Ben DeSoto/Houston Chronicle Jesse Jackson, center, U.S. Rep. Al Green left, and U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee hold a press conference before touring the Astrodome.
Posted on 09/05/2005 2:04:37 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Ben DeSoto/Houston Chronicle Jesse Jackson, center, U.S. Rep. Al Green left, and U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee hold a press conference before touring the Astrodome.
Joining two of Houston's most prominent black legislators in slamming the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said today that evacuees shouldn't be shipped to distant states and shouldn't be referred to as "refugees."
Jackson said he appreciated the willingness of states as far away as Utah and Minnesota to take in evacuees but suggested such plans take them too far from their families and the homes that must be rebuilt.
"It's a long ways from home," he said. "It's a long way from where they have lived, where they were acculturated."
If evacuees are living thousands of miles away, he said, they can't be in on the jobs and economic opportunities that will arise as their communities are rebuilt. He proposed using military bases in Louisiana, such as the mothballed England Air Force Base in Alexandria. Evacuees could live in dorms and tent cities.
Jackson said evacuees from the Gulf Coast are not refugees, a word he believes suggests subhumans or criminals.
"It is racist to call American citizens refugees,'' he said.
After touring the Reliant Astrodome today, Jackson blamed the federal government for many of the problems evacuees now face. The government should have assisted New Orleans with evacuation efforts before the storm struck and has been far to slow in its wake to rescue those left in the city and provide aid, he said.
"As the waters subside, the death toll could be astronomical, of frightening dimensions, because we've been so slow to act," Jackson said
U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Houston and U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency left New Orleans unprotected.
"This was a test case, and we failed," Jackson Lee said.
Jackson also lambasted the Louisiana office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, saying it should have let the Red Cross into New Orleans immediately after the hurricane passed one week ago.
Homeland security officials told the Red Cross not to enter the city because they were trying to get residents out, not encourage them to stay, because most of the city was still under water, and because armed gangs of looters were in the streets.
Marsha Evans, president of the American Red Cross, said today the agency was ready to go in. Its volunteers understood the danger and were willing to do their jobs, she said.
"The decision not to let them in was not sound," Jackson said. "The danger was exaggerated."
The federal government has been taking criticism from all quarters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune, in an open letter, called upon Bush to fire every official at FEMA.
"We're angry, Mr. President,'' the newspaper said in an open letter.
If criticism of the federal government has been sharp, Jackson and other political leaders were happy to praise the efforts of Houston and the state of Texas, where one quarter of a million of Louisiana's refugees have landed.
"I'm so proud of Houston," Jackson Lee said. "This city has done a wonderful job."
LOL! Like minds!
Jesse Jackson was born October 8, 1941. He was born around 9:00 A.M. and he weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces. Jesse's mother, Helen Burns had Jesse while she was in high school at the age of 16. It was a very hard time for her. Many people turned on her because she was pregnant at such a young age and had a baby with out being married. Helen was known to be one of the prettiest girls in Greenville, South Carolin and to have the best voice at Sterling High School. Five singing colleges were offering Helen a place at their colleges while she was still only in high school. Helen's mother, Matilda, had gone through the same thing and was not very willing to help out Helen. She was very angry and told her, "It's your own responsibility." Helen also lost a lot of respect from other family members, her classmates townspeople and her church. She was expelled from the congregation by worshippers at the Springfield Baptist Church. After she said that she sinned against her church they let her back in. With all this pressure and feeling like everyone was against her, Helen ran away with Jesse's dad to Chicago. When she got there, things were not too good, so she returned home to Greenville.
Seems his mother was acculturated in Greenville, South Carolina but moved to Chicago and managed to survive.
Translation: I won't be able to find them and preach victim-hood to them. If he can't keep them down on the plantation they might actually find out they don't need him and can survive anywhere. The experience might actually build some character. Can't have that, now can we Jessie!!
How come Jessie's black people can't get 100 miles from home without going into culture shock? Don't we send kids to college in other states, don't we send kids to Iraq, Germany, and 20 other countries?
This is about the most RACIST comment I've ever heard.
Point taken, but I am almost certain that Brazile, who I think now works for CNN, earns a smidge over $25K per year. Meanwhile, her father lives in poverty, and her sister, whom she claims to love deeply, is who knows where. She could have had them evacuated, by just giving them a call and putting them on a plane to her house in Atlanta.
I agree with that.
Detroit?!? Not Detriot!? Anything but that! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Great, based on the good reverend's definition, I will now refer to this poverty pimp and blackmailer of corporations as Refugee Jackson from this point forward!
Kinda gives the lie to my last comment, but Jesse does live in the Chicago area so it really isn't wrong as he has done very well there.
It looks like Fox is counting on those jobs going to Mexicans of the illegal persuasion.
President Fox said his country shared the pain of the hurricane... But, he said, the contributions of Mexican workers could be more important than ever. "The reconstruction of that city and of that region is going to require a lot of labor. And if there is anything Mexicans are good at, it is construction."
"I hope a lot of these people gain new lives from a culture of self reliance and hope"
amen and amen!
Jackson sees Black people as THINGS instead of individuals.
Can you imagine Jesse's reaction had W tried to evacuate 'the poor' forcefully before the storm hit... Now that would have been nasty...
To Jesse and his ilk, "acculturated" equals "indoctrinated" and how can the race-pimps continue to indoctrinate (and enslave) their own people when those people are dispersed to other places.
Jesse blames The Man for keeping "his people" down. He, in fact, is The Man who is keeping them down for his own reasons.
""Jackson said evacuees from the Gulf Coast are not refugees, a word he believes suggests subhumans or criminals.
"It is racist to call American citizens refugees,'' he said."
Then tell that to your buddies at DU. They are calling them refugees there.
You go that right. If you listen you will also hear them and the media say the same thing about the people of Iraq.
pithy and to-the-point. i like it.
I wish these 3-Stooges would have called for the remaining armed "Gangstas" in New Orleans to put down their weapons and leave the city.
Well, guess you can't blame her. Her relatives wanted to stay where they were "acculterated".Question is, why didn't she?
Another proud result of the Blue State educational system.
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