I just finished watching a video piece from the New York Times (on the front page, but I can't find a direct link to the video, sorry) today on Saints fans returning to the Superdome, with people talking about "purging" the ghosts of Katrina and reminiscing about all "those people" who got stuck in there, but rejoining about how "we're back."
Did anyone not notice that every single rejoicing fan and person interviewed was white?
Not a single black face, nor other recognizable "person of color." Either they weren't interviewed (unusual for such a diverse town as New Orleands) or there weren't any to be interviewed (which would also be unusual for the same reason).
Now, I'm not from that city, so I don't know the details of how things go down down there – who generally goes where and what the ethnic breakdown is – but it seems to me that either blacks don't go to the Superdome much, or they weren't on opening day.
Either way, that's a pretty significant part of this puzzle for a real journalist, wouldn't you say, NYT? I mean, given the fact of blacks having had to retreat to the Superdome and all the charged politics of race, class, money, and apparent lack of power – the seemingly very white nature of the "return" of New Orleans residents to the Superdome should be a part of the story as well.
Suggestion: somebody should write a story somewhere entitled "Return for Whom?" and bring a video camera, still camera, and a notepad. I hope somebody did. It would have made a great story.
NTY: You call that piece of pap journalism? Sheesh.
