Posted on 12/06/2005 3:25:07 PM PST by quantim
WASHINGTON (AP) — Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina said Tuesday that racism contributed to the slow disaster response, at times likening themselves in emotional congressional testimony to victims of genocide and the Holocaust.
The comparison is inappropriate, according to Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla.
"Not a single person was marched into a gas chamber and killed," Miller told the survivors.
"They died from abject neglect," retorted community activist Leah Hodges. "We left body bags behind."
Angry evacuees described being trapped in temporary shelters where one New Orleans resident said she was "one sunrise from being consumed by maggots and flies." Another woman said military troops focused machine gun laser targets on her granddaughter's forehead. Others said their families were called racial epithets by police.
"No one is going to tell me it wasn't a race issue," said New Orleans evacuee Patricia Thompson, 53, who is now living in College Station, Texas. "Yes, it was an issue of race. Because of one thing: when the city had pretty much been evacuated, the people that were left there mostly was black."
Not all lawmakers seemed persuaded.
"I don't want to be offensive when you've gone though such incredible challenges," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. But referring to some of the victims' charges, like the gun pointed at the girl, Shays said: "I just don't frankly believe it."
"You believe what you want," Thompson said.
The hearing was held by a special House committee, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., investigating the government's preparations and response to Katrina. It was requested by Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"Racism is something we don't like to talk about, but we have to acknowledge it," McKinney said. "And the world saw the effects of American-style racism in the drama as it was outplayed by the Katrina survivors."
The five white and two black lawmakers who attended the hearing mostly sat quietly during two and a half hours of testimony. But tempers flared when evacuees were asked by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., to not compare shelter conditions to a concentration camp.
"I'm going to call it what it is," said Hodges. "That is the only thing I could compare what we went through to."
Of five black evacuees who testified, only one said he believed the sluggish response was the product of bad government planning for poor residents — not racism.
In the Deep South we call those Dixie Cups.
Any American who claims that they were treated by this administration like the victims of genocide and the Holocaust- are not worthy of listening to read a grocery list.
Some of the testimony did not ring true. Wonder if it was prepared for these people and they were coached on how to deliver it.
I heard several recitations [including by those wearing business suits ... can't remember the names] that related events that have been proven demonstrably false.
I kept wondering if any of those testifying have any comprehension of the significance of the phrase under oath.
They were reminded by Rep. Shays that they were testifying under oath. He in effect was accusing them of being liars. They didn't seem to care.
You are totally correct.
Those who have never lived in a place like New Orleans are often incapable of understanding how folks like this function.She may not know how close she was to the levee break. Shays should have known what he was going to have to deal with ... and he should have armed himself with information about the area ... and, perhaps, even a map ... so that he could make sense of what this woman was trying to tell him.
The parameters of their lives are often circumscribed by a very small area ... physically, mentally and emotionally ... they often can not give you their address where they live ... but can "show [you] where they stay". Some have never before gotten very far out of their neighborhood.
Sadly, in an era when most of them have had ready access to public education, many of them have not even reached the bottom rung of the educational ladder.
That does not make their plight any less tragic ... but perhaps it will help you to become better able to understand it.
There are always jewels in this element of society who are able to see that education is the way out for those they love.
Never forget that the people who testified have been carefully chosen for a carefully orchestrated effect.
And the darn thing ain't even filled with "hurricane"....
The race baiters of this Country relish this whole event(Hurricane Katrina).
They are going to ride it for the next 20 years while the rest of us pay the bill and bear insinuations of racism.
What the heck ??!?!?!?!?!
Am I on bazaro world ? When is someone going to blame the Mayor and the Governor of that state firstly ! IF you are going to point fingers at all.
We have moved on and we have started rebuilding and relocating quietly in spirit.
Up here in Daviess County Indiana we had a tornado hit on a Tuesday and 10 days later the 100 homes destroyed and been rebuilt by the Amish community it hit and lots of volunteers. NOT ONE DOLLAR of government money was spent doing it.
The FEMA man was told they weren't needed.
"GET OVER IT! IT WAS YOUR OWN STUPID FAULT FOR NOT LEAVING!"
Wrong. It is the white man's fault for taking her ancestors out of Africa in the first place! /sarc
Very impressive! Thanks for telling us about Davies County!
I got the proof of RACISM right here, if this bozo ever learned to read (isn't this the same one who's a "college edumacated student of history"?):
Stop the Republicans
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/1499184/posts
And that grown men and women sat there and let those horrible people lie and lie and lie...
I don't think that's the half of it. There were other folks under that bridge on I-10. No deaths, no concentration camp. Just granola bars, water and triage. Heard it from someone who was there offering aid. He called the Laura Ingraham show this morning. (Besides, that victim was WAY too plump to have survived any kind of deprivation.)
Did anyone providing SWORN TESTIMONY prove racism? That was the reason they were there wasting everyone's time. I didn't hear it.
Will the House provide other witnesses that disprove these nutjobs? They better. Prison time for perjury is on the line.
Apparently, one of the so-called witnesses is associated with the non-racist Black Panthers. Will her word be questioned? Time will tell...
Dyan French. She had on a turbin.
And she lied with wild abandon; she openly mocked Chris Shays.
It was appalling.
Mama D to her "family and friends."
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dyan+french&btnG=Google+Search
Racism played a role? Most of the city officials, from the mayor's office on down to the beat cop, in New Orleans are black. Heck, 80 percent of New Orleans is black.
It's the 2005 version of the "bus boycott".
When I and other Americans like me were blamed wholesale for the woes of the victims of local corruption and natural disaster, because we are white, that did it.
My wallet dried right up. So yes, racism played a role.
Had I not been bombarded with racism directed against me, I would have been inclined to give far more.
Very good point, and one I personally neglected to consider. I donated as well, and these leftist goofballs cry that "not enough was done", is tantamount to these same goofballs biting my hand off.
I have to agree that that 'knee-jerk' reaction of accusing the rest of us of being racist with respect to the victims of Katrina is infuriating. Not only is it not true and I also saw many white people trying to get into the Dome at that time; there were all sorts of people. Basically anyone who lives in an inner city where it's densely populated and they use public transportation to and from work most of the time, would have found themselves in the same position. Trapped in the downtown core in the path of a hurricane and no high ground available except at the Dome. When I donated through a poster on here and LGF, I didn't ask what color he was, just that I'd posted with him for a couple of years and knew what he was like and he was THERE! As far as I'm concerned, as long as what I donated could actually REACH someone and do some good was all I cared about. I'm sure most of us felt the same way. But when I saw the bollocks, the ARC and others had made, spotty service and help at best, what was the point of donating more funds to them which would be sidetracked for future use as the ARC did when they estimated they had 'enough' to cover Katrina and the rest would go to future disasters. That's not what the Katrina donors wanted. They wanted their funds to go to the victims NOW.
But all that aside, just the accusations from the professional race baiters is enough to make you want to tell people where to go. I think, when giving to community groups, you state that you are willing to give but insist that you will only give to organizations THAT DO NOT EMPLOY RACE BAITING AS A FUND-RAISING TACTIC! That may make them think twice about using that technique in future.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.