The images in the news this week have been horrifying. People passing tarp-covered bodies in the streets. People packed into stadiums and shelters. Others pleading on the street for food and water. People have been dying not as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the brute force of her waves, or even from drowing in the flooded aftermath of her destruction. People have been dying because they were not rescued quickly enough. In America. One of the richest, most technologically advanced nations in the world. And I have to ask why.
I've heard some say that the governement responded as quickly as they could, given the magnitude of the area and the number of people affected. I've heard still others say that while the government rescue response wasn't as quick as it should have been, really, what more could be done? Officials were doing all they could do as quickly as they could. My position is this: if Hurricane Katrina had hit in a city where 80% of the population wasn't poor and African-American, the government response would have been a whole lot different. W may have even cut his vacation short more than a pathetic two days to tour the region and get help started immediately.
The majority population of the city of New Orleans are the forgotten under normal, everyday circumstances. They are the people without the means or the education to provide for themselves. They are the people who struggle everyday, even when their city isn't flooded with water. Why would such a horrible disaster make things any different for them, as far as their government is concerned?
These people, with no means to leave the city despite the hurricane warnings, suffered horribly, and continue to suffer. And they struggled on the brink for days before help finally started to arrive this weeked. And for me, this is unacceptable.
Please consider donating to one of a variety of organized relief efforts. It's the way we can help those in New Orleans and other affected areas. And it's a way to show them we're sorry their goverment let them down.
The American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/
The United Way
http://national.unitedway.org/
The Humane Society of the United States
Disaster Relfief Fund
http://www.hsus.org/
American Humane Association
http://www.americanhumane.org/
I've heard some say that the governement responded as quickly as they could, given the magnitude of the area and the number of people affected. I've heard still others say that while the government rescue response wasn't as quick as it should have been, really, what more could be done? Officials were doing all they could do as quickly as they could. My position is this: if Hurricane Katrina had hit in a city where 80% of the population wasn't poor and African-American, the government response would have been a whole lot different. W may have even cut his vacation short more than a pathetic two days to tour the region and get help started immediately.
The majority population of the city of New Orleans are the forgotten under normal, everyday circumstances. They are the people without the means or the education to provide for themselves. They are the people who struggle everyday, even when their city isn't flooded with water. Why would such a horrible disaster make things any different for them, as far as their government is concerned?
These people, with no means to leave the city despite the hurricane warnings, suffered horribly, and continue to suffer. And they struggled on the brink for days before help finally started to arrive this weeked. And for me, this is unacceptable.
Please consider donating to one of a variety of organized relief efforts. It's the way we can help those in New Orleans and other affected areas. And it's a way to show them we're sorry their goverment let them down.
The American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/
The United Way
http://national.unitedway.org/
The Humane Society of the United States
Disaster Relfief Fund
http://www.hsus.org/
American Humane Association
http://www.americanhumane.org/
yep... it was all a plot to kill off poor black people....
Republicans now control the weather and have used their evil mind rays to make sure the state and local governments in Loisianna are incompetant buffoons....
Geez, you've sparked up quite the debate!
Personally, I think you all need to get rid of that Chimp you call President. I can't even look at that idiot on tv anymore. I really liked how he took time off from his vacation to fly over New Orleans to see the ruin. Hmmm...wasn't he on vacation when 9/11 happened? Oh, no, sorry I think he was reading a book upside down in Kindergarten class.
I have to admit, Kristi, maybe the action didn't happen quickly enough because it was just the Po Black Folk left behind, but there were warnings for complete evacuation of New Orleans the day before the hurricane hit. And many chose not to go. Many also chose not to leave their homes, and all their worldly possessions. Perhaps the Superdome was not the best option for those unable to evacuate (they should have gone to the Zoo! see my post)
But, honestly, I think I have to agree with Waningliberal. I am really tired of hearing the racism card. Guns, violence and crime doesn't help the cause.
I've actually given this more thought today, and am a bit sorry about how I worded things. I think I was wrong.
Those people left behind in New Orleans likely did not have the means to leave the city. They did not have cars (SUV's) to leave when the warnings came out, and I'm sure that they 1) did believe the mayor that they would be kept safe in the Dome and 2) Probably believed (like I did) that the hurricane would be the worst that they had to deal with.
Whether or not it was a racism issue, as to whether the government reacted so slowly, I don't know. Probably, if it was New york City, the reaction would have been much quicker. So I was wrong, in using the term "racism card." I am hanging my head with embarrassment.
Those people don't deserve someone like me judging them.
Amy- thank you for your passionate and thoughtful comments. I completely agree with you. As I wrote in my post, these people were the forgotten BEFORE the hurricane. I don't believe for one second that their government (local, state, or federal) was going to all of a sudden remember these people and spring into immediate action to help them in the event of a natural disaster they knew was eventual give the location of New Orleans. However, if experts had been warning for years that Orange County, CA was going to flood during a hurricane, you better believe there would have been an evacuation plan in place to save those people.
Guppyman-LOL. I think we can just agree to disagree.
WaningLiberal- I think many, many more people stayed behind because they had no other choice, than those who willfully chose to stay. I think the failures run the gammut of government-local, state, and federal. I don't think the blame can be placed on one source only. However, Bush didn't release the federal emergency disaster money until two days following the hurricane. That's two days too late.
Kross-Eyed-is there room in Toronto for me? I am with you on getting rid of W. He's a national embarrassment on multiple levels. And I agree with you. I think the response would have been much quicker had Katrina hit in a wealthier, whiter city.
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