In a post Hurricane Katrina country, the racial divide continues to prosper (though progress has been made):
"Most Americans believe there has been significant progress in achieving Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of racial equality, though blacks are more skeptical, an AP-Ipsos poll found. Racial integration has swept across much of American life and blacks have gained economic ground since the height of the civil rights movement. Two decades ago, the government established a federal holiday in honor of the slain civil rights leader.
"'For a big portion of the African-Americans, there's not better education,' said David Bositis, an analyst of black issues for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. 'There have been some gains made, but it's uneven. A lot of whites basically say: 'The civil rights movement has been done. I don't want to hear about it anymore.'"
"Most Americans believe there has been significant progress in achieving Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of racial equality, though blacks are more skeptical, an AP-Ipsos poll found. Racial integration has swept across much of American life and blacks have gained economic ground since the height of the civil rights movement. Two decades ago, the government established a federal holiday in honor of the slain civil rights leader.
"'For a big portion of the African-Americans, there's not better education,' said David Bositis, an analyst of black issues for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. 'There have been some gains made, but it's uneven. A lot of whites basically say: 'The civil rights movement has been done. I don't want to hear about it anymore.'"
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While Katrina may have fallen off the media radar, many residents of New Orleans are claiming racial discrimination:
"The house at 2345 Andry Street had always been a sturdy pillar in Calvin Turnbough’s life. His father built the humble three-bedroom stucco structure in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and for the past half a century, Turnbough has never called any other place home.
"The house at 2345 Andry Street had always been a sturdy pillar in Calvin Turnbough’s life. His father built the humble three-bedroom stucco structure in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and for the past half a century, Turnbough has never called any other place home.
"But 2345 Andry recently relocated. Clawed off its foundation by Hurricane Katrina four months ago, the house shifted about one block down the street, where it has remained for months, dilapidated but intact.
"The storm left Turnbough dislocated, as well. The 48-year-old forklift operator is now living with family in Houston, awaiting word from his insurance company, the government, or anyone, about the fate of his home. Having received virtually no information about how the reconstruction process is affecting his property, he said, 'I really feel as though I’m being left out.'"
Recent comments by Mayor Ray Nagin are unlikely to help:
"New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting."
10 Comments:
The words of an academic and then a politician seem fairly superficial and simplistic. The words of the "48-year-old forklift driver" do not prove the case.
One of the tragedies of Katrina was that black, Democrat, local and state politicians in Louisiana had built their careers on a complaint culture.
The were ill-prepared to speak to white, emergency service and Republican dominated FEMA and the National Guard. This lack of good communication was one factor in delays and mistakes that occured in the days after Katrina.
add
Yes I agree with you.
I made the mistake of addressing the race issue - the obvious theme of AL's post.
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Addamo - how about the fact that, on average, Bush spent more on levee reinforcement than Clinton? How about the fact that reports had been systematically ignored over many years by Clinton and probably W's dad?
Bush is a victim of circumstance - he will cop a disproportionate amount of flak because Katrina happened on his watch. But problems like the inadequate levee network develop over years and years of neglect - before Bush was even governor of Texas. Also, you ignore the most important point - the Louisiana state government is far and away the most guilty party in the degredation of the levee network. One of the principal reasons funds were directed away from levee buttressing was due to the fact that state and local officials were creaming off so much for their pet projects.
Bush does deserve to shoulder some responsibility. Nagin and Blanco are, however, considerably more culpable. They're extremely lucky that they can hide behind a hate figure like Bush. If Clinton was in power, both incompetents would be hung out to dry by the court of public opinion.
addamo
I assume you meant. Sorry [me] bad, Spy."
If so I forgive you.
As I said. I agree with your thesis that FEMA was a (non) led crony laden sinecure for Dubya's buddies. That's the style of politics in most countries.
Main problem was that FEMA etc was asked to do something it never expected. As it was an emergency body its leadership were criminally negligent in not responding more quickly and efficiently.
As Brown is a Buddy noone will finger him while Bush is President.
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Addamo - You completely dodged my major point about state and local government culpability to grandstand about Bush.
The level of criticism is disproportionate to the level of culpability - as I clearly stated in my earlier post.
Thus it's obvious that these critics don't really care about apportioning blame for the shoddy execution of the hurricane preparation and relief and ensuring such a bad show doesn't repeat - they just care about smearing Bush. Any way they can.
Yes, but these are all *state* issues when it boils down to it.
On average, funding for levee maintenance under Bush was higher in real terms than in the Clinton years. This is a fact. There is no masquerade - redirected funding is not funding for levee reinforcement by definition.
Regardless, if funding was diverted by the feds, I wouldn't be all that surprised. It's common knowledge that a truckload of that money earmarked for levee reinforcement was siphoned off by local and state politicians for porkbarreling purposes. Mismanagement of funding at state and local level made the feds leery of giving more.
Not that this meant the levees must go unmaintained - American states have their own revenue streams. Unlike Australian states, they can levy income tax and sales tax. Louisiana levies both. So the money does not come only from the feds. The levees were a responsibility of the government of Louisiana first and foremost.
Also, your talk of National Guard - you do realise that the National Guard is essentially a state controlled force and can be mobilised by the Governor during a state of emergency? Shouldn't you be asking WHY Blanco didn't mobilise them - not pointing your finger accusingly at Bush, who had no power to send the Louisiana state guard into a state of emergency situation?
Also, did you know that the feds urgently requested to take over hurricane preparations from the State when it became apparent that Blanco and crew were doing - at worst SFA, at best a typically incompetent job - regarding the preparations? The State rejected the request, and the feds could do nothing. States are still a very powerful partner in the Union.
It is blatantly obvious that the lion's share of the blame falls on Blanco's - and during the floods - Nagin's shoulders. Bush and the feds played quite a peripheral role. However, Blanco and Nagin only have their jobs because they can hide behind Bush - a convenient lightning rod for all the criticism. This is a particularly brazen example of a manifestation of the unhealthy, blind hatred of Bush, and how this hatred distorts outcomes for the worse. Nagin and Blanco (at best) don't deserve to keep their jobs, but they still have them because everyone's too busy pointing the finger at the CinC. Lucky NO and Louisiana - a couple of proven incompetents (on a massive scale) escape their comeuppance and are left to continue to mismanage the state and its largest city. Great work paying out on Bush, guys! Blanco and Nagin thank you. I doubt many of their constituents are grateful, however.
Addamo and co - in good faith, I'm waiting for a response.
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