Can you see why I have a problem with this?  These people DO NOT look like they are looting!!!

I know there has been looting, and that is a terrible thing.  That some would stoop so low to take advantage of people who are already dealing with a disaster, is abominable.  

However, this does not look like a picture of looting.   This store has yellow signs on the doors that say "Now Open" and the only people who are holding any merchandise have it in shopping bags. Do looters generally take the time to put their stuff neatly into shopping bags and then saunter casually out of the store with a contented look on their face???   Most of the people in the photo are not holding anything.  They are not running out of the store with loads of merchandise in their arms.  Most of them seem to be just milling about.   Is it any coincidence that all of the people in this photo are Black, and they have been dubbed "looters"? 

Biased reporting like this just serves to further entrench racist attitudes and makes life more difficult for everyone.   Many white people will see this kind of thing, shake their heads and think, “See...there go those black people again, looting every time they get a chance.”  For Black people it’s just another example of the racism they experience every day from the mainstream media and from society at large. Another jab to add insult to injury.  I think it is disgusting. 

******

Also in Today's News:

It is heartening to see some movement in the right direction. That’s why the Toronto District School Board’s new measure to hire a watchdog to fight discrimination in schools is such a good idea.  The article in today’s Toronto Star gives the details.  Unfortunately you have to sign up for the Toronto Star to see the full text of their articles, so here is an excerpt from said article:

“Canada’s largest school board is poised to appoint a new equity watchdog to ensure students of all backgrounds are treated fairly, says Chair Sheila Ward.

The new senior position of ‘executive officer of equity’ for the Toronto District School Board will have ‘real teeth.’  Ward says, to deal with such lightning-rod issues as the suspension of black students and the creation of black-studies curriculum. 

The move comes hard on the heels of criticisms – including a formal complain lodged last month by the Ontario Human Rights Commission – that the board treats black students more harshly than others under the province’s tough new code of conduct. 

But Ward says the new post, which will report directly to new education director Gerry Connelly, sends a signal that the country’s most diverse school board is taking equal rights seriously.  Equity positions were largely dismantled under the funding formula introduced by the previous Conservative government.

“This person will have real clout and be very aggressive, front and centre, in driving equity, not only about suspensions and expulsions, but also issues from parent rights to Afro-centric curriculum,” said Ward yesterday.

The equity officer is to be named tonight at a board meeting.

Sources hint the job will go to veteran educator Lloyd McKell, long an outreach worker with the board’s diverse communities.”

While this is definitely a positive step in the right direction, I am a little skeptical about how effective it will be.  Will the Toronto School Board really want to acknowledge just how bad the problem is?  (and accoording to my friends who are teachers in Toronto, there is a serious problem to address!)  While this may affect some positive change in the future, it does not address the blatant racism you see continuing in the mainstream media right now.  *sigh*   Is there any hope for the human race?