Just putting this picture out there...
...the text isn't as clear as it is on my computer...
The first picture says, "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it"
Second picture says, "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurrican Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana."
The first picture has a black person in it while the second person has two white people in it.
Please also note that the first picture came from the Associated Press (AP) while the second picture came from the Agence France-Presse (AFP). I'm not sure if there are any implications involved behind their sources, but I think it's relevant information.
2 comments:
I actually wrote a paper last year in my sociology class about the racial disparities reported in articles concerning Hurricane Katrina. It's really interesting because I ran across many similar articles. Black people were portrayed as thieves and white people as victims. I heard a lot about the looting that occurred, and most of the articles I read about it involved blacks. Many of the pictures that accompanied articles discussing the negative aspects of the hurricane included blacks. One in particular, there was a large picture of an older black man that had a trunk full of beer and the article was about all of the unnecessary looting, not for food and water, but for non-essentials. When doing the research for that paper I found very few images of whites portrayed as criminals. I think that from this angle by the media, a lot of the racial discussion was brought about.
I find the comparison of the two really interesting. It illustrates how deeply entrenched some stereotypes are that individuals do not even realize how irrational some of their statements seem. It is quite ironic that black individuals doing the exact same thing as white individuals can be perceived differently. I think it really exemplifies the whole idea brought about by the "Unpacking the invisible knapsack" article about white privilege. Even in looking at how different races are perceived, it is clear that whites are often given the privilege of being seen in a positive light.
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