Racing the Kat

[woodchip]

So here we go again. Seems it was a deliberate program on the part of whitey to keep all dem po black folk stuck in New Orkeans with no way out of the city.
Howard Dean says:
"We must ... come to terms with the ugly truth that skin color, age and economics played a deadly role in who survived and who did not"
So Howard, there were no po white folk what got stuck down there? Are you saying Mr. Dean that even though New Orleans has a Black Mayor and a Black chief of police, that somehow it was a conspiracy of closet klanners that kept them people trapped down there?

Then we have Jesse Jackson, the premier race baiter in america today when he compared the condition of evacuees to "Africans in the hull of a slave ship."

Calvin Butts president of the Council of Churches of the City of New York writes in the British newspaper The Observer:

"If this hurricane had struck a white, middle-class neighborhood in the Northeast or the Southwest, his (President George W. Bush's) response would have been a lot stronger."

Rapper Kanye West was more direct in a live outburst during an NBC benefit concert for Katrina victims last week, saying, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

All of the above should get the shoe polish off their faces and perhaps listen to what some people who experienced the storm have to say:

"Before this whole thing, I had a complex about white people. This thing changed me forever," said Joseph Brant, 36, a black man who said he escaped New Orleans by hitching a ride in a van carrying white people.

[Will Robinson]

I know where Dean is coming from and what game he's playing.
I'll concede that being black has a lot to do with why they are poor and concentrated in urban areas. It can be traced back a few generations when they were forced to leave the farms and went to where the food and shelter was...the city.

But black people themselves are the primary deciding factor determining what being black means to their own people today.
Some of them have become wards of the nanny state and just breed their replacements. A truly nasty cycle.
Some of them saw the downside to that and inspite of the challenges of racial inequality have left that behind to make their own way.

I'd say we, society as a whole, should do what we can to stop the cycle and clear a few more paths out of there when we can. It would benefit us all.

Deans party can do their part by giving up the plantation.

[roid]

Rapper Kanye West was more direct in a live outburst during an NBC benefit concert for Katrina victims last week, saying, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

he was a rapper?!
lol, i thought that was just some crazy homeless guy they let on tv

[Top Gun]

Rapper Kanye West was more direct in a live outburst during an NBC benefit concert for Katrina victims last week, saying, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

he was a rapper?!
lol, i thought that was just some crazy homeless guy they let on tv

Best. Line. Ever.

[will_kill]

Rapper Kanye West was more direct in a live outburst during an NBC benefit concert for Katrina victims last week, saying, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

he was a rapper?!
lol, i thought that was just some crazy homeless guy they let on tv

OMG, my thinking was that he was some V.I.P. who had lived in N.O. and had made it out somehow. Of course 'rap' music(?) has always annoyed me anyway, but then I was forced to listen to it for some period of time way back when...
IMME, 'rap' is one of the things that keep African-Americans in the mind state they are in anyway, too much of it is just all too negative. African-Americans need all the positivity they can input considering the obstacles they have to overcome and 'rap' just aint cutting it for 'em, although they seemingly think it is.

[WarAdvocat]

OMG, my thinking was that he was some V.I.P. who had lived in N.O. and had made it out somehow. Of course 'rap' music(?) has always annoyed me anyway, but then I was forced to listen to it for some period of time way back when...
IMME, 'rap' is one of the things that keep African-Americans in the mind state they are in anyway, too much of it is just all too negative. African-Americans need all the positivity they can input considering the obstacles they have to overcome and 'rap' just aint cutting it for 'em, although they seemingly think it is.

Wow...Thanks for the cogent analysis, Whitey I'm sure you have struck to the very heart of the racial divide here in America.

Here I thought that the problem was a combination of factors that contribute to a cycle of grinding poverty which is reinforced by the Welfare mentality.

[will_kill]

OMG, my thinking was that he was some V.I.P. who had lived in N.O. and had made it out somehow. Of course 'rap' music(?) has always annoyed me anyway, but then I was forced to listen to it for some period of time way back when...
IMME, 'rap' is one of the things that keep African-Americans in the mind state they are in anyway, too much of it is just all too negative. African-Americans need all the positivity they can input considering the obstacles they have to overcome and 'rap' just aint cutting it for 'em, although they seemingly think it is.

Wow...Thanks for the cogent analysis, Whitey I'm sure you have struck to the very heart of the racial divide here in America.
Here I thought that the problem was a combination of factors that contribute to a cycle of grinding poverty which is reinforced by the Welfare mentality.

heheh...thats why I said "one of the things"
OH! and from here on out, I'll be referred to as 'Honkey' by you young man!

[Iceman]

I know where Dean is coming from and what game he's playing.
I'll concede that being black has a lot to do with why they are poor and concentrated in urban areas. It can be traced back a few generations when they were forced to leave the farms and went to where the food and shelter was...the city.

But black people themselves are the primary deciding factor determining what being black means to their own people today.
Some of them have become wards of the nanny state and just breed their replacements. A truly nasty cycle.
Some of them saw the downside to that and inspite of the challenges of racial inequality have left that behind to make their own way.

I'd say we, society as a whole, should do what we can to stop the cycle and clear a few more paths out of there when we can. It would benefit us all.

Deans party can do their part by giving up the plantation.

What Will said ... I couldn't agree more. Most of those that are trapped in the cycle will always be trapped simply because they don't know anything better is possible. If we cleared a few paths in the right directions and pointed them there some would choose to take control of their own destiny and 'leave the plantation'.

[Vander]

I don't think race played a significant role in the response. I admit, it's hard to take race out of the discussion when most of the victims were poor and black. But using that observation as an explaination as to why the relief response was so lethargic is a political red herring being used by some Democrats as a way to force the President to respond to something negative. We've seen a lot of this 'He Said, She Said' at work in the media for the past couple years. It's a proven effective tactic, and make no mistake, the Bush administration is way in front of their opposition in it's use. Someone makes a crazy claim, and the opponent is forced to respond, all while the media takes some sort of stance of balance by giving both sides even credence.

"'rap' is one of the things that keep African-Americans in the mind state they are in anyway, too much of it is just all too negative."

Gansta rap is Reagan's fault!

[woodchip]

I couldn't agree more. Most of those that are trapped in the cycle will always be trapped simply because they don't know anything better is possible. If we cleared a few paths in the right directions and pointed them there some would choose to take control of their own destiny and 'leave the plantation'.

Where's this "we" come from? Do you mean white folk have to go down to the plantation and lead dem dem po black folk away from pick'n cotton fo da massa and show dem da way to Detroit? Come on now. There are enough prosperous black men and women that would be better able to get their brothers out of dead end alley. There are enough prominant blacks in our country to show everyone that race is not a pre-requisit to success. The problem you have is when a black is publically successful, you have others within the black community calling them "Unca Toms" and "liv'n in da house of da Massa". Either way poor people of any race here in America have the best chance of succeeding, bar none, of any place in the world. I sometimes think black leaders like Jesse Jackson want their brothers downtrodden just so they (leaders) can keep being rich by pontificating how oppressed their people are.

[Palzon]

i have not seen this as a racist issue. however, i could see a case being made that relief delay could have been related to bias against the poor. I'm curious how you will react to the following.

some of you may reject that outright. I haven't made up my mind yet because I'm still waiting for better understanding of what really happened and why. if you would reject this outright I would be interested in hearing why.

Now, some of you may accept that the government wasn't concerned to bend over backwards for poor people. Some of you may accept that institutional racism does contribute to poverty. If you've come this far then is it not possible to make a case that racism occurred by proxy?

[Vander]

I think Bob Somerby hit's a lot of nails on their heads:

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh090805.shtml

[quote="Daily Howler"]THE JOY OF RACE: Kanye West knew it, and Imus did too. â??George Bush doesnâ??t care about black people,â?

[WarAdvocat]

Yeah, I have a hard time swallowing the whole racism line. Incompetence and idiocy is far easier for me to believe. Call me a cynical, but I feel like the racism card is being played for political shock value. Not saying racism isn't rearing it's ugly head in this situation, just that stupidity is why the relief efforts are all focked up.

[Kyouryuu]

I don't really buy into the racism card either. If nothing else, it's the consequences of being poor - being unable to own a car, or buy a bus ticket, etc.

[Kilarin]

Never attribute to malice, that which can be explained by stupidity.

[Palzon]

anyone wanna weigh in on the prospect of racism by proxy?

[Ferno]

It wasn't a racism issue. it's a classism issue.

[Gooberman]

anyone wanna weigh in on the prospect of racism by proxy?

Well, seeing as we are on the dbb and not the d3tlbb, I agree. In fact, I think this is where the vast majority of racism today stems from period.

[Palzon]

anyone wanna weigh in on the prospect of racism by proxy?

Well, seeing as we are on the dbb and not the d3tlbb, I agree.

Yeah, that reminds me to say something that's long overdue...

ROX is real sorry for killing d3, parallax, volition, interplay, et al. ROX is especially sorry for knocking down the twin towers. ROX deeply regrets flooding New Orleans and wreaking havoc to the Gulf Coast region. Oh and, ROX apologizes in advance for knocking down the Sears Tower.

[Gooberman]

But not the fact that I pay $3.15 at the pump? Typical heartless bastards.

[Palzon]

But not the fact that I pay $3.15 at the pump? Typical heartless bastards.

Oops! I missed one (Actually that was RIP)

[Will Robinson]

i have not seen this as a racist issue. however, i could see a case being made that relief delay could have been related to bias against the poor. I'm curious how you will react to the following.

some of you may reject that outright. I haven't made up my mind yet because I'm still waiting for better understanding of what really happened and why. if you would reject this outright I would be interested in hearing why.

Now, some of you may accept that the government wasn't concerned to bend over backwards for poor people. Some of you may accept that institutional racism does contribute to poverty. If you've come this far then is it not possible to make a case that racism occurred by proxy?

I can see the institutional racism > poverty connection but I don't think it would naturally translate to disaster response by government agency. I think the response moved at the only speed it can, they all started going through the usual motions and delays popped up when they ran up against unusual circumstances.
Maybe when the stories of snipers etc. started being reported there were people who were less than 100% gung ho to rush in anyway and that reluctance was fueled in part by their perception of the type of people who would snipe at ambulances etc.
And it's reported there were people turned back at a bridge exiting N.O. by the sherrif who fired warning shots telling them "We don't want no superdome people in our county...'

Hmmm, so I guess that's a 'sort of' for an answer.

PS: Ossama bin Rox...you bastage!

[will_kill]

It wasn't a racism issue. it's a classism issue.

this is closer to the truth than anyone else has come