What Katrina Revealed
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we learned that the
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina also revealed to some (and simply reaffirmed for others) the deep divisions that remain in this country, over issues of race, class and poverty.
Many people (particularly those in the mainstream media) seemed genuinely surprised to learn the extent of poverty in the
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer described the victims of Hurricane Katrina as "so poor and so black." In all fairness to him, I doubt Blitzer was intentionally trying to be so insensitive. Rather, I think the human devastation caused by the hurricane forced Blitzer to step outside of his comfort zone, and made his eyes wide open to the cycle of poverty that has gripped this nation.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Chief Michael Brown (who prior to joining the Bush Administration, was forced from his job at the International Arabian Horse Association for alleged supervisory failures) played the 'blame the victim' game, saying they bore some of the responsibility for failing to heed the
Former First Lady Barbara Bush went so far as to say that the victims of Hurricane Katrina had lucked out. After meeting with some of the evacuees at the Houston Astrodome, she commented: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in
Perhaps the comment that has received some of the widest attention over the past few days, however, came from rapper Kanye West, who went off-script during a televised concert special in honor of hurricane victims. He said "George Bush doesn't care about Black people."
As do many other Americans, I certainly agree with Kanye West. But perhaps we need to dig further, and ask ourselves, what is the root cause of Bush's dismissiveness of the African-American community? It is racism, or something else at work here?
I don't believe that George Bush is a racist. Rather, I believe the issue of class is the root cause of George Bush's attitude towards African-Americans. He was born into a life of privilege, and at just about every stage of his life, has used his father's name to advance his cause, including avoiding the Vietnam War, and getting into Yale and Harvard Business School when he was a less than a stellar student.
Unlike the overwhelming majority of the African-American community, George Bush doesn't know what it is like to have to work hard and prove yourself in the work force. He doesn't understand what it is like to work two jobs and still live below the poverty line, because it hasn't been a part of his experience.
And most importantly: he hasn't made an effort to understand these struggles.
In 1997, President Bill Clinton established a blue-ribbon commission to study race relations in
Sadly but not unexpectedly, the Republican-controlled Congress and Bush White House never acted upon President Clinton's recommendations.
Perhaps the tragedy born out of Hurricane Katrina will afford us the opportunity to have a long-overdue conversation on race relations in this country.
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you say that you do not believe george bush is a racist; i disagree. george bush proudly displayed the confederate flag in his dorm room at college; i know that that was nearly 40 years ago but i can not believe he has learned too much of ANYTHING during or since college so why would his views have changed? the only black people bush is "comfortable with" are those few token republicans. sometimes he looks at condoleeza ["condi"] as if he is surprised that she can put a sentence together. he has refused to address the naacp on more than one occasion [so scheduling can not be the problem]; it has to be intentional.
Comment by Rosetta James— 2005/09/09 @ 11:01 PM — (Reply)
I had no idea about him having the confederate flag in his doorm room! This is the kind of information that really needs to be out there in the mainstream.
And just as I'm sitting here typing this, I just remembered how last year, his old professor at Harvard Business School gave an interview to Salon magazine. And he said that one time, as the energy crisis of the 70's happened, they got into a discussion in class about whether the government had an obligation to help lower-income people with home heating bills. And Bush said no, because "poor people are lazy people." (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/16/tsurumi/index_np.html)
Comment by Shalana— 2005/09/10 @ 09:34 AM — (Reply)
It's not race. It's more a lack of local and state leadership. How come NYC and Florida did not seem to have these problems during their individual crisis. Here is a copy of the emergency plan that the governor and mayor failed to execute:
from the Louisiana State Emergency Operations Plan April 2005, and Supplement 1A (Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering Plan):
"V. DIRECTION AND CONTROL
A. The Governor is responsible for the coordinated delivery of all emergency services, public, quasi volunteer, and private, during a natural, technological and/or national security emergency/disaster situation. The Governor has delegated the LOHSEP (ed: Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness) Director the authority to implement this plan, and to direct State level emergency operations through the regularly constituted governmental structure.
....
D. Local governments are responsible under all applicable laws, executive orders, proclamations, rules, regulations, and ordinances for emergency management within their respective jurisdiction. Local emergency management organizations shall function from designated EOC's (ed: Emergency Operations Center) and are subject to the direction and control of the executive heads of government, in coordination with the Governor and the LOHSEP Director.
....
"The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating."
Why did the governor and mayor not ask for federal help until after the levy broke and after the federal government had urged a mandatory evacuation?
Why was the Red Cross prevented from bringing in supplies to the Superdome (food, water and hygeine items) by the local government?
While there may be enough blame to go around (local, state and federal), it's not a race issue it's a leadership one.
Katrina didn't discriminate.
Unlike the overwhelming majority of the African-American community, George Bush doesn't know what it is like to have to work hard and prove yourself in the work force. He doesn't understand what it is like to work two jobs and still live below the poverty line, because it hasn't been a part of his experience.
Are you saying these people just got poor over the last 4.5 years? Are you saying you have to fail to understand how these people feel?
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2005/09/12 @ 06:03 PM — (Reply)
The ironic thing about your post is that the poverty level has gone down in New Orleans parish since Bush has been in office. According to the census bureau individuals and families living below the poverty level went from 27.9% and 23.7% in 2000 (during the Clinton Administration) to 23.2% and 14.5% in 2004 (the Bush Administration.
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2005/09/12 @ 08:26 PM — (Reply)
[President] Bush, in his dealing with what was left behind by . . . the devastating Hurricane Katrina, which revealed to the entire world the great helplessness in dealing with the destruction caused by this hurricane, because of the tremendous attrition of the American army's resources in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This hurricane has once again brought to mind the manifestations of racial discrimination among the American people, and has exposed the fragility of the foundations upon which it is structured. The acts of assault and killings have spread, as well as robbery and looting, and what is still to come will be even more terrible.
Was it:
(a) Howard Dean
(b) Kanye West
(c) Nancy Reid and Harry Pelosi in a joint statement
(d) Cindy Sheehan
The correct answer, of course, is (e), none of the above. It was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's Iraq franchisee.
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2005/09/19 @ 03:07 PM — (Reply)