9.01.2005

Race and Class

There is a great article in Slate that discusses the phenomenon of how the New Orleans crisis seems to have victims that are 99% black yet no TV broadcaster will so much as mention the subject. He writes: "Race remains largely untouchable for TV because broadcasters sense that they can't make an error without destroying careers. That's a true pity. If the subject were a little less taboo, one of last night's anchors could have asked a reporter, 'Can you explain to our viewers, who by now have surely noticed, why 99 percent of the New Orleans evacuees we're seeing are African-American? I suppose our viewers have noticed, too, that the provocative looting footage we're airing and re-airing seems to depict mostly African-Americans.'"