Race and Class in America
USA Today had a story today that discussed the perceptions of the New Orleans crisis from both the black and white perspectives. According to the poll, 6 in 10 blacks believe that the disaster response was slow because the victims were poor and black. On the other hand, 9 in 10 whites disagree.
It is pretty obvious that poor people were affected more in New Orleans than those with more money. If someone like Donald Trump had been caught in New Orleans, he could have paid for a private helicopter to take him elsewhere. He could also afford to hire someone to guard his property while he was away. Most middle class people could afford to drive out of town and get a hotel room somewhere. But poor people had less options. Some options were unavailable due to their lack of financial resources. And some options were disregarded because the poor didn't want to abandon what little they had after the storm destroyed most of their possessions.
But the issue in the poll was whether the federal government delayed helping New Orleans because the residents were poor. True, the government might have overestimated the capability of New Orleans to help itself. But the concept that it would deliberately allow people to die because they were poor is just ridiculous.
And for the race issue, I offer the following: Southern Mississippi was devastated by Katrina along with New Orleans. While Mississippi didn't face the flooding of New Orleans, in many areas the initial hurricaine damage was far more severe. Just as people are homeless and suffering in New Orleans, there are people in the same situation in Mississippi. The financial condition of the people in the rural Mississippi counties is similar to that of people in New Orleans. According to the United States Census, approximately 36.3% of the population of Mississippi is black. For an urban comparison, Biloxi, Mississippi has a population that is 19.0% black. Orleans Parish has a population that is 67.3% black. Yet Mississippi has received less attention, less money, and less assistance than New Orleans. A quick survey of major media outlets shows almost no references to the situation in Mississippi. New Orleans is only starting to become a secondary news story on the front page.
Obviously, the situations in Mississippi and New Orleans are not identical, so the comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt. But I think that these facts can be useful in allowing the reader to make his (or her) own conclusions on whether race really was an issue.
So let me pose the questions: Would the race of the people in New Orleans prevent you from helping them? Would the fact that many of them are poor prevent you from helping them? For most people, I think the answers to these questions would be "no." I hope that America rises up and showers its generosity on all of the people affected by this disaster, and shows the world that deep down we are neither black, white, rich, nor poor, but that we are all Americans.
It is pretty obvious that poor people were affected more in New Orleans than those with more money. If someone like Donald Trump had been caught in New Orleans, he could have paid for a private helicopter to take him elsewhere. He could also afford to hire someone to guard his property while he was away. Most middle class people could afford to drive out of town and get a hotel room somewhere. But poor people had less options. Some options were unavailable due to their lack of financial resources. And some options were disregarded because the poor didn't want to abandon what little they had after the storm destroyed most of their possessions.
But the issue in the poll was whether the federal government delayed helping New Orleans because the residents were poor. True, the government might have overestimated the capability of New Orleans to help itself. But the concept that it would deliberately allow people to die because they were poor is just ridiculous.
And for the race issue, I offer the following: Southern Mississippi was devastated by Katrina along with New Orleans. While Mississippi didn't face the flooding of New Orleans, in many areas the initial hurricaine damage was far more severe. Just as people are homeless and suffering in New Orleans, there are people in the same situation in Mississippi. The financial condition of the people in the rural Mississippi counties is similar to that of people in New Orleans. According to the United States Census, approximately 36.3% of the population of Mississippi is black. For an urban comparison, Biloxi, Mississippi has a population that is 19.0% black. Orleans Parish has a population that is 67.3% black. Yet Mississippi has received less attention, less money, and less assistance than New Orleans. A quick survey of major media outlets shows almost no references to the situation in Mississippi. New Orleans is only starting to become a secondary news story on the front page.
Obviously, the situations in Mississippi and New Orleans are not identical, so the comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt. But I think that these facts can be useful in allowing the reader to make his (or her) own conclusions on whether race really was an issue.
So let me pose the questions: Would the race of the people in New Orleans prevent you from helping them? Would the fact that many of them are poor prevent you from helping them? For most people, I think the answers to these questions would be "no." I hope that America rises up and showers its generosity on all of the people affected by this disaster, and shows the world that deep down we are neither black, white, rich, nor poor, but that we are all Americans.
posted by David at 9/13/2005 10:31:00 PM
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