The Gulf Coast
I have always had a special fondness for the Gulf Coast. My Dad and I went on a few trips together to Biloxi and had a really great time. My brother and I even spread some of his ashes in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico whilst standing on the beach in Gulfport.
The news of the devastation there makes me want to cry.
There is other news, horrible news, that is coming from the region that makes me angry. Horribly, horribly angry. I’ve tried to think of ways to put this that aren’t blunt and aren’t so in-your-face, but I just can’t. So here it is:
They left the black people to die. Period. To evacuate you had to have money to get out and personal transportation. The average, for god’s sakes average, black person in New Orleans earns $13,000 a year. So many had to stay just because they had no other options.
That makes me just plain sick to my stomach.
And why in the hell did the levees break? Maybe because George Antichrist Bush had better things to do with the money that was being used to fix them.
It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.
– Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.
So they left them to die in a city that could have had adequate protections. And when the survivors try to get some food, they get called looters. The white people “find food”, the black people are “looters”.
Makes you proud to be an American, doesn’t it? No matter what happens, you can always find ways to reinforce the idea that people with alot of melanin are bad, bad, bad.
Give to the American Red Cross. Let’s try to be part of the solution, rather than exacerbating the problems.
****UPDATE: Do me a favor and donate through the Kung Fu Monkey blog. John will match your donation. I don’t know how much money he has got, but if he wants to match, by god let’s let him. I’ve already emptied my PayPal account to help. Your turn.****
Explore posts in the same categories: life, race
August 31st, 2005 at 12:10 pm
very well put james - it is a sickening feeling to try to grasp the severity of the situation, the fact that it could have been avoided and that in reality the city, culture and livelihood of those in the region has been dealt such a blow…
as for the “find vs loot” issue, it’s ignorance pure and simple - the refreshing part is the amount of folks who saw it for what it was and are stepping up (as you are) and calling it what it is - bias and racism - the fact that it still exists at the level it does today is so infuriating…
concur on the red cross - best way to get involved quickly…
August 31st, 2005 at 9:29 pm
Actually free bus service was offered from 12 locations to the Superdome. It’s a bad situation there but they are being moved to the Atsrodome in Texas. Finally those tax breaks for building arenas are actually doing some good for the public but the millions given to team owners probably should have been spent on real shelters equiped with more food and roofs that wouldn’t blow off.
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:18 am
Well said. I just can’t get enough of American media bias. I’m not naive enough to think that it doesn’t exist elsewhere, but over the past few years I’ve noticed a marked contrast between European and American reporting of identical events. The American media takes the cake - of course, I’ve had my fill of their anti-this or that; I’m married to a French person.
September 2nd, 2005 at 5:13 pm
James:
I remember your Dad talking to me on the phone about the Biloxi trips; he got a twinkle in his voice that he always got when he really enjoyed something. I can see how Biloxi has a special place in your heart.
I ranted on in another comment about the “response” of our government, so will refrain from further expounding here.
And, yes, this weekend, we’ll be making our contributions to the relief efforts. Turns out my company will match our contribution; this is a Good Thing.
–Ken–