Crisis raises questions of race

[Sapphire Blue]

Crisis raises questions of race
New Orleans' poor blacks were already at a disadvantage. Could more be done to help?
By MARCUS FRANKLIN and JAMIE THOMPSON
Published September 2, 2005

(excerpt)

In Hurricane Katrina's baneful aftermath, the dichotomy of New Orleans has become increasingly apparent. In image after image, the victims left to suffer appear to be mostly poor and black.

Why? Part of the answer is that two-thirds of New Orleans' population is black.

But history suggests an uglier explanation:

Black residents long ago were pushed into the swampy, low-lying lands of New Orleans, while rich white residents built on higher plots.

<snip>

To be sure, white, black, Hispanic, rich, poor, young and old suffered from Hurricane Katrina.

But it came as no surprise to disaster planners, professors and historians that New Orleans' poorest neighborhoods suffered most.

The poorest residents have long lived in the city's low-lying areas, starting in the 1830s when well-off whites built homes on higher ground near Mississippi River levees, Craig E. Colten, a geography professor at Louisiana State University, told the Philadelphia Daily News.

Since the 1890s, those lower areas have been occupied largely by African-Americans. The Lower 9th Ward, where the worst flooding occurred, is 98 percent black.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/02/Worldandnation/Crisis_raises_questio.shtml

[laureloak]

1. It should raise the question of CLASS first and foremost.

and not divide the poor along racial lines.

[Sapphire Blue]

3. It is an issue of race AND class.

"The Lower 9th Ward, where the worst flooding occurred, is 98 percent black." And they are poor. And they are dying.

While bush, the 'Christian', said yesterday, "We're makin' progress."

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' - Matthew 25:40

[BillZBubb]

2. We must use caution to NOT FRAME THIS AS A RACIAL event.

It's a class event. Rich/Poor. We can get a lot more Red voters to see the truth if we talk about this in a non-racially charged manner. A lot of them are poor. Now they've seen how the Repugs "care" for the poor. They could be next for such "care".

Democrats need to be highlighting the Bush/Repug failures to help poor people of all races in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Poor Red State voters will get it.

No doubt a good portion of the Party of Greed is racist, but that battle won't help us show Red State voters the errors of their ways.

[Sapphire Blue]

4. Sshhh.... let's not talk about racism... don't want to offend the racists

[Sapphire Blue]

5. kick