The AP Says California Wildfires Are Racist

It took almost a week, but a legacy media outlet has finally blamed the wildfires roaring through the Los Angeles area on, wait for it, racism. On Sunday, the Associated Press published a headline stating the "California wildfires could be leaving deeper inequality in their wake."

The argument is that the wildfires have not just affected "celebrity mansions and movie landmarks" but also black families who moved to the area to avoid racism.

"[A] drive through the charred neighborhoods around Altadena shows that the fires also burned through a remarkable haven for generations of Black families avoiding discriminatory housing practices elsewhere. They have been communities of racial and economic diversity, where many people own their own homes," the article says. 

"Some now fear the most destructive fires in California’s history have altered that for good. Recovery and rebuilding may be out of reach for many, and pressures of gentrification could be renewed."

We agree that the attention has focused disproportionately on the celebrities impacted as opposed to the average person without the means to recover and relate quickly. But the race thesis here is aggressive, unnecessary, and decisive.

And so on brand for the AP.

As Federalist CEO Sean Davis commented, the outlet went from blaming the fires on climate change to saying water wouldn’t have helped to put out the fire, to now blaming racism.

Next, the Associated Press will claim the trans community is the real victim of the fires.

How does a story like this make it past the once-serious editorial standards of the AP? Put simply, people like Terry Tang, who authored the story.

To be clear, we don't fault Tang. She is just doing her job – literally. The AP hired her as a "National race and ethnicity writer." Her job is to find racism and pretend racism exists where it doesn't actually exist.

National race and ethnicity should not be a real beat at the AP. Maybe Slate, but not the AP.

There are people/concepts to blame for the handling and lack of prevention of wildfires, be it Democratic leadership or DEI programs infesting the California fire department.

Racism against black Californians isn't one of them.

Everyone affected by the fires is a victim, rich or poor, black or white, and conservative or liberal. Granted, according to Keith Olbermann, people who voted for Donald Trump deserve to have their homes burned to the ground.

To help the victims of the Southern California wildfire, please visit the sites of the American Red Cross, California Fire Foundation, or Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.