. there were a million items floating in the water — we were right near a grocery store that had 5+ feet of water in it. it had no doors. the water was moving, and the stuff was floating away. These people were not ducking into a store and busting down windows to get electronics. They picked up bread and cokes that were floating in the water. They would have floated away anyhow.
...
I'm not trying to be politically correct. I'm don't care if you are white or black. I spent 4 hours on a boat in my parent's neighborhood shooting, and rescuing people, both black and white, dog and cat. I am a journalist, and a human being - and I see all as such. If you don't belive me, you can look on Getty today and see the images I shot of real looting today, and you will see white and black people, and they were DEFINATELY looting. And I put that in the caption."
The issue on which people should be calling out the media is that hurricane victims going into an abandoned store to find food is not looting, period-- not that whites "find" while blacks "loot" based on this one example.
peace
Anonymous
September 3 2005, 22:27:53 UTC 6 years ago
This made my day when i saw it
The fact that this was on mainstream media and now all over the net-is great! The truth has been spoken.shit yea
j