Spin and Reality in New Orleans

This started out as an article about the victims of Hurricane Katrina but wind and water are only the most recent assaults on a neglected group of Americans. The storm just blew out the windows of a broken house for all to see inside. Crimes committed in the aftermath need not have happened and prevention should have been a priority long ago.

In my opinion, deep rooted reality in New Orleans can be described in just a few words – incompetence, guns, fear, money, black, crime, poverty, dependence, no self-respect, lack of education, decency and love. I tried very hard not to let race get into this but it’s impossible to ignore. Where were the community leaders in the Superdome? Why didn’t anyone step up and organize patrols to prevent rapes and beatings in the Convention Center? At least seven bodies were scattered outside and one rapist was beaten to death. Why wasn’t the Red Cross let in or people allowed out? When did looting become a right? Would stranded whites have handled things better? I can’t help but think that the lack of basic survival skills and responsibility for one’s fate played a large part in the crisis. Contributing cast members include FEMA and Bush.

Less than a half mile from the Convention Center, the remaining employees at the Royal Sonesta Resort were living the high life. They had clean bedding, a pool and the hotel's entire stockpile of food and drink at their disposal including grilled tilapia, T-bone steaks and red wine. Why wasn’t food and shelter offered to some of the hurricane's more vulnerable victims? If you were a business owner, would you trust hundreds of desperate black people to leave the place as they found it without stealing more than a few towels?

Does poverty cause crime or does crime cause poverty?

From Bill Maher’s Forum:

“I was poor and we didn't do the wrong thing. We had family living in the projects and the projects were clean back then. People had pride in where they lived and didn’t urinate in elevators. What the heck happened? My theory is welfare, in the projects for years, no rent, no electric, no gas bills. No sense of ownership or responsibility. Drugs and guns and the need for real money. And an education system that fails areas that have little or no parenting.”

Walter E. Williams is a (black) professor at George Mason University at Fairfax, Va. – Quote:

“Citizens in high-crime neighborhoods must adopt a zero-tolerance of crime. They must privately organize and send the message to criminals: Crime is hazardous to your health in this neighborhood. If school authorities can't prevent students who are alien and hostile to the education process from making education impossible for everyone else, black parents should privately organize and show up on the school premises to create order.”

”Defending oneself, family and communities against predators is a natural or God-given right. Just because those to whom we've delegated authority to defend us are derelict does not mean we don't have the right to defense. Most Americans wouldn't begin to tolerate the horror that's daily fare in black communities—why should blacks?”

Homicide Rate by Age Group and Gender (2000):

Males. Age 14-17: Whites: 7.9 per 100,000 Blacks: 62.8 per 100,000

Males. Age 18-24: Whites: 23.9 per 100,000 Blacks: 205.8 per 100,000

Males. Age 25+: Whites: 5.3 per 100,000 Blacks: 39.2 per 100,000

Source: US Department of Justice http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/hmrt.htm#longterm

A part of the billions now being spent on relief should have been made available to help local government shore up the levees as was recommended by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before the hurricane. The Lake Pontchartrain project was slated to receive $3.9 million in the President's 2005 budget when about $20 million was needed. Levee improvement for this below-sea-level city was delayed so that $454 million worth of trophy bridges could be built for the politicians of Alaska. Funding for the war in Iraq continued to escalate. Shame on an administration without foresight that gives tax cuts to the rich, promoting pork projects and corporate welfare at the expense of social programs and necessary infrastructure.

We need to re-establish a sense of right and wrong in all citizens. Decent education and real job creation (not MacDonald’s) will end the cyclone of destruction and violence in poor communities. Pumping the problem back over a patched levee is only a temporary solution. Letting people fall through the cracks once again should not be an option.