Political Correctness used to help looters, or "organized robbers".

There is a racial element to the terms as illustrated so clearly after Katrina:



It's an issue that's probably not the most important aspect of what happened here, but I don't see why it's considered "liberal" or "politically correct" to point it out. As Tanj notes, "looting" does have a very specific legal definition in California and the media should be aware of it when reporting. The word is being used incorrectly here and has been used in the past to differentiate very similar actions by people of different races. But I guess they got us all, huh?

Aldebaran said:

'Looting' deemed racist term, California experiencing 'organized robbery' | News | denvergazette.com

What happened in California this weekend when over $1 million in luxury goods were stolen was not "looting," authorities said.

Calling it "looting" might be racist, they said.

Instead, what happened was "organized robbery," according to a spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department.
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And there you have it! Another new nice-sounding term to help those who steal property feel a little better about themselves.
"Control language, and you control the masses"--George Orwell

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A game of semantics that's all there is to it. Like when people use decimate they don't refer to destroying 1 out of every 10. They use it to mean the destruction of a vast amount. When people say loot it is expected in colloquial term to mean robbery.

All these pedantic definitions for looting are a waste of administrative time and effort. They should focus more on stopping and catching the looters.

Aldebaran said:

What's in the The Onion today will be in the New York Times in a few years.
It's already been the case with so much of what we call "woke" and politically correct already.

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The joke with the Onion story is the double standard: If somebody burgles the store of $1m of merchandise, everybody freaks out. But if a PE firm loads it with debt, sucks all the money out of it, raids the pension fund, and causes the company to go under, causing objectively more damage, everybody shrugs their shoulders. So, it already is in the NYT.

IWalkAlone said:

If its organized who is organizing it? How is racist to call it looting?

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These are coordinated crimes. Gangs of criminals are more accurately called organized crime. Looting is just one of the crimes they commit. It’s also a tactic to intimidate the community.

We frequently talk about poverty as a cause of crime. But it is often the other way around.

Aldebaran said:

Even if used incorrectly, such as in a smash n' grab robbery, how is it racist?

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I was just reading about this on Newsmax. So now the left is trying to politicize crime in order to coddle criminals?

Experts: Don't Say 'Looting' for Smash-and-Grabs, It's Racist

Experts: Don't Say 'Looting' for Smash-and-Grabs, It's Racist

Aldebaran said:

'Looting' deemed racist term, California experiencing 'organized robbery' | News | denvergazette.com

What happened in California this weekend when over $1 million in luxury goods were stolen was not "looting," authorities said.

Instead, what happened was "organized robbery," according to a spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department.

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I agree with that part.

Calling it "looting" might be racist

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I disagree with that part. If it's disorganized and opportunistic, then it's looting. If it's planned and organized, it's robbery. Let's not mess up common words like that with racial overtones.

Danthemailman said:

I was just reading about this on Newsmax. So now the left is trying to politicize crime in order to coddle criminals?

Experts: Don't Say 'Looting' for Smash-and-Grabs, It's Racist

Experts: Don't Say 'Looting' for Smash-and-Grabs, It's Racist

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Experts say, don't pay attention to Newscrax. It's organized crime. Don't underestimate the "organized" part.

Aldebaran said:

It's their way of deflecting responsibility away from themselves and those they exploit, and back toward those pointing out the facts that should be addressed:

Conservative: "Looting is wrong. People doing it should be prosecuted."

Liberal: "That's racist! YOU are racist! You just don't like black people!"

Conservative: "Rioters and arsonists should be stopped by the police."

Liberal: "That's racist! Police are racist! Calling the police on black people is racist!"

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You're in the wrong thread. This one is about organized crime, not looting and rioting.

iluvatar5150 said:

Protestors Criticized For Looting Businesses Without Forming Private Equity Firm First

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They are probably into crypto currency.

Aldebaran said:

...but it looks like they are more eager to direct our attention away from what is happening and toward semantics.....

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Yes, and we have one thread here dealing with these events, but its about..... the semantics.

Thanks!

durangodawood said:

Yes, and we have one thread here dealing with these events, but its about..... the semantics.

Thanks!

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Think Big! Think RICO. Catch a few soldiers and get them to roll over on the higher ups.

cow451 said:

Think Big! Think RICO. Catch a few soldiers and get them to roll over on the higher ups.

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Yeah, as long as we're talking semantics. youd think @Aldebaran would prefer this was called organized crime, with all the extra law enforcement tools that triggers, rather than looting.

(I love semantics btw. Great thread!)

Aldebaran said:

What happened in California this weekend when over $1 million in luxury goods were stolen was not "looting," authorities said.

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Authorities said.

Calling it "looting" might be racist, they said.

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'They' said.

Instead, what happened was "organized robbery," according to a spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department.

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The police said.

And there you have it! Another

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misleadingly edited article to engage conservatives' knee-joints.

California law enforcement applied the correct term based on the statutes.
Some academic in Connecticut pointed out social ramifications of the word 'looting'.
Simply slip the one comment inside the others to make them appear connected, while disguising the origin of the quote.

I was hearing about how mass robberies are on the increase but how, more importantly, all these stolen goods are then being sold on the black market for less.


And if you think this isn't increasing the prices for the buyer, you're crazy.

Aldebaran said:

Don't you believe what authorities say?

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I certainly believe the authorities charged people with robbery and burglary because those are the proper charges, and political correctness had nothing to do with that decision.

durangodawood said:

Nonsense. Its robbery plain and simple.

Looting implies taking advantage of unrest or disaster, which has nothing to do with these events.

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Isn't arson and rioting considered unrest?