Tragedies are meant to be covered by the news media without taking any sides. They are meant to be covered without being biased, but most actually take sides against people. After the 9/11 disaster, it seemed Americans reunited. They hung their long-hidden U.S flags, stuck bumper stickers about American pride on their cars, and people actually learned to accept the diversity amongst our nation. That was the aftermath of 9/11, and I was very proud of how Americans gathered together to show unity.
Now, September is deemed as UIC's "unity month," but all over U.S, it feels like Americans have separated against each other. Even the media has taken sides on race issues surrounding Hurricane Katrina. There is one picture from AP Press of a black man holding a full garbage plastic bag walking through the flood water. There is also a picture from AFP of a white man and woman holding bags walking through the flood water.
Imagine what each pictures' captions are. Of course, the caption for the black man holding the bag is "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans." However, the caption for the white man and woman is "Two residents wade through chest deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store."
Looting is basically another word for stealing and raiding while finding is discovering something and is meant as a positive statement. How can two different press organizations cover two pictures of people walking through water with bags and only one of them is accused of stealing from a grocery store? Small incidents like these have increased awareness amongst Americans that race issues may have played against the slow helping of Katrina victims.
The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in the South has separated many Americans into black and white sides, putting salt over a possibly healing wound. When 9/11 struck, it was advised that Americans should stick together. After Hurricane Katrina, over a million people were displaced, and the public cried out they were not getting equal treatment because of their race and class. Also, New Orleans has one of the highest poverty rates, so the elders, sick, and poor could not leave without help from the government. Karen Tumulty from Time Magazine also noted that over 100,000 people in New Orleans did not even own cars.
The natural catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina has unintentionally separated Americans. However, numerous organizations like the American Red Cross and Salvation Army are providing food, housing, and clothing. There are also many states as far as Oregon welcoming displaced victims and over 70 countries worldwide who have donated money or aid to U.S.
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