Race, Class and the Storm

Of course, I go to my source of news and commentary, The Negrophile, to find courageous voices that are discussing the obvious incidents at hand. As I watched the news avidly sensationalizing this disaster, the thoughts running through my mind were: why aren't we moving faster? Without a doubt, there's an impatience in the hearts of many of us who can't even imagine having to deal with this disaster, but that's not even a fraction of the impatience in the hearts of those living the disaster. Instead of reprimanding the many poor Black persons for "looting" and asking why they couldn't get out of New Orleans fast enough, why don't we talk about the cirumstances that brings about the desperation of hunting for marketable goods and the inability to travel. Well, I guess many of us have.

From the New York Times, to Slate, I'm excited about the discussion on the internet about the lack of discussion in mainstream news media. Here's a blurb (emphasis mine):

When disaster strikes, Americans—especially journalists—like to pretend that no matter who gets hit, no matter what race, color, creed, or socioeconomic level they hail from, we're all in it together. This spirit informs the 1997 disaster flick Volcano, in which a "can't we all just get along" moment arrives at the film's end: Volcanic ash covers every face in the big crowd scene, and everybody realizes that we're all members of one united race.

But we aren't one united race, we aren't one united class, and Katrina didn't hit all folks equally. By failing to acknowledge upfront that black New Orleanians—and perhaps black Mississippians—suffered more from Katrina than whites, the TV talkers may escape potential accusations that they're racist. But by ignoring race and class, they boot the journalistic opportunity to bring attention to the disenfranchisement of a whole definable segment of the population. What I wouldn't pay to hear a Fox anchor ask, "Say, Bob, why are these African-Americans so poor to begin with?"

I also direct you to Eric Umansky's article Left Behind, where he does some great research and summation of the various broadcasts. We've moved to categorizing victims as "thugs", who are so powerful that the government officials can't go in and help. Look at those Black ppl who don't even want to be saved, they'd rather shoot the hand that helps them, right?