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."
"Jackson and company are already worried about the concentration of dem votes in the area. POS."
Jesse should be made to live in the Superdome for a week with "his people".
He's afraid they'll be exposed to American culture, get jobs, become productive, learn that Republicans aren't so bad after all, and be lost to Uncle Jesse forever!
Double-barrelled Mega-PING! to both lists! If you want on, FReepmail me!
So does this mean anyone in the MSM or dem party that has ever referred to Palestinian refugees or Rwanda refugees are racists.
Or being a dark skinned American makes someone superior in Jessies opinion.
Hmmm, where's Jesse's hometown? How bout we send a couple hundred thousand there and let him put them up? Particularly the ones who only stayed behind to loot.
"It is racist to call American citizens refugees,'' he said.
What a moron!
Keep yappin Jesse ;)
It's a photo montage of hope and love.
Shoot - Maine! How about the Peoples Republic of Hawaii, LOL.
bttt
At the least, if they settle in Texas, they will become rugged individualists. Which is not bad!
See post # 76.
Everything is racist.
The Reverend Jackson announces his version of the Fugitive Slave Act.
Yep, I had to look it up too. I guess Jessee does NOT want these people to become White Repubicans.
He would rather have them live in a tent plantation, where he can lord over their squalid existence, rather than having them live in an apartment in Omaha or Houston.
Ooops... Sorry.. White Texas Republicans....
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.
STFU Jesse. YOU are the racist for inferring that refugees are "criminals". The word means people who flee their homeland, generally because of war or persecution.
Perhaps Mr. Bigot thinks that refugees fleeing his Communist pal Fidel Castro's Cuba are all "criminals" (they are certainly "enemies of the State", meaning Cuba).
But what does the man who once uttered "Hymie Town" have getting ANY credibility from the media especially when it comes to race relations?
"Another proud result of the Blue State educational system."
And who can forget the infamous Shelia Jackson Lee question:
"Will we see the US flag that the astronauts planted?" when viewing the MARS rover in action on MARS!!
Why? Aren't they seeking refuge?
Someone needs to teach Jesse English.
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