From the Superdome to the Astrodome - Racism!!!

[socalover]

I thought we were a country that took care of its citizens. I cannot believe they are busing these people 7 hrs away to another stadium, is this the best we can do? Or is it because they are mainly poor and black? I am sorry, flame away if you wish but white people would never have received this treatment.

That phucquing Bush!

[muwriter]

1. Got a better place to put 25,000 people??

[LincolnMcGrath]

6. Military bases?

How about commandeering a few hundred hotels claoser to nola?



just saying

[muwriter]

13. Bases are staging areas for relief and hotels alread have refugees

[LincolnMcGrath]

23. Every military base in the south is being used for staging?

Even those closed over the last decade.

[Horse with no Name]

18. There are no hotel rooms within 100's of miles of NO

What to do?:shrug:

[expatriot]

10. Divide them up into 250 groups of 100 and get them into hotels. nt

[Horse with no Name]

15. In an email I received today looking for items for the displaced

It said that in Longview, people were just driving around because there weren't any hotel rooms available for hundreds of miles.
So I don't think that is an option.

[expatriot]

19. there are rooms open in houston, and memphis and shreveport (hotwire)

but of course it would never happen.

[Horse with no Name]

21. Hmmm

I don't understand why people would lie?
Doesn't make sense.
Did you try to book the rooms?

[expatriot]

34. thanks a lot! I was about ready to purchase 14 nights in Houston for like

$1300. I was like "okay" in response to your post and I started clicking , forgot that I was automatically logged in to my hotwire account, so my credit card was already input and ready to go. I *think* they are available but if you want to pay me 1300 bucks I can check for sure.

[Horse with no Name]

41. oops!

I thought there was that last page when they ask...are you reallllly sure?
Sawrrry.:silly:

[az chela]

44. bring in cruise ships

Why cant they bring in cruise ships for these people to stay on til they can find another solution.Bush has been out raising money let him pay the bill.
He has made so much money along with cheney and condy and rumsfield and he turns his back on his own people .
I dont care if they are black or white,rich or poor,they are desperate and need out help.THis is the richest country in the world and this is how we treat our people???
How heartbreaking that we have forgotten that we are out brothers keeper.I have cried so much the last two days and am ashamed that none of the democrats are helping and fema is taking forever and the guard is in Iraq and the money is being used to support this insane war.
GOd have mercy on the souls who just dont give a damn.There will be a payback to all you soul less greedy people

[sam sarrha]

2. closest place that big with toilets that flush..

[Extend a Hand]

3. all over craigslist there are people offering rooms

in their homes. I don't understand while *someone* doesn't find a way to match up people needing homes.

[VolcanoJen]

31. Logistics. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people...

... and I'm not sure craigslist is the first thing on their minds.

It will take days, maybe weeks, but people will be matched up, central posts will be established to collect registry information, and we'll know who is alive, who is missing and who is presumed dead.

I was impatient about this as the tragedy unfolded, but I'm really starting to come around to the realization that this is utterly horrific, unprecedented, and nightmarish.

[craigolemiss]

4. Yup--should have just left them in a tent city someplace

:sarcasm:

I cannot fathom how this becomes racism--

and for that matter I think its frightening when someone only sees that,

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I hope you are being sarcastic

[craigolemiss]

20. I hope the original post was

I just cannot get how racism comes into a tragedy of this magnitude---I assumed the original poster would have felt better about that tent city

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. I agree with the original poster

This is incredibly racist.

[craigolemiss]

43. I cannot fathom how assistance begits a charge of racism

At this point in the crisis any assistance has got to be welcome to these people---be sure to point out to them at some point how they should not accept it because it's racist---

[melody]

5. I AM SO MAD

Anyone hearing this Sean Calleb CNN moron on here? Actually questioning the "lawlessness" of people who "commandeered" a bus? My god, can this idiot be serious????

[craigolemiss]

16. Hmm another post 2 up from here says:

Sean Calleb on CNN really defending the "renagade bus"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4543100

so which is it?

[melody]

36. Didn't sound like he was defending it to me

He was referring to it specifically as "renegade" and suggesting the people on board had stolen the bus, when there is no evidence of that AT ALL.

[me b zola]

52. Was he the one doing the interview from Houston?

The guy was acting like a police interrogator, trying to lay out a "case" against the man from NOLA. It was disgusting. Since when did "journalists" begin working for the State? :grr:

[melody]

53. I think that was the same guy, yes

It was like listening to a mouthpiece for the Gestapo.

[Cleita]

7. White people would have probably been put up in motels.

Maybe not fancy ones, but I doubt if they would have been herded into a football stadium.

[MercutioATC]

22. I think it has more to do with socioeconomic status than color.

The wealthier people can get out and afford a place to go. The poor can't.

Rather than let them wander around, at least they're being provided shelter and food.

[Cleita]

35. I thought FEMA was supposed to be able to make financial

arrangements for this, but apparently that was only under Bill Clinton.

[MercutioATC]

40. What type of financial arrangements?

[Cleita]

45. In times of emergencies, I thought they were supposed

to pay for emergency housing until the crisis was over. They pay for motel and hotel rooms or have in the past.

[MercutioATC]

49. There AREN'T any hotel rooms available...

It's not a question of money, they're already occupied.

[Cleita]

54. This is a bad time, a big holiday weekend, but I really

think there are places available. I noticed someone mentioned military bases that aren't being used

[VolcanoJen]

38. After Hurricane Andrew, white people got tent cities.

Not much better. At least the Astrodome is climate-controlled.

Just sayin'...

I'm sure that if there was dry ground in a reasonably driveable region, they'd build tent cities. Absent that, the Astrodome, useless dinosaur that it is, suffices pretty well.

The tent cities weren't built in a day, either. It took awhile to get them established and get the refugees there. They remained for weeks, as I remember.

[applegrove]

8. I cannot believe a man & his family in a minivan have such a hard

time finding shelter. A family drove into Houston. No hotels (they very well are all filled with earlier evacuees) and they were not allowed into the Astrodome because they drove out on their own. And obviously no family will put them up. And there is no billet system in place. I think he understands what is going on better than I do. I don't live with racism every day.

[Horse with no Name]

9. Many times auditoriums, gymnasiums, etc are used for these purposes

and I have seen white people evacuated to such. There has to be a staging area.
There will be cots set up.
There are bathrooms.
There are shower facilities.
They just need an area that can hold alot of people and these large stadiums fit the bill.
There just aren't alot of good solutions in this kind of mess.
But the people are out of the floods, they have electricity and water, and my guess is that the ones that made it there tonight are very grateful for a clean, dry place to lay their heads.

[Cleita]

27. Sometimes when people are evacuated in California for

forest fires, they are put up in temporary housing like you describe, however, it's only until the fire is put out and they are able to get back to their homes or make other arrangements, usually about 24 hours later.

This is really different. These people are going to be gone for months and I think they could have made better arrangements. They may have used the dome as a staging area for more permanent arrangements, but from what I am reading, no further planning is apparent.

[Horse with no Name]

56. No immediate planning is apparent

This is a total SNAFU.

[JVS]

11. It seems fucked up to me too. It's not as though the superdome people...

came there out of some kind of preference for dwelling in stadiums.

Relief guy: "We have the relief shelter set up in a school gym or, if you would prefer, a stadium"
Displaced person: "The stadium, by all means. Anything smaller would seem cramped"

[Horse with no Name]

Schools have already started in Texas

There aren't any gymnasiums.:shrug:

[MercutioATC]

26. Schools? Are you nuts?

You want a bunch of people in a school with no background checks?

No thanks.

[JVS]

29. I was thinking the kids could get a few weeks off

[MercutioATC]

37. Yeah, but why?

How is a school gym any better than a stadium?

Actually, keeping a large number of people in one place makes it easier to distribute food and medical care.

[JVS]

46. Because larger groups tend to harder to supervise and pay attention to.

Do you seriously think that 25000 can live in a stadium for the next several months? But if you divide them into many groups of about 100, you can have them live there for a while and hopefully get started again with life. After a few weeks, you take those who haven't moved out on their own and re-consolidate into groups of 100. You leave 25,000 togther and you have a lot of people who don't know each other and are pissed off and have nothing. It's a recipe for unrest.

[MercutioATC]

48. This isn't a long-term solution, it's emergency shelter.

I'm betting it would take a LOT longer to distribute people in groups of 100 to hundreds of different locations (if you could even FIND hundreds of locations) than it would to get them someplace like a stadium all at once.

That's the immediate goal, get a roof over their heads.

[kmla]

14. It's not a long term solution, but it is a start.

It's gotta be better than Spending 3 days in a 100 degree, leaky, dark and smelly dome.

At least they will get a shower, and some decent food and water.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. All the mega-hotel chains

should be offering a certain percentage of their rooms to house these people. It's the least they could do.

[Cleita]

47. A big holiday weekend is coming up, so they might

be hesitant, however, spare rooms should be alloted to them.

[smurfygirl]

24. If I owned Carnival Cruise lines

I would get a bunch of ships and give these people a nice cabin with fine foods. That way they could also have a little free entertainment to take their minds off this stressful situation until they can cope with the fact they have to go back and rebuild everything.

[Liberal In Texas]

33. I heard on the radio today, NPR, that Carnival may be helping...the

problem is, how to get the refugees to the ship.

[Mr_Spock]

28. I'm not ready to call it racism

But we gotta keep looking out for these people though...

[autorank]

30. RECOMMEND THIS POST!!!! RECOMMEND THIS POST!!!!!

socalover Speaks the Truth...This is the Worst Racism I've Seen in My Entire Life..."oh, he poor (i.e., blacks) have no money, let them die" "W" (aka Marie Antoinette).

OUT DEMURRING DEMOCRATIC DEACONS BETTER GET OFF OF THEIR RETICENT, LAZY ASSES AND SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE ON THIS. THIS IS WORSE THAN ANYTHING YET. IT'S THE LOSS OF AN ENTIRE CITY.

WAKE UP DEMOCRATS, BEHAVE LIKE YOU'RE POSSESSED WITH THE SPIRIT OF FDR AND THE RHETORIC OF HUEY LONG

[donheld]

32. I think you are spot on

Of course it's racism, maybe classism too.

[VADem11]

39. What other place

can hold 23,000 people fairly easily and quickly? At least the damn building will have air conditioning and better conditions. Some of the other shelters aren't much better off. Are you calling the mayor of new orleans, the governor of louisiana, and every other official racist?

[SofaKingLiberal]

42. They are being removed from the

sewage and corpse infested SD to a safe, clean place with food, toilets, and medical treatment. I am not ready to attack anyone for this yet, I am more concerned about the people still dying in NO and those stuck in the hospitals that for some reason, despite being the worlds #1 superpower (or so were told), we can't seem to save.
If accommodations haven't been made after another week or two then I think it should get more attention, but right now why can't we focus on the people who are still dying instead of the comfort of those who are alive.

[Zen Democrat]

50. Actually, I think the Astrodome is a good idea.

The place has been sitting there for years with people wondering what to do with it. It's air conditioned, the toilets work, and they will be well fed and receive medical attention. They will be sleeping on mattresses. This is merely an emergency shelter, but the obvious choice for sheltering over 25,000 people in desparate need.

There a church on every corner in Houston. And the black churches particularly are very active and community oriented. I have a feeling that people will be "adopted" by the community. Texas may be a red state, but Houston is not a red city. Houston elected a Democratic mayor last year.

[Elwood P Dowd]

51. 70% of New Orleans is African-American

Even if 70% of the African-Americans left before the storm, that would still leave over 100,000.

Less than 10 miles from where I live in East Alabama there are hundreds of African-Americans from NOLA now living in shelters and churches. Many of them said they had relatives who just refused to leave. Others just didn't have any transportation or thought Katrina was just another false alarm.

The vast majority of these churches and shelters are run by white people, so don't play that race card with me. These folks are helping people, and they don't care squat about the color of their skin.

Blame the idiot Bush and his incompetent administration, but don't blame people for trying to move these folks to a better place. I remember living in the woods during Army training. When we got back to the big tent after a few days, it was like living in the Hilton in comparison - food, water, cigs, toilet paper, and even an AM radio. These people are leaving pure hell.

[craigolemiss]

55. Thank god someone is pointing out the reality of the situation--NOT RACIST

I cannot understand how anyone can turn this situation into racism.