Haiti earthquake: Is the term 'looting' racist? Past Kanye West comments fuel debate

Writing at the Huffington Post, Michael Shaw asks: "Is it 'looting' if people are starving and desperate, and have no other recourse but to 'steal' food? And then, what are the racial dynamics of using the term 'looting' -- instead of 'stealing,' or just 'taking' -- particularly when the photo specifically features young black men."

Voice of America, for instance, reported on Monday that "Haitian police fired shots into the air to disperse large roving bands of scavenging looters as they swarmed across the capital."

On twitter there has been a flood of posts about the use of the term, many of them including #katrina. The number sign, or "hash tag" is used on twitter to characterize posts as relevant to a topic and allows for the individual post to be found by searching for the word that follows it.

Twitter user "Caremelkeya" wrote "it sickens me to see CNN focus on the looting in Haiti. Relief will alleviate the restlessness of the people. Don't demonize the victims." User "dredful" wrote: "news reported #looting of food from destroyed grocery stores in Haiti that is not looting! #katrina reporting all over again."

Twitter user "pezchaz" wrote: "can we stop calling non-white natural disaster victims who are trying to survive by scavenging supplies 'looters?' "

Natalie Hopkinson, media critic for the Root.com, argues that "Nearly five years ago... the racial double standard in the news media covering a catastrophic tragedy were obvious. Hungry, desperate white survivors were 'finding food' while hungry, desperate black survivors were 'looting' for food. Since the earthquake hit Haiti, I don't know what is more troubling: That so many observers, including political strategist and New Orleans native Donna Brazile, have been drawing facile parallels between the two cities. Or that so many of those comparisons are turning out to be true."

To be sure, it hasn't been about food in every case. There have been ugly scenes of gangs of men breaking into stores and stealing everything they can -- and fighting one another for possession. CNN posted footage of one such incident, in which a boy was injured when a piece of concrete was thrown at his head.

Follow the Global News Blog for updates on Haiti.

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