More on Katrina
[This is really a response to Melanie's comment on my last post, but it got long enough that I thought I'd put it in as a full post of its own.]
I think the mayor of New Orleans made a comment about race and class yesterday but I can't find it right now. There is a NY Times article, however that deals with the matter.
At least people are noticing now. Finally, the wastefulness and stupidity of our foreign policy is making an impact at home.
But the whole thing makes you wonder what the Department of Homeland Security has been doing for the past 4 years. I hear the government brag about how they can get bombs half-way around the world in a matter of hours, but they have failed horribly to help in a disaster with years of forewarning, an easily predictable outcome (even I called it beforehand), and 2 full days notice. You can't get much more convenient than that when it comes to catastrophes. Where is all the planning? All the preparedness? All the money? There is a Times-Picayune article now being referred to frequently that basically details everything that has happened in the past 4 days... and it was written 5 years ago. Terrorists (and most other major disasters for that matter) rarely provide blueprints of their plans, potential casualty figures, scenarios for avoiding destruction, and a nationally broadcast courtesy call days beforehand. Bush left his vacation on Wednesday. We all knew what might happen on Saturday.
Weirdly, I (and thousands of others around the country) have twice been to that Convention Center in New Orleans that is being described in such horrific terms. I have sat through meetings there, walked its enormous length, bought overpriced water from its vendors, and generally gone about my wealthy, upper-class business. To see people literally dying on that carpeting while the streets outside are under mob-rule is something I can't quite fathom.
I think the mayor of New Orleans made a comment about race and class yesterday but I can't find it right now. There is a NY Times article, however that deals with the matter.
At least people are noticing now. Finally, the wastefulness and stupidity of our foreign policy is making an impact at home.
But the whole thing makes you wonder what the Department of Homeland Security has been doing for the past 4 years. I hear the government brag about how they can get bombs half-way around the world in a matter of hours, but they have failed horribly to help in a disaster with years of forewarning, an easily predictable outcome (even I called it beforehand), and 2 full days notice. You can't get much more convenient than that when it comes to catastrophes. Where is all the planning? All the preparedness? All the money? There is a Times-Picayune article now being referred to frequently that basically details everything that has happened in the past 4 days... and it was written 5 years ago. Terrorists (and most other major disasters for that matter) rarely provide blueprints of their plans, potential casualty figures, scenarios for avoiding destruction, and a nationally broadcast courtesy call days beforehand. Bush left his vacation on Wednesday. We all knew what might happen on Saturday.
Weirdly, I (and thousands of others around the country) have twice been to that Convention Center in New Orleans that is being described in such horrific terms. I have sat through meetings there, walked its enormous length, bought overpriced water from its vendors, and generally gone about my wealthy, upper-class business. To see people literally dying on that carpeting while the streets outside are under mob-rule is something I can't quite fathom.
1 Comments:
At 4:38 PM, Melanie Phung said…
I guess I just want it both ways. I want to see more acknowledgement of the issue and some real analysis of ... of what I don't know — but without the element of sensationalism. (Right wing critics would say "race baiting" but I won't go there.)
Isn't there a more sophisticated story to be told other than "no one seems to care because it's poor, black people"? Something that can't be distilled into a soundbite?
In the NYTimes article, the story closes with a quote:
"Most of the people that live in the neighborhoods that were most vulnerable are black and poor ...So it comes down to a lack of sensitivity on the part of people in Washington that you need to help poor folks. It's as simple as that."
Maybe in the short term it's as simple as that, and given the option between a) helping poor victims of a disaster and b) being selfish, fat-cat bastards... well, sure. But then what? Open up a serious discussion about race, class, two centuries worth of history and a policy solution? Surely not simple. And/therefore, surely not under this administration.
To be clear, I'm not finding fault with the quotee; I just think the journalism was a little lazy.
I'm going to go eat my cake now. And then demand to still have it.
Post a Comment
<< Home