Demonizing the Poor

From the very beginning of this tragedy the media has been demonizing the poor. We've been told endlessly about the looting, rape and murder going on and it's left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths.

I was skeptical from the start. Numerous eyewitness accounts affirmed again and again that for the most part the "looting" was simply people getting food, water, and clothing in an effort to survive. And yet the media kept on reporting about the evil poor people. Thankfully, a recent story in the Guardian has looked a little deeper into some of these "stories" and found that by and large they are unsubstantiated.

The article mentions a number of different stories that have gained strength in the media: two babies who had their throats slashed, a seven-year-old who was raped, violent criminals running rampant in the Superdome, and that guns and knives were being seized in local shelters. The story goes on to say:

And while many claim they happened, no witnesses, survivors or survivors' relatives have come forward.

This is not to say that nothing bad happened down there. But as the waters recede and we are able to investigate more and more of these stories it is becoming apparent that much was exaggerated.

People that I have talked to almost seem in a rush to point the finger of blame at these victims. A co-worker the other day told me, "Well they get what they deserve."!? He really said that. He pointed to the looting and other stories as if that made it all ok. It's really sad the way the media have demonized the poor in this tragedy. It needs to stop.

Below is the last part of the article:

The trouble, wrote Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune is that "scarcely any of it was true - the police confiscated a single knife from a refugee in one Baton Rouge shelter". "There were no riots in Baton Rouge. There were no armed hordes."

Similarly when the first convoy of national guardsmen went into New Orleans approached the convention centre they were ordered to "lock and load".

But when they arrived they were confronted not by armed mobs but a nurse wearing a T-shirt that read "I love New Orleans".

"She ran down a broken escalator, then held her hands in the air when she saw the guns," wrote the LA Times.

"We have sick kids up here!" she shouted.

"We have dehydrated
kids! One kid with sickle cell!"

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