Former Senator from Illinois Carol Mosely Braun answered a question about
race this way on CNN yesterday:
"The racism was a sin of omission. It wasn't that people intended to do this
to black and poor people. It's that they don't see them and they don't see
poor people, they don't see black people. They don't see or care about them
and the result was that they were left to their own devices in a situation
that was a national -- a natural disaster and a national tragedy."
This "sin of omission" can be seen in FEMA dir. Brown's answer on Nightline:
"I think the other thing that really caught me by surprise was the fact that
there were so many people, and I'm not laying blame, but either chose not to
evacuate or could not evacuate. And as we began to do the evacuations from
the Superdome, all of a sudden, literally thousands of other people started
showing up in other places, and we were not prepared for that. We were, we
were surprised by that."
Perhaps the scandal is not just what happened in this emergency, but the
condition people have been living in all along that left them vulnerable to
what happened. In that frame, the entire program & policy (health care,
abolition of inheritance tax, etc. etc. etc.) is built on systematically
"not knowing" about the conditions people are living in, all over the US.
AS FOR THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF:
President George W. Bush, departing from the NO airport (Sept 2, 2005):
Here's what I believe. I believe that the great city of New Orleans will
rise again and be a greater city of New Orleans.
I believe the town where I used to come from, Houston, Texas, to enjoy
myself, occasionally too much, will be that very same town, that it will be
a better place to come to. That's what I believe.
________________________________________________________________________
Being There (Jerzy Kosinski, 1979):
Chance the Gardener [Peter Sellers, a/k/a "Chauncey Gardner"]: As long as
the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.
President "Bobby" [Jack Warden]: In the garden.
Chance the Gardener: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes
spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring
and summer again.
President "Bobby": Spring and summer.
Chance the Gardener: Yes.
President "Bobby": Then fall and winter. ...
Chance the Gardener: Yes! There will be growth in the spring! ...
President "Bobby": Hm. Well, Mr. Gardner, I must admit that is one of the
most refreshing and optimistic statements I've heard in a very, very long
time.
------------
Louise [Ruth Attaway, With other poor black seniors, watching Chance on TV]:
It's for sure a white man's world in America. Look here: I raised that boy
since he was the size of a piss-ant. And I'll say right now, he never
learned to read and write. No, sir. Had no brains at all. Was stuffed with
rice pudding between th' ears. Shortchanged by the Lord, and dumb as a
jackass. Look at him now! Yes, sir, all you've gotta be is white in America,
to get whatever you want. Gobbledy-gook!
-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
Behalf Of Peg Griffin
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 11:50 AM
To: 'eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity'
Subject: [xmca] transcript of Nancy Giles' commentary on CBS
CBS News Sunday Morning Contributor Nancy Giles. Here is her commentary from
Sept. 4, 2005: [Call or email to support her and her job]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---- After meeting with Louisiana officials last week, Rev. Jesse Jackson said: "Many black people feel that their race, their property conditions and their voting patterns have been a factor in the response." He continued: "I'm not saying that myself."Then I'll say it.
If the majority of the hardest hit victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were white people, they would not have gone for days without food and water, forcing many to steal for mere survival.
Their bodies would not have been left to float in putrid water.
They would have been rescued and relocated a hell of a lot faster than this. Period.
I mean, reporters and crews are getting to stranded people, and government and military agencies can't? Why doesn't CNN run FEMA?
When I saw pictures of black people taking things from stores, my first thought was: "How are those Air Jordans necessary for your survival?"
Then it hit me: People needed shoes and clothing. Some escaped the floods with just the clothing on their backs
We have American citizens, not "refugees" from an underdeveloped country, still waiting for shelter.
Waiting.
Waiting.
You leave children, pregnant women, the elderly, even the able-bodied, in a city destroyed with no help, no food, no water, no electricity for three, four, five days? What would you do if your family was starving, and you saw people dying in the street?
And why didn't the stores in the disaster areas simply make their goods available to these desperate folks? Surely, they've got insurance.
Love thy neighbor. Didn't I read that somewhere?
The real war is not in Iraq, but right here in America. It's the War on Poverty, and it's a war that's been ignored and lost. An estimated 37 million Americans are living in poverty. New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in the country, with 40 percent of its children living in poverty. Mississippi has the highest poverty rate of any state. We've repeatedly given tax cuts to the wealthiest, and left our most vulnerable American citizens to basically fend for themselves.
The whole world is watching. And once again, a day late and a dollar short, words of wisdom from our president: "This is a huge task that we're dealing with." "These are tough times." "Give cash."
Once again, he finds the photo op: Some black folks to hug, some white men in Mississippi to bond with. He flies over the messy parts of New Orleans, waves and leaves.
The president has put himself at risk by visiting the troops in Iraq, but didn't venture anywhere near the Superdome or the Convention Center, where thousands of victims, mostly black and poor, needed to see that he gave a damn.
CMMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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