While many are blaming city, state and federal leaders for the mess in New Orleans, the former hostages tend to be kinder - and more ashamed of what members of their community did.
In part, Willie Jenkins said, the suffering was a result of the pride and stubbornness of New Orleans citizens. Partly, he blames the neighborhood toughs who saw the storm as the chance to briefly seize power.
He hopes, he said, that people elsewhere in the United States recognize that most of those left homeless by Katrina are hard-working family people who happen to live in a poor neighborhood. They should not, he pointed out, be confused with the thugs.
"But," he added sadly, "I guess everybody is lumped together, the good and the bad."
Others tried to stay cheerful on the hot asphalt yesterday.
"We're dirty, we're hungry, nothing is going right for us," said Rebecca Doucette. Then she paused as she dug her brown plastic spoon into the sack containing her military ration and smiled. "But it will." ***
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476271/posts
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.kane03sep03,1,2969794.column?coll=bal-home-columnists
Two photos pose puzzle: When is it not looting?
***........So the black kid "looted" a grocery store. The white couple "found" their goods.
Quite a few black folks - not all of them prone to a knee-jerk charge of white racism -noticed the difference. Internet chat rooms were soon abuzz with debate about whether race was a factor in the way the two captions were phrased.
To determine that, we have to look closely at the circumstances under which the photos were taken and discern the differences. And the first difference in the captions is that, whatever sins AFP/Getty committed, its writers at least correctly hyphenated the compound modifier "chest-deep." (We journalists can be a nit-picking lot.)
The second difference was noted by AFP/Getty photographer Chris Graythen - who took the photo of the white couple - in Jim Romenesko's online column at the Poynter Institute Web site.
"I believed in my opinion that they did simply find them," said Graythen. "The people were swimming in chest-deep water, and there were other people in the water, both white and black. I looked for the best picture. There were a million items floating in the water. We were near a grocery store that had five-plus feet of water in it. It had no doors. The water was moving and the stuff was floating away. These people were not ducking into a store and busting down windows to get electronics. They picked up bread and Cokes that were floating in the water. They would have floated away anyhow."
That sounds like a reasonable and cogent defense of why AFP/Getty editors went with the caption they chose. But then the muckety-mucks at AFP/Getty shot themselves in the foot: they asked Yahoo and other news services to yank the offending picture from their databases. Yahoo complied. But that prompts the question: If there was nothing wrong with the photo or the caption, why pull them?
One clue: AFP stands for Agence France-Presse. You figure an operation run by the French - the same folks who have made cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal an international cause celebre - would wimp out to political correctness.
That being said, we must return to the young black man who "looted" the grocery store, as opposed to just "finding" something floating out of it. Mind you, this lad wasn't one of the idiots looting television sets. (Those poor souls apparently forgot that you can't eat a television set and that there's no electricity to power one.) .........***
When I see people throwing bricks through windows and carting off goods that were locked behind the window...that constitutes looting. Since the majority of people who stayed in New Orleans were black...it stands to reason the majority of people being filmed by the media would be black.
Until survivors of the catastrophe arrive in another location seeking refuge they are simply survivors. Once they depart their original location they become refugees.
It seems the race baiters are out early and in great numbers, as usual, and once again the American people are treated to their venom and hate as they seek to represent those who obviously can't possibly be the recipients of anything but prejudice or bigotry. What a load of BS!
Why even respond to such nonsense? With every accusation they are admitting that New Orleans had no government to start with and it was "Bush's fault." The truth will come out eventually.
Black Democrats in Congress and civil rights leaders yesterday accused the Bush administration of incompetence and a lack of compassion for blacks in response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The reason that this wasn't so was because some thugs decided to make a living hell out an already bad situation. Imagine if instead of looting, raping and destroying everything they used that energy to setup a distribution system to get commandered food and medical supplies to the people that needed it. While it would have still been awful it wouldn't have been hell.
Looters are victims in the world of the Black Caucus.
Racism is an easy talking point of concern to take to the podium for a "rebel without a cause".
Total baloney.
Months from now when all is settled down some, people will realize that this was just a tremendously different and awful event. The Federal government has done well, if there is a complaint about government, it's with the mayor and that incompetent governor.
They should be sent to bed without supper for their potty mouths.
Cummings is bad news. He is in bed with the enemies of America. He lacks understanding of Constitutional responsibilities - fails repeatedly to recognize that states are primarily responsible as first responders, and BEFORE federal help should even be requested. He provokes racial hostility toward the white community and against the administration. He charges whites with racism but overlooks that the looting was done by one racial group, that the shooting at ambulances and fire-trucks was done by one racial group. Mr. Cummings should get the facts before he speaks.
From that article:
In a city with so many residents living in poverty, the hurricane came at the worst possible time: the end of the month, when those depending on public assistance are waiting for their next checks to be mailed on the first of the month. Without the checks, many residents didn't have money for gasoline, bus fare or lodging.
It seems that if only the hurricane had come a week later there wouldn't be any need for all this name calling.
Normal Demoncrat/Communist party line ala Pravda. Keep the blacks in the ghetto, they say secretly, so we'll still have a constituency. Keep them on the Federal dole and make them completely dependent on the Federal Government until they say, "Mine eyes look unto Wahington, from whence cometh my help!".
Then, if anything goes wrong, blame the Republicans. Or big oil. Or pharaceuticals. Propaganda is holding the day.
Isnt it funny that the left now calls the blacks in NO Americans without hyphenating it with African. This country is being divided by both the left and the right along racial lines. Instead of focusing on what makes us unified we have allowed the liberals to teach us how to be diverse i.e. divided. Most blacks hate white America and republicans do nothing and say nothing to call thier leaders what they are racist and hate mongers. By our silence we are creating this problem - we need to bold and strong and start demanding the blacks (and all minorities) quit with the hate and expectations of preferential treatment because of their skin color. If we dont tackle this soon then this nation will become even more diveded along racial lines and I would expect similiar incidents as we had in NO.
He is owned and operated by "the man!"
President George W. Bush did stand tall, and did come and be among the victims. This was missing with the New Orleans mayor, the Louisiana governor, and other elected officials.
Or even if Democratic leaders showed courage, and came out of hiding to be with the hurricane victims. None were to be found among the victims-- if any, it was for a brief period of time.
Lead by example was missing in the aftermath of the passage of the Hurricane.
Where were African-American leaders to walk the streets and try to help restore order -- taking police and supplies with them?
If the media had access to New Orleans, then certainly a bus caravan with supplies could have gone along the streets delivering supplies and re-assuring people.
Leadership was clearly missing in New Orleans -- in particular -- leadership by the African-American community.
It won't hurt any one, it won't hurt The President or the Republicans. The DNC's(anarchy attitude) blatant disregard to jump to the aid of the displaced survivors will put the last nail in the DNC's coffin. Let them keep showing the world that the only thing they do is kavetch and whine, they DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING while many people across the globe of all races are lending "physical" action and supplies and shelter materials to the relief effort.
There is a person here on FR that is diligent in compiling documentation on Clinton. Will that person and others who are proficent at keeping a record of documents and recorded transcripts please do that regarding this Katrina disaster. Keep all transcripts of Mayor Nagins own words proving how severe street drug addicts were the shooters at rescue people, keep Gov. Blanco's words on record, how she lagged and had no prior disaster plan using the states school buses, etc., to initiate a proper, adequate exit evacuation for the disabled, elderly and immobile before the storm hit. Keep everything documented and compile it in dated chronological order.
The Senator, the Gov. and N.O. Mayor were negligent and derelict in thier duties as top ranking LA state officials.
Also the reason so many make shift shelters are under- staffed is because the people that usually work in those areas evacuated before the storm hit land leaving only those that come in as rescue teams. It's near impossible to cover 400 miles of disaster area and give aid particulary with many areas still under water.
Rally round your President people! Get involved, your physical presence is NEEDED more than your monetary donations. Both are needed. Talk radio people need to stress this repeatedly. It's your obligation and duty as Americans. The anti-Americans(dissenters) words are only hollow words. Walk right through those words and help the truly needy now.
Amazing that he is still clinging to the threadbare banner of the social gospel. Christ's admonition to feed the hungry did not include tasking government with forcibly removing countless billions from one sector of the population in order to inefficiently give it another without regard for the heart and soul of the recipient. But I suppose the social gospel was never too concerned with the soul of the people, was it?