I have no idea who this woman is, but I Approve.
Look at the reporters who are "incensed" by the rampant looting. Look at the smugness from those distant from the situation who chastise the dumb southerners for not evacuating when they had the chance. It blows their minds how many idiots stayed to wait it out. It makes them shake their heads and make "tsk-tsk" noises into their shiny microphones.
Well, fuck the lot of them.
>snip<
But watch CNN for an hour, if you can stand it. Look at the people being carried to the edge of the levees. Crippled old women being pulled out of attics. Exhausted families with raggedy, scared-looking dogs being lifted off rooftops. Small children being handed out of second story windows to men in boats. Crying old couples holding hands. These are the rest of the people who did not run.
They stayed because they could not run, and now they might die because they cannot swim.
And this from her extra thoughts posted in a later note:
But the truth is this: people with no resources and no possibility of evacuation would rather look stubborn and angry than helpless and trapped. There is dignity in the appearance of willfullness, and in obstinate defiance of authority. It saves face to say, “Screw you all! I don’t want to leave and you can’t make me!” rather than to admit the truth, which is that they couldn’t go even if they wanted to.
And this one from over on Slate:
Nearly every rescued person, temporary resident of the Superdome, looter, or loiterer on the high ground of the freeway I saw on TV was African-American. And from the look of it, they weren't wealthy residents of the Garden District. This storm appears to have hurt blacks more directly than whites, but the broadcasters scarcely mentioned that fact.
>snip<
But I don't recall any reporter exploring the class issue directly by getting a paycheck-to-paycheck victim to explain that he couldn't risk leaving because if he lost his furniture and appliances, his pots and pans, his bedding and clothes, to Katrina or looters, he'd have no way to replace them. No insurance, no stable, large extended family that could lend him cash to get back on his feet, no middle-class job to return to after the storm.
>snip<
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?"
And that will probably be it for Katrina coverage around here for a while. Having just read THE MOST IDIOTIC POST IN THE WORLD about this topic on a list thingie, and as I am THIS CLOSE to flinging the iBook against the wall, I think this is the safest approach.
Turns out some natural disaters, like all politics, are Personal.
Well, I'll probably come back to it once My Sister The Refugee Veteran and My Dad The Certified Hero Who Has A Day Named After Him And Everything return from their trip to the blasted lands. They left a few hours ago. And yes, they will get through. I know these people.
All right ... it is also very likely that the topic will come up again if I decide to break out with the New Orleans Police Department thoughts, which I probably won't because I know that other people are Mulling similar things and when they're ready to roll (not that I'm calling anybody OUT or anything PERISH the thought) it's going to be worth it, not to mention 20 times better than what I would have put together. (I reserve the right to Categorically Deny said naked and unsolicited compliment should need, or Rampant Ego demand it down the road. Not that I'm talking to anyone in PARTICULAR, mind you. )
There's also this vague niggle in my head feeling ghosts of connections between this coverage and that of the crack v. powdered cocaine disparity. But it's been so long since I was in that mix, I know I can't get my head around it without a dive through the files. Which I don't have time for right now...
So! Back to All About Me. Or maybe South Africa. I haven't decided, yet. Just read this thing about that photog who took the picture with the girl he (probably) let die.
I'm reading Ben Hur. Did you know that book first came out in the 1830s? I didn't.