The presumption on the part of the speaker that all looters are black might seem blatantly racist if it were not for the fact that a course titled “Transformational Leadership in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement” taught at Yale in 2015 by BLM activist DeRay McKesson included a section titled “In Defense of Looting.”
Regardless of their complexion, it is an inescapable fact that looters were out in force during Hurricane Harvey, taking time out from their vandalism and theft only to shoot at firefighters, and again during Hurricane Irma. This time they were caught in the act on news video:
cameras catch looters breaking into stores in #FortLauderdale during #Irma #irma #hurricane #HurrcaneIrma #IrmaHurricane2017 #miami LOSERS ! pic.twitter.com/8ov77KSxP1
— Crottaz Finance (@crofin67) September 10, 2017
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
This behavior is revolting — so much so that even the author of the quote, “journalist” Sarah Jaffe, seems to agree, though she also thinks that locking up looters is every bit as wrong.
On Monday, Jaffe tweeted:
good morning, the carceral state exists to protect private property and is inseparable from white supremacy https://t.co/etynmh0rX5
— Sarah Jaffe (@sarahljaffe) September 11, 2017
The idea that protecting private property is sinful was addressed in a post yesterday by Benny Huang, which featured a lengthy quote by New York City Major Bill de Blasio that began:
What’s been hardest is the way our legal system is structured to favor private property. I think people all over this city, of every background, would like to have the city government be able to determine which building goes where, how high it will be, who gets to live in it, what the rent will be.
As Benny intimates, it’s doubtful that residents of “every background” would agree that owning private property is evil, even in very blue New York. But even de Blasio stops short of advocating theft to correct what he perceives to be a flaw in our legal system. It’s alarming that there are people among us like Jaffe who view looting as a means to leveling the playing field.
