Just to restate an analogy that I haven't liked and it is commonly used in
the media: What alll these words suggest is that although this is not a
developing country, lots of people in the US have lived for decades in worst
conditions that lots of people in the developing world.
David
Tony Whitson writes:
> 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.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
David D. Preiss
home page: http://pantheon.yale.edu/~ddp6/
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Oct 01 2005 - 01:00:10 PDT