I suspect that part of the reason for the apparent bias is that the  
majority of the pre-hurrican population of New Orleans was Black and  
the vast majority of those who are still in the city are Black. As a  
result it is a logical consequence that the majority of the "looters"  
are Black. A majority of the law abiding people in New Orleans right  
now are also Black, but the media is not paying much attention to  
them except as victims. After all, and this is a cynical but also  
reasonably accurate statement, the primary role of the mainstream  
media is to sell advertising. And highlighting murder, rape, and  
looting is what they perceive as the best way to do that.