Hurricane Katrina: The Victims Are The Poor
Robert Paul Reyes
September 16, 2005
New Orleans is like a gumbo prepared by a master chef. The Big Easy easily absorbs diverse cultures, throw in a little French, a little Creole, a pinch of this and a pinch of that -- and the result is a cosmopolitan masterpiece.
When the levees broke and the great American city was flooded, the wealthy (mostly white) escaped with their SUV's laden with their material possessions.
The affluent had the means to evacuate and they were able to stay with friends or family in safe locations or pull out a Visa or American Express card and escape the dire consequences of Hurricane Katrina in the comfort of a hotel.
Only one flavor of New Orleans' gumbo was left behind: It was the poor, disproportionately African American, who were stranded, without food, drinking water or medical assistance for days on end.
New Orleans has a huge black underclass, many who don't have cars or bank accounts, they didn't have the means to escape. Only governmental intervention could have saved them, but unfortunately there was no plan in place to evacuate the poor in the event of a hurricane.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina nobody seemed to be in charge, FEMA was nowhere to be seen, the poor were left to fend for themselves.
Condoleezza Rice, the administration's showpiece African-American, vehemently denied any color bias. She spoke in her home state of Alabama in defense of our missing in action Commander-In-Chief.
This is the same Condoleezza who was caught buying several thousand dollars worth of shoes in New York City, a couple of days after Hurricane Katrina struck.
The truth lies somewhere in between Kanye West's "Bush doesn't care about black people", and Condoleezza Rice's glib denial of the administrations' indifference to the pain and suffering of African Americans.
And the truth is that there is not a racial bias, so much as there is a class bias. If a natural disaster had left Beverly Hills under water, George W. Bush would have immediately ended his vacation and marshaled the awesome power of the federal government to come to the rescue.
The federal government must make amends and spare no expense to show that the initial slow response was due to incompetence and not to racism.
The American people must open their homes, wallets and hearts to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, to prove that we are family, who help each other out in a time of need.
When the levees broke and the great American city was flooded, the wealthy (mostly white) escaped with their SUV's laden with their material possessions.
The affluent had the means to evacuate and they were able to stay with friends or family in safe locations or pull out a Visa or American Express card and escape the dire consequences of Hurricane Katrina in the comfort of a hotel.
Only one flavor of New Orleans' gumbo was left behind: It was the poor, disproportionately African American, who were stranded, without food, drinking water or medical assistance for days on end.
New Orleans has a huge black underclass, many who don't have cars or bank accounts, they didn't have the means to escape. Only governmental intervention could have saved them, but unfortunately there was no plan in place to evacuate the poor in the event of a hurricane.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina nobody seemed to be in charge, FEMA was nowhere to be seen, the poor were left to fend for themselves.
Condoleezza Rice, the administration's showpiece African-American, vehemently denied any color bias. She spoke in her home state of Alabama in defense of our missing in action Commander-In-Chief.
This is the same Condoleezza who was caught buying several thousand dollars worth of shoes in New York City, a couple of days after Hurricane Katrina struck.
The truth lies somewhere in between Kanye West's "Bush doesn't care about black people", and Condoleezza Rice's glib denial of the administrations' indifference to the pain and suffering of African Americans.
And the truth is that there is not a racial bias, so much as there is a class bias. If a natural disaster had left Beverly Hills under water, George W. Bush would have immediately ended his vacation and marshaled the awesome power of the federal government to come to the rescue.
The federal government must make amends and spare no expense to show that the initial slow response was due to incompetence and not to racism.
The American people must open their homes, wallets and hearts to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, to prove that we are family, who help each other out in a time of need.
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