I think of it as 'justifiable looting', in the same way that killing somebody in self-defense is 'justifiable homicide'. By my understanding, it's against the law and as such is theft; however, whatever moral authority the law might possess comes from its ability to protect its subjects - which in this case is 'not much'.
I certainly don't intend to criticise anybody for grabbing survival supplies that wouldn't be saleable afterwards anyway. In their place, I'd be doing the same thing.
I have my doubts if others (i.e., non-"blacks" were engaing in the same activity that it would receive the same caption.
AP gallery 'Floodwaters', picture 8. Caption: "With much of New Orleans emptied by Hurricane Katrina, some opportunists took advantage by looting stores." The 'looter' in the foreground, looking at the camera and clutching an armful of clothes, certainly isn't black (though he might well be Asian or Latino - picking ethnicity is not my strong suit).
Certainly, there aren't a lot of photos of non-blacks 'looting'. But I think that's at least partly due to the nature of the disaster - most of those who couldn't get out of NOLA were black, and that's going to be reflected in what follows. If 80-90% of those remaining are black (which is about what I'd estimate from footage of refugees at the Superdome etc), I'd expect 80-90% of 'looters' to be black.
no subject
I certainly don't intend to criticise anybody for grabbing survival supplies that wouldn't be saleable afterwards anyway. In their place, I'd be doing the same thing.
I have my doubts if others (i.e., non-"blacks" were engaing in the same activity that it would receive the same caption.
AP gallery 'Floodwaters', picture 8. Caption: "With much of New Orleans emptied by Hurricane Katrina, some opportunists took advantage by looting stores." The 'looter' in the foreground, looking at the camera and clutching an armful of clothes, certainly isn't black (though he might well be Asian or Latino - picking ethnicity is not my strong suit).
Certainly, there aren't a lot of photos of non-blacks 'looting'. But I think that's at least partly due to the nature of the disaster - most of those who couldn't get out of NOLA were black, and that's going to be reflected in what follows. If 80-90% of those remaining are black (which is about what I'd estimate from footage of refugees at the Superdome etc), I'd expect 80-90% of 'looters' to be black.