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An open letter to NBC news, 9/2/05, on Katrina reporting
Watching NBC's "Dateline" for Friday 9/2, I realized what subtle racism means, and saw that the 1950s still aren't over.
An open letter to NBC News, Friday, 9/02/05 10:39 PM
I just gave up on "Dateline" Friday PM edition because...
...because I realized that the stories this evening were the same old 'stacked-deck' accounts that go all the way back to days of slavery, and you are doing your damndest, despite all protestations, to keep it going. What did I see that was so offensive?
I saw folks taking the initiative to walk out, heading up the high way and borrowing a reporter's cell phone to call one girl's father to come meet them. They were all white.
I saw 3 nurses and one's daughter walking out bravely, despite a cut foot. They were all white.
I saw hundreds, thousands maybe, of people waiting, seemingly helplessly, for someone to come save them. It wasn't clear why they weren't walking out. Could it be that there was a line of brave national guardsmen with machine guns ready, barring their way? Or had they simply been ordered to wait, with promises of imminent rescue? They were nearly all black. It reminded me a bit of the old slavery justification that "they're simple people. If it wasn't for us takin' care of them and puttin' them to work, they'd never be able to fend for themselves. We're doing them a favor, really, by keepin' them."
I saw the beginning of a story about a woman. White. She was about to describe how she raised her husband's gun and just had to fire one shot to scare off a looter and . . .
. . .And then I turned you off. Sorry I didn't watch long enough to learn if the easily frightened and (I infer) unarmed looter was black
Do you get it? White folks "find" cases of food and water. Black folks "loot." White folks take action to solve their problems. Black folks die like cattle if the guv'mint don't help.
Get it yet?
Quite some time ago I quit watching NBC (though my wife watches and I don't stop her.) Thanks for reminding me why. I shouldn't need to watch NBC news again
Jamie Miller
San Jose, CA
I just gave up on "Dateline" Friday PM edition because...
...because I realized that the stories this evening were the same old 'stacked-deck' accounts that go all the way back to days of slavery, and you are doing your damndest, despite all protestations, to keep it going. What did I see that was so offensive?
I saw folks taking the initiative to walk out, heading up the high way and borrowing a reporter's cell phone to call one girl's father to come meet them. They were all white.
I saw 3 nurses and one's daughter walking out bravely, despite a cut foot. They were all white.
I saw hundreds, thousands maybe, of people waiting, seemingly helplessly, for someone to come save them. It wasn't clear why they weren't walking out. Could it be that there was a line of brave national guardsmen with machine guns ready, barring their way? Or had they simply been ordered to wait, with promises of imminent rescue? They were nearly all black. It reminded me a bit of the old slavery justification that "they're simple people. If it wasn't for us takin' care of them and puttin' them to work, they'd never be able to fend for themselves. We're doing them a favor, really, by keepin' them."
I saw the beginning of a story about a woman. White. She was about to describe how she raised her husband's gun and just had to fire one shot to scare off a looter and . . .
. . .And then I turned you off. Sorry I didn't watch long enough to learn if the easily frightened and (I infer) unarmed looter was black
Do you get it? White folks "find" cases of food and water. Black folks "loot." White folks take action to solve their problems. Black folks die like cattle if the guv'mint don't help.
Get it yet?
Quite some time ago I quit watching NBC (though my wife watches and I don't stop her.) Thanks for reminding me why. I shouldn't need to watch NBC news again
Jamie Miller
San Jose, CA
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Geraldo completely ignored two black people standing next to him holding babies in order to talk to a white woman in a wheelchair and get her name so her family members could know about her, but not from the black people. It was sick Finally the black guy had to butt in and said that the baby he was holding wasn't his own, it was from a woman who had collapsed over there . . .
O'Reilly was like 'God,' telling each frantic person and reporter that he was sending help and notifying the Whitey House, that he was the messenger. He was on a MISSION to destroy the woman Governor (D), getting everyone he could to agree to his arguments of why it was all her fault and no one else's.
If anyone hasn't noticed the difference between this and 911, the major networks are NOT carrying this except during the news stories, and those are generally not live but are hours old. Only the cable news is showing stuff constantly.
There have been some excellent breakthroughs. The rapper on MSNBC who trashed Bush and want off on a speech that he wasn't supposed to about how everyone has to help NO . . . the few reporters who HAVE been able to cover the most extreme atrocities and were willing to go with that no matter what it makes Bush look like.
But missing is Global Warming, RACE, and Bush's role.
O'Reilly was like 'God,' telling each frantic person and reporter that he was sending help and notifying the Whitey House, that he was the messenger. He was on a MISSION to destroy the woman Governor (D), getting everyone he could to agree to his arguments of why it was all her fault and no one else's.
If anyone hasn't noticed the difference between this and 911, the major networks are NOT carrying this except during the news stories, and those are generally not live but are hours old. Only the cable news is showing stuff constantly.
There have been some excellent breakthroughs. The rapper on MSNBC who trashed Bush and want off on a speech that he wasn't supposed to about how everyone has to help NO . . . the few reporters who HAVE been able to cover the most extreme atrocities and were willing to go with that no matter what it makes Bush look like.
But missing is Global Warming, RACE, and Bush's role.
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