http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060824/ts_alt_afp/uskatrina1yearhurricaneracism_060824065442

by Mira Oberman Thu Aug 24, 9:05 AM ET

NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - The chaos following Hurricane Katrina showed millions of Americans that deep racial divides, poverty and racism persist in their country.
ADVERTISEMENT

Images of seas of black faces begging for help that took days to arrive, and stories of sheriffs from adjacent white suburbs turning desperate evacuees away at gunpoint as they tried to flee New Orleans, horrified the nation.

But for many who grew up in a city that had hosted the slave trade and clung to segregation, the initial shock was transformed into fury that their deepest fears and suspicions were true: the government does not care about black people.

"The racism is so raw here," said Barbara Major, a community activist who co-chaired Mayor Ray Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back commission.

"People were outraged that people were dying. People been dying," she said. "They should have been outraged that children didn't get a decent education. That there wasn't decent housing here (just) like in every other city in the United States."

More than 140 years after the abolition of slavery, and more than 40 years since the passage of the civil rights act, New Orleans remained a highly segregated city. Blacks held significant political power, but economic power remained the domain of whites.

Poverty was widespread, as those educated in crumbling public schools were stuck in the low-wage service sectors that supported the city's massive tourist industry. Drugs, gangs and violence were rampant.

Major said nothing is being done to rectify the social ills and inequalities that plagued New Orleans before Katrina. She blames the weakness of local leaders and systemic racism she encountered when trying to create a reconstruction plan for the city.

Some city and state leaders said New Orleans' lowest lying areas could not be protected from future storms, a move that would erase several of the city's most established black neighborhoods.

The ensuing furor led the mayor to scrap his reconstruction plan, which called for only those parts of the city that could reasonably be defended against another massive flood to be rebuilt.

The decision to scrap the plan has made it even harder for residents to rebuild on their own, and angered many residents who see the reconstruction effort as a rudderless mess.

Meanwhile, more than half the population remains scattered across the country, and a city that was once two-thirds black has become majority white.

Many whites in the city respond defensively to questions of race. When Spike Lee's documentary premiered ahead of Katrina's anniversary, the city's newspaper ran a front-page review complaining that the voices of white victims were not heard.

And suburban sheriffs continue to make ugly headlines: in June Sheriff Jack Strain of neighboring St. Tammany complained to a television reporter about the influx of "thugs and trash from New Orleans" and warned people with dreadlocks or "chee wee" hairstyles to stay out of town.

A sense of social isolation and frustration has helped fuel the area's rising violence, said John Penny, a criminology professor at the predominantly black Southern University at New Orleans.

"The only way you can heal the breach that was already there is to tell people they're welcome home and help them come back," he said. "There's a sense that the government doesn't care about poor people -- war, buying bombs and rebuilding another country is their priority."

Hope remains that something better can be built out of the rubble.

"The biggest opportunity is that people in various communities are mobilizing into rebuilding their communities and taking their destiny into their own hands," said Silas Lee, a political science professor at the predominantly black Xavier University in New Orleans who runs a public opinion research firm.

"There's a stronger sense of civic engagement, yet there's still a tremendous sense of frustration and despair as they try to rebuild and encounter many barriers in the rebuilding process."

Katrina swept ashore in the early morning of August 29, killing more than 1,500 people along the US Gulf Coast and flooding 80 percent of New Orleans.

Now, is it just me here, or does it seem that this article, which appeared on Yahoo's front page, is just more of the same old whining we've been seeing from the po' ol' black community of New Orleans?

Images of seas of black faces begging for help that took days to arrive, and stories of sheriffs from adjacent white suburbs turning desperate evacuees away at gunpoint as they tried to flee New Orleans, horrified the nation.

Now, please inform me if I'm wrong, but nowhere in the US Constitution do I see any provision which says that the federal government is obligated to be Johnny on the spot with help after natural disasters. Further, perhaps help could have come in sooner had the residents of New Orleans themselves not gone apeshit and looted, pillaged, and burned their way onto the national news. Why should ANYONE want to go into that shitstorm when they see images of roving gangs of blacks breaking into homes, businesses, and other buildings, and carting off anything not nailed down to the floor? Why should they want to assits when they see reports on TV that the residents are attempting to shoot down RESCUE HELICOPTERS? Further, why SHOULD surrounding communities want to offer help to this rabble? Why SHOULD the surrounding communities even GIVE A SHIT about the people of this city which has been notorious for its high crime rates? ESPECIALLY when they see the abpve mentioned shit happenning on the news, which is heavily biased in THEIR FAVOR anyways!

"The racism is so raw here," said Barbara Major, a community activist who co-chaired Mayor Ray Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back commission.

Yeah, the racism IS pretty raw there when your black mayor decrees that New Orleans will be a CHOCOLATE CITY, isn't it? The racism IS pretty raw when your black police commissioner decrees, contrary to the US and Louisiana Constitutions, that all guns will be siezed, ILLEGALLY, and then your goon squad concentrates on rich White neighborhoods and old White ladies who look like they couldn't harm a fly if they tried.

"People were outraged that people were dying. People been dying," she said. "They should have been outraged that children didn't get a decent education. That there wasn't decent housing here (just) like in every other city in the United States."

I was outraged that these people were even complaining. Did these people even attempt to prepare for such a storm? Gee, a huge ass hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast? That'd never happen! Gee, a city famous for being below sea level, with a huge ass lake and America's largest river bordering it, getting flooded? Nah, that'd never happen! People have a duty to prepare themselves for these eventualities. I say eventualities, and not possibilities, because as I stated, it's really not that far fetched to have imagined this happenning to New Orleans. People are responsible for themselves and for their families. These people seem to think it's the government's - and Whitey's - job to wipe their asses for them.

Further, where does it say in any of our contracts with government, that "good housing" is a fundamental right? If you want better housing, go out and earn it somehow, don't go running to big government for a handout.

Poverty was widespread, as those educated in crumbling public schools were stuck in the low-wage service sectors that supported the city's massive tourist industry. Drugs, gangs and violence were rampant.

And whose fault is that? Perhaps the city's fault, for not maintaining their own public schools. That is, after all, a responsibility typically associated with municipalities, and not state governments, or the federal government. Why is it that the largest cities, who often have the most resources, always seem to have the worst schools? Could this have anything to do with their high rate of non-White residency?

And whose fault are the drugs, gangs, and violence? Could it possibly be that people CHOOSE to behave in these ways? While poverty can exacerbate these issues, one must still look at the cause of poverty to understand the symptoms of it. Demographics, my dear fellows, demographics.

Meanwhile, more than half the population remains scattered across the country, and a city that was once two-thirds black has become majority white.

Well, is this really a bad thing? I don't see the author whining and complaining about White flight from most other urban areas.

Many whites in the city respond defensively to questions of race. When Spike Lee's documentary premiered ahead of Katrina's anniversary, the city's newspaper ran a front-page review complaining that the voices of white victims were not heard.

So, let me get this straight. The blacks can make their own documentary on the issue, but a presumably White newspaper writer can't put out a review of said documentary criticizing it for not having enough of a White voice? The author seems to be setting up a most disturbing double standard here.

A sense of social isolation and frustration has helped fuel the area's rising violence, said John Penny, a criminology professor at the predominantly black Southern University at New Orleans.

"The only way you can heal the breach that was already there is to tell people they're welcome home and help them come back," he said. "There's a sense that the government doesn't care about poor people -- war, buying bombs and rebuilding another country is their priority."

Here, we see an ejumakated black weigh in on the situation. But, not unlike the less educated of his kind, he can do little more than whine about how they haven't been given enough handouts. Now, who exactly is he saying should welcome back the rest of the "refugees?" Government? It would appear so, as in his next sentence, he says that government doesn't care about poor people. While I can certainly empathize with poor people, it is NOT government's job to redistribute wealth in a supposedly "free" society. Redistribution of wealth is a primary goal of COMMUNISM, not Constitutional Republics. While I certainly don't agree with our Zionist government's policy of promoting war as a racket, I am just as opposed to government taking my, or anyone else's money, essentially by gunpoint, and giving it to their favored, coddled underlings in exchange for their loyalty against the last of the freedom loving peoples of this country.

So is it really any wonder that our country is going the way it's going?