THE TEMPEST TOSSED

Of the blacks I've talked to up here in Connecticut, all of them think race played a factor in the slowness of the Federal response.

what happens if you find that Mayor Nagin Governor Blanco are part of the delay?

Dunno. I haven't gone that deep in the conversations. I'm just reporting what I heard them say. Of the blacks I've spoken to, they all regard this as a race issue.

my black friends welcome other blacks to move here

Would the rescure effort have been more effective if the victiims were white? Abso-fucking-lutely.

I'm not suggesting that there was a meeting of FEMA directors, at which - cackling over a meal of champagne and lobster - they decided to shit on the black people in New Orleans should the opportunity ever present itself. I'm suggesting that subtle value judgements based on race and class contributed to the ineffectiveness of the rescue effort.

I can't see, for example, people suspending the rescue efforts for thousands of middle class white people because one Blackhawk helicopter had one bullet fired at it, which is what happened two days ago in New Orleans. That was a judgement based on the value of the rescuers life vs the value of the people being rescued.

That's a pretty bizarre judgement. To my mind, risking your life is part of the job when you join the rescue services or military. As another poster said yesterday, I see no distinction between attempting a risky rescue in a storm and attempting to rescue people from the Superdome.

You'll have to forgive me - considering this nations stellar record on race relations and the comments I've seen made in the last few days - for thinking that race and class had something to do with decisions like that. I mean, ****, it's no secret that people make value judgements based on race; that's why black murder victims get no media attention while the Natalie Holloways of the world get 24 hour CNN coverage for months on end. You'd be naive to think that type of prejudice doesn't transcend into police and government as well.

Ineptness at the local and federal level ultimately hurts those who are unable or unwilling to help themselves, the poor. Poverty is colorblind.

Our elected officials, mainly local but include federal, are not concerned enough to help the poor.

spot on. my wife is a native californian, without much time out of state. the only times she's been back east is with me to nyc and on our visits to the my folks place in east tennessee. the first time she saw one of those ol' shacks with an ancient school bus pulled in front for an extra room, her head started spinning around. a 70's station wagon with 8 or so po' folk sent her into space. my dad's pretty involved with groups that do good works. this has been everything from sellin' big bags of onions to raise money for children's hospitals to convincing kmart to donate a few hundred pairs of new sneakers for kids who are so poor they don't even have shoes. their church has actually brought people to the place to give them baths and clean clothes.

people that don't see this stuff have a hard time believing it exists.

so when people here in l.a. start goin' off about the ghettos and being dirt poor, i can only roll my eyes. the poor that these people here complain about would be like moving into a new palace and finding a feast in the kitchen for those broke down hillbillies down home.

forgot a word...

I think both Woiyo and IronLionZion are right, if thats possible.

I just posted this quote in the "stunned" thread, better fits in this topic I think. Whether its about race or class, I think it speaks volumes:



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