I've gotten involved in several discussions lately about how influential race was/is in the disgusting clusterfuck that has been our government's response to Katrina.
This has been/is a real eye opener about how deeply seated prejudice can be. I've heard people I thought I knew make comments about "all the black people". "All those looters should be shot." "If they take food out of stores, they should attempt to make some kind of restitution." Visitors to New Orleans seldom get off Bourbon St. or out of the historical district to see the abject poverty that held much of NO in it's hands. In the south, blacks are almost always poor. And in NO, the population is almost 70% black-and poor.
Why didn't they leave when they had the chance? No means, folks. No way. The city/state/feds failed to provide any means of group transportation for those too poor to own cars. Granted this has not been an issue in other hurricane-struck cities, but as we all know, NO is a special case many times over.
While I'm ranting senselessly, the media has both inflamed and impressed me over the past week. Examples... Inflamed: a picture of a black man holding groceries with the caption "looters run rampant"; another picture of a white couple grateful to have "found some food". Impressed: the number of high profile tv reporters willing to openly castigate public officials and FEMA. Anderson Cooper will forever have my respect. Even Geraldo did some good.
A personal favorite: Fox news "reporter" asking a woman in a Baton Rouge shelter "why did you choose to leave your home?" Could we have that one demoted to taking lunch orders?
I won't get started on our Fearless Leader(aka Fucking Loser); who waited two days to view the ruined city from AF1. Who flew to California to make a fund raising speech last Tuesday. Who that night went back to Crawford to sleep in majestic comfort. Who reassures the people he is using for photo ops that he is going to fix things. Oh wait, I got started.....sorry.
Oh, and FEMA, whose director insisted on Friday that reports of rape and murder inside the Superdome were "just rumors". Who claimed not to have known until Wednesday that there were thousands of people waiting at the convention center for help. Doesn't he get CNN in his hotel room? The rest of the nation knew.
Has this been totally the governments' fault? Of course not; how often is anyone completely ready for the penultimute alignment of all bad planets at once? But oh my, so much of the response has resulted from piss poor planning, lack of communication between agencies, lack of funding, and our federal arrogance in failing to ask for international assistance the minute the first levee gave way. We apparently have learned nothing about disaster readiness, in spite of all the $$ and rhetoric after 9/11.
I love my country, but god I hate the way our govt. works.
This has been/is a real eye opener about how deeply seated prejudice can be. I've heard people I thought I knew make comments about "all the black people". "All those looters should be shot." "If they take food out of stores, they should attempt to make some kind of restitution." Visitors to New Orleans seldom get off Bourbon St. or out of the historical district to see the abject poverty that held much of NO in it's hands. In the south, blacks are almost always poor. And in NO, the population is almost 70% black-and poor.
Why didn't they leave when they had the chance? No means, folks. No way. The city/state/feds failed to provide any means of group transportation for those too poor to own cars. Granted this has not been an issue in other hurricane-struck cities, but as we all know, NO is a special case many times over.
While I'm ranting senselessly, the media has both inflamed and impressed me over the past week. Examples... Inflamed: a picture of a black man holding groceries with the caption "looters run rampant"; another picture of a white couple grateful to have "found some food". Impressed: the number of high profile tv reporters willing to openly castigate public officials and FEMA. Anderson Cooper will forever have my respect. Even Geraldo did some good.
A personal favorite: Fox news "reporter" asking a woman in a Baton Rouge shelter "why did you choose to leave your home?" Could we have that one demoted to taking lunch orders?
I won't get started on our Fearless Leader(aka Fucking Loser); who waited two days to view the ruined city from AF1. Who flew to California to make a fund raising speech last Tuesday. Who that night went back to Crawford to sleep in majestic comfort. Who reassures the people he is using for photo ops that he is going to fix things. Oh wait, I got started.....sorry.
Oh, and FEMA, whose director insisted on Friday that reports of rape and murder inside the Superdome were "just rumors". Who claimed not to have known until Wednesday that there were thousands of people waiting at the convention center for help. Doesn't he get CNN in his hotel room? The rest of the nation knew.
Has this been totally the governments' fault? Of course not; how often is anyone completely ready for the penultimute alignment of all bad planets at once? But oh my, so much of the response has resulted from piss poor planning, lack of communication between agencies, lack of funding, and our federal arrogance in failing to ask for international assistance the minute the first levee gave way. We apparently have learned nothing about disaster readiness, in spite of all the $$ and rhetoric after 9/11.
I love my country, but god I hate the way our govt. works.