In Katrina’s wake, the government is the biggest obstacle to racial harmony (repost from 9-7-05)
“President Bush doesn’t care about black people” lamented a visibly frustrated rap superstar Kanye West on a nationwide benefit concert this past weekend. Right or wrong, his comments are indicative of a discussion that the nation will revisit for years to come. Even as I watched the Sunday morning talk shows such as “Meet The Press” and “The McLaughlin Group,” I couldn’t help but notice how, in 2005, black guests on these shows from former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial to Clarence Page are, in essence, still being asked to “speak for their race” as to whether we see race as an issue in the lack of a strong governmental response to Hurricane Katrina. I sat frustrated watching this because were it not for the United States government’s slow response, as well as the overabundance of black faces on the television, America would not be discussing the race issue in the aftermath of this hurricane.
Throughout the week, I watched countless civilians contributing to the hurricane relief efforts. I saw Americans (and non-Americans) of all racial, religious, economic and political backgrounds contributing food, clothes, money, and even their homes to this effort. One evacuee (not refugee) even commented that he never knew “Texans were so hospitable.” Just as with the tsunami of 2004, the initial response of American citizens was greater than the response of the American government financially. The debate on whether race was a factor began to emerge once appalled citizens realized that President Bush was playing golf and speaking in places such as San Diego promoting his war as the hurricane was taking place. Talks of racism came into play when angry Americans began to compare Bush’s response to hurricanes in Florida as well as with 911 to his response to Katrina. There were no bullhorns speaking of “the people who are responsible for this are gonna hear from us real soon,” because, of course, the Bush administration is “the people responsible” for part of this catastrophe, given its diversion of funds for New Orleans’ levees to the war in Iraq. There were no images of Bush handing out food as in Florida (though I did wonder why he had his sleeves rolled up).
Rather, we saw “the leader of the free world” courageously leaving his vacation 2 days early to think about when he would visit and of course, he would have to visit the states with republican governors first. We saw him take a 45-minute flight to the ravaged Gulf Coast where he apparently received no hurricane update only to spend 20 minutes upon landing getting a briefing of the hurricane outcome by republican officials anxious to demonstrate their own style of sycophancy rather than agony on the part of their citizens.
It was at this point that the debate on race became full-blown. After all, many who brought up the issue of New Orleans’ infrastructure over the years questioned whether race or poverty was a reason why there was no response to their studies. Groups such as The Congressional Black Caucus, and news reporters such as CNN’s Aaron Brown began to publicly ask the question of what the response would have been had this disaster occurred in a more affluent area or in other parts of America where citizens had a stronger (republican) voter influence.
The fact of the matter is that if the response of this government was faster, there would be no substantial discussion on race. It is truly a sad state that now on college campuses, in high schools, churches, and other community organizations; we are going to have this debate, which will further divide us as an American people. Just as Bush had an opportunity to bring parts of the world closer and less resentful of America post-911, the President had an opportunity to show all Americans that the tired, the weak, the poor, the black citizens of this country really do matter. Bush has failed miserably in this endeavor. It’s pretty safe to say that many black Americans could care less to hear Bush say during his 20-minute nationally-televised debriefing that he wants to see Trent Lott’s house rebuilt so he can sit on Lott’s porch. Trent Lott of all people? Is this what America waited five days for?
In the coming weeks, as the Bush administration scrambles to cover their posteriors quicker than hurricane evacuees, we are going to see a level of spin that we will trounce what we witnessed during the recent election. Similar to anyone who opposed the war in Iraq being called unpatriotic; and similar to the way the Bush team flipped the debate over his military service to America debating over the service of John Kerry (who actually was in Vietnam); the republican party will now call anyone who brings the issue up of race as trying to exploit this situation for political gain. Some democrats will continue to press the race card, particularly as we move closer to the next election. It is for these reasons that the government on both sides of the zoo, will never have to answer the question of race, even though it is the government that is entirely responsible for the debate of a racial response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The media is partly culpable in this debate as well. When one sees pictures with captions of black people “looting” and white people “finding” food, and overwhelming pictures of black suffering faces being compared to refugees in Africa (with this biased media, there are apparently no white refugees that merit comparison in other parts of the world and no Asians, Latinos, or Native Americans living on the Gulf Coast), it became obvious that a less-informed mind would believe that there are only black people who suffered from this hurricane. Despite these images, even if it was only black people who were dying in this situation, the response by Americans would still have been as massive as it has been. Why is it that oftentimes it is the average American that shows her belief in the tenet of all men being created equal before the government? After all, the multi-racial march on Washington in 1963 was a call for the government to stay true to its promise of all Americans being equal under the law.
I urge all Americans (and non-Americans) to continue to do all you can in the event of this calamity. I urge you to continue open the doors to all evacuees of all races, and to continue to contribute money and clothes to your fellow American. Your efforts are going to be the most significant testimony on where we have truly come in America on the issue of race. Regardless of your political affiliation, you must admit that the response of our American government has set us on a backwards trend towards any type of racial harmony that many Americans still believe that we have a chance of achieving.
Throughout the week, I watched countless civilians contributing to the hurricane relief efforts. I saw Americans (and non-Americans) of all racial, religious, economic and political backgrounds contributing food, clothes, money, and even their homes to this effort. One evacuee (not refugee) even commented that he never knew “Texans were so hospitable.” Just as with the tsunami of 2004, the initial response of American citizens was greater than the response of the American government financially. The debate on whether race was a factor began to emerge once appalled citizens realized that President Bush was playing golf and speaking in places such as San Diego promoting his war as the hurricane was taking place. Talks of racism came into play when angry Americans began to compare Bush’s response to hurricanes in Florida as well as with 911 to his response to Katrina. There were no bullhorns speaking of “the people who are responsible for this are gonna hear from us real soon,” because, of course, the Bush administration is “the people responsible” for part of this catastrophe, given its diversion of funds for New Orleans’ levees to the war in Iraq. There were no images of Bush handing out food as in Florida (though I did wonder why he had his sleeves rolled up).
Rather, we saw “the leader of the free world” courageously leaving his vacation 2 days early to think about when he would visit and of course, he would have to visit the states with republican governors first. We saw him take a 45-minute flight to the ravaged Gulf Coast where he apparently received no hurricane update only to spend 20 minutes upon landing getting a briefing of the hurricane outcome by republican officials anxious to demonstrate their own style of sycophancy rather than agony on the part of their citizens.
It was at this point that the debate on race became full-blown. After all, many who brought up the issue of New Orleans’ infrastructure over the years questioned whether race or poverty was a reason why there was no response to their studies. Groups such as The Congressional Black Caucus, and news reporters such as CNN’s Aaron Brown began to publicly ask the question of what the response would have been had this disaster occurred in a more affluent area or in other parts of America where citizens had a stronger (republican) voter influence.
The fact of the matter is that if the response of this government was faster, there would be no substantial discussion on race. It is truly a sad state that now on college campuses, in high schools, churches, and other community organizations; we are going to have this debate, which will further divide us as an American people. Just as Bush had an opportunity to bring parts of the world closer and less resentful of America post-911, the President had an opportunity to show all Americans that the tired, the weak, the poor, the black citizens of this country really do matter. Bush has failed miserably in this endeavor. It’s pretty safe to say that many black Americans could care less to hear Bush say during his 20-minute nationally-televised debriefing that he wants to see Trent Lott’s house rebuilt so he can sit on Lott’s porch. Trent Lott of all people? Is this what America waited five days for?
In the coming weeks, as the Bush administration scrambles to cover their posteriors quicker than hurricane evacuees, we are going to see a level of spin that we will trounce what we witnessed during the recent election. Similar to anyone who opposed the war in Iraq being called unpatriotic; and similar to the way the Bush team flipped the debate over his military service to America debating over the service of John Kerry (who actually was in Vietnam); the republican party will now call anyone who brings the issue up of race as trying to exploit this situation for political gain. Some democrats will continue to press the race card, particularly as we move closer to the next election. It is for these reasons that the government on both sides of the zoo, will never have to answer the question of race, even though it is the government that is entirely responsible for the debate of a racial response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The media is partly culpable in this debate as well. When one sees pictures with captions of black people “looting” and white people “finding” food, and overwhelming pictures of black suffering faces being compared to refugees in Africa (with this biased media, there are apparently no white refugees that merit comparison in other parts of the world and no Asians, Latinos, or Native Americans living on the Gulf Coast), it became obvious that a less-informed mind would believe that there are only black people who suffered from this hurricane. Despite these images, even if it was only black people who were dying in this situation, the response by Americans would still have been as massive as it has been. Why is it that oftentimes it is the average American that shows her belief in the tenet of all men being created equal before the government? After all, the multi-racial march on Washington in 1963 was a call for the government to stay true to its promise of all Americans being equal under the law.
I urge all Americans (and non-Americans) to continue to do all you can in the event of this calamity. I urge you to continue open the doors to all evacuees of all races, and to continue to contribute money and clothes to your fellow American. Your efforts are going to be the most significant testimony on where we have truly come in America on the issue of race. Regardless of your political affiliation, you must admit that the response of our American government has set us on a backwards trend towards any type of racial harmony that many Americans still believe that we have a chance of achieving.
posted by Omekongo @ 3:35 PM
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