However, saying that, I want to add the now infamous words from Kanye West. Words that sparked the use of a microscope to see if there was something nefarious lying underneath the now toxic waters.
“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 to 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!”
After Mike Myers had read his lines from the script, Kanye threw caution to the winds, saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people!”
Now I don't entirely agree or disagree with Kanye's powerful statements. I honestly don't believe that G Dub told FEMA or the military to "check the color of their skin before you save them." But I do think that something happened, I just can't put my finger on it.
The whole point of my blog today is to say that with the mainstream media today, we'll never know what happened. The truth is out there, though. And being a media studies major when I was in college, I've been given the knowledge to at least know a few places to look. I read today of the ethnic mix that New Orleans housed before the storm came ashore. Not only African Americans, but also a large population of Koreans, Vietnamese, and Latinos lived there. And these ethnic groups have their own media outlets. "Alternative media!", I thought to myself. I can now get someone else's point of view. So I've included links here for you, I hope you can take minute to look through them. No matter what you think, or who's fault it is, I hope you find a human story that grips you. Because, after all, we're all human.
Alternative Media Sources
The Afro-American Newspapers
New California Media
Radio Saigon Houston
The Korea Times
La Opinion
Mother Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment