Your feelings about Hurricane Katrina - one year later

I saw this special yesterday on NBC about New Orleans and Katrina focusing on the people stranded in New Orleans at the dreaded Dome and Convention center. It was so sad to see and I could not stop crying seeing those pictures again… I feel that over the past year or let’s say maybe 6 month a lot of focus has been on the fact that the city is still not rebuilding and that there is no cohesive plan in place to do so. Some reports I read in the Chicago Tribune and NY Times have been about families that have re-located to other cities and how they are doing now. A lot is made of the difference between the people who moved to Atlanta and Houston, with the perception that the Atlanta crowd is in general better off and has had a better start there.

In the days of Katrina and the week that followed the pictures we saw out of the city were horrible, I felt like a bipolar person switching between being angry and sad. But here is what I realized yesterday for me personally, I forgot the magnitude, the sheer horror of what happened… I didn’t forget what happened but it had lost the immediate shock and horror, it was distant. Seeing those pictures again yesterday made me realize how fast we are all trying to move on and forget. After 9/11 those pictures were shown again and again, still today they show them with the intent to make sure we never forget. How come we can forget about Katrina so fast? About the gross failure, about people who have no means to leave a city and then are left to die and fight for themselves?

Bush got away too easy on the failure of this, I am not saying that any country, state or government could have handled such a crisis without glitches, without turmoil and great tragedy but the apparent negligence and disregard for the majority of people left in the city is just disgusting.

What do you think and how do you feel when you see the reports in the news?

 

I was listening to a news report this morning on my way to work and they say that if another hurricane comes through, they are not even sure if the levies were repaired to be able to with stand the next one.

Can you imagine going through this all over again?


I feel bad because I know people who have lost everything. I know people who did not get assistance from FEMA because it was already given to others and ran out (and as we know many were fraudulent claims). I find the entire situation so sad.

They say that there is only 50% of the population that was there a yr ago. I loved New Orleans and loved the people. It just breaks my heart what has happened.

 

Katrina

This is the worst thing that could have happen to Black people in the south. I just visited the site and words nor pictures can describe the totally damage. Peace out.

 

We were saturated with coverage of Katrina and I watched it with great interest and sadness. In the very beginning, before it actually happened, I thought about it, and my time in New Orleans, and read what some commentators were saying, and I knew 'this is going to be bad' (as far as the aftermath and what occured).

I do believe if the disaster was in a republican dominated area it would have been different
I do believe if it had been in a wealthier area it would have been different

But most of all
I do believe if it had not been under the Bush admin, it would have been different.

I feel sad about the city and what was lost, but the history can't be blown away, it's a new chapter in a long, vibrant and fascinating story.

That said, I also felt kindov sad ABOUT the amount of coverage, and the loss of proportion that I feel occured. SO MANY deaths occur in 3rd world countries as a result of natural disasters. I understand the story made interesting *news* because the states is a superpower, and the inadequacy of the response there was, well, shocking. But I can't help compare it to disasters and our own, man made tragedies over time- the hundres of thousands who died in Rwanda, for example, while the world watched, or the recent earthquakes that have occured.

 

In short, it just reaffirms what Ive always believed in, what ive always been taught, and what I always practive, which is being the master of self.
Depending on no man (especially a white president) to rescue or save you from any threating situation that you might come across. Naturally preparing for the worst, hoping for the best. Being a forward thinker weighing out the outcome, always having a plan B.

You live in New Orleans, Florida, anywhere along the gulf coast. Its being wise and knowing that your in danger of a potential hurricane hitting, and being prepared for it. Have enough money saved up for you and your family to get out the city. Enough money stashed in the bank to live somewhere else for 6 months, until you can find a job. Alot of people down there knew years in advance that Katrina was going to happen. They just didnt expect for it to be that worse.

 

What's even worse were the LIES told by the media..

They claimed they could not send aid because street gangs were firing at rescue helicopters(the same excuse/lies they used in Somalia) :roll:

They claimed people had resorted to cannibalism in the Superdome

They claimed children were being raped in the convention center..

Soldiers working in the convention center said they could have been easilly overrun but the people were well mannered and orderly despite their circumstances..

And on top of all that misery..Mexcian illegals are being shipped in to rebuild the city and REPLACE the Black citizens..

Black workers from alabama were told "ya'll can go home now..the mexicans are here.."

The media also failed to mention that private armies like Blackwater(the same guys that were looting and raping in Iraq) were patrolling the streets and shooting unarmed Black civilians.

This isn't about democrat or republican..BOTH parties are OWNED by the guys on Wall Street..

 

I`m moving back to New Orleans wednesday...(I`ve been continuing my work at LSU in Baton Rouge since the hurricane).

It feels good to go back...but the image of the devastation is so present...My university is on the lakeview area, where almost everything is still in ruins...

Did the government do enough? the answer to that is obvious!

The trauma is there, but ppl are trying to go back to normal, partying even harder, trying to force the bad memories out of their mind!

The biggest fear in everyone`s heart is just that another hurricane like that would come before they actually build some levees that could hold a huge hurricane at bay! (unbelievably they still aren`t good even for a category 3 storm!)

 

I agree about almost everything you said....and I called the Mexican thing the day after it happened. They work cheaper and will do he job faster than blacks, who actually want to get paid a fair wage for their work. I don't want to generalize, but you get the drift.

If the hurricane hit in Boston, you wouldn't believe how fast the federal government would be up here. Boston has an insane income per capita, and with all the businesses and colleges here, they would be here no matter the expense. New Orleans, as culturally important to America as it is, to the government is just a predominately poor city with rampant crime. They would LOVE to have all the black people move away, and it's happened to the most part. Dick Cheney can have his cronies and Mexicans rebuild the city at his timetable, and set it in his image, which means no poor blacks. I believe it, and Kanye West, no matter what you think about him, told the truth. The regime does not care about black people.

Sorry about being so political, but that's how I feel. It's a fucking shame how I had to watch Fox and CNN everyday and seeing all those people sitting there for no help day after day, no food, no water in 100 degree heat. This is America. not Mogadishu. Help should come immediately. But I know inside me, you're right, you should ever depend on the government to save you, you should do it yourself. But it easier said than done. I'd like to see how I would do withstanding those conditions, and I don't think it would be favorable.

Good post.

Black Tiger

 

Poor Blacks aren't the only ones committing crimes..
N.O has the most violent and corrupt police dept in the States..There is actually a travel warning about the cops..

Cops were looting Cadillacs from dealerships and BREAKING INTO PEOPLES HOUSES STEALING SHIT..

As for mexicans working faster than Blacks..THAT IS A LIE..

If they worked faster and better than us Mexico would be building a wall TO KEEP THEM IN..!! :lol:

We never get credit for being good workers and will be called lazy no matter how hard and fast we work..

Employers(that want Blacks out of the job market anyway) fail to mention the problems they have with mexican labor...

They don't mention that mexican laborers get hurt waaaaay more than Blacks..

They fail to mention that they need damn near an army of mexicans to do jobs that only a handful of Brothers can do..

They fail to mention that they lose more equipment to THEFT and ignorance dealing with them than with us..

At least Black workers flush the toilet and the paper with it..as opposed to throwing shitty toilet paper on the floor and leaving the toilet unflushed..

They can say what they want about us..At least we DON'T SHIT ON THE RESTROOM WALLS..

 

:idea: Despite the fact that The Saints with my boy Reggie Bush won a very emotional victory last night, the city itself is years away from getting back to PRE KATRINA conditions. :cry:

 

They made constant claims that all of this was a result of 'black people looting'. More WHITE victims received more help than the STRANDED black victims, and most of THEM DIED.

 

After the Tsunami hit Asia, the victims of THAT disaster received immediate help within the following week, and even the biggest celebrities in the world pitched in.

 

THIS IS FROM FLAMING HERO:

As for mexicans working faster than Blacks..THAT IS A LIE..

If they worked faster and better than us Mexico would be building a wall TO KEEP THEM IN..!! :lol:

We never get credit for being good workers and will be called lazy no matter how hard and fast we work..

Employers(that want Blacks out of the job market anyway) fail to mention the problems they have with mexican labor...

They don't mention that mexican laborers get hurt waaaaay more than Blacks..

They fail to mention that they need damn near an army of mexicans to do jobs that only a handful of Brothers can do..

They fail to mention th

at they lose more equipment to THEFT and ignorance dealing with them than with us..

At least Black workers flush the toilet and the paper with it..as opposed to throwing shitty toilet paper on the floor and leaving the toilet unflushed..

They can say what they want about us..At least we DON'T SHIT ON THE RESTROOM WALLS..[/quote]

THIS IS FROM BLACK TIGER:

I phrased the Mexican comment wrong to you. I only said faster, because they have the incentive to stay here. That's all I meant. They DEFINITELY work cheaper. Of course, it is a generalization.

I'm just saying it's white people AKA the goverment to choose who to hire and the end of the day they'll hire who will work the cheapest. This is in regards to construction, agriculture etc..

There's a city in the outskirts of Boston called Lynn (locals have always called it the city of sin). Back in the 70s/80s I say the mix was 65% white and 35% black, hardscrabble city. Now, the illegal immigrants have all moved in and taken all the blacks jobs, since they work cheaper. I say now its 45% white, 15% black, 35% Hispanic and 5% Asian. I read it in the Boston Globe a year ago, I think that's right. Most of the Hispanics are from Latin America, and you hear about arrests of illegals all the time, mainly bagged because they have no driver licenses. I won't even go into the gang activity there.

I have no disrespect to Hispanics at all IF YOUR LEGAL. Three grandparents both came here legally from the British West Indies, my father legahlly came here from Jamaica. I was just lucky to be born here. And I took advantage of it. I said the same thing to my Northern Irish girlfriend at the time. She wanted to beat the visa, and some of her friends were here illegally. I told her it wasn't right.

Hope you hear me.

Peace out.

Black Tiger

 

THIS IS FROM BLACK TIGER:

I phrased the Mexican comment wrong to you. I only said faster, because they have the incentive to stay here. That's all I meant. They DEFINITELY work cheaper. Of course, it is a generalization.

I'm just saying it's white people AKA the goverment to choose who to hire and the end of the day they'll hire who will work the cheapest. This is in regards to construction, agriculture etc..

There's a city in the outskirts of Boston called Lynn (locals have always called it the city of sin). Back in the 70s/80s I say the mix was 65% white and 35% black, hardscrabble city. Now, the illegal immigrants have all moved in and taken all the blacks jobs, since they work cheaper. I say now its 45% white, 15% black, 35% Hispanic and 5% Asian. I read it in the Boston Globe a year ago, I think that's right. Most of the Hispanics are from Latin America, and you hear about arrests of illegals all the time, mainly bagged because they have no driver licenses. I won't even go into the gang activity there.

I have no disrespect to Hispanics at all IF YOUR LEGAL. Three grandparents both came here legally from the British West Indies, my father legahlly came here from Jamaica. I was just lucky to be born here. And I took advantage of it. I said the same thing to my Northern Irish girlfriend at the time. She wanted to beat the visa, and some of her friends were here illegally. I told her it wasn't right.

Hope you hear me.

Peace out.

Black Tiger[/quote]

I hear ya' Brother

 

Katrina was a gift from God to the local and Federal governments of N.O. all those poor blacks just washed away in one fell swoop. Why hurry to rebuild so they can come back? Behind closed doors, they're partying their asses off.