Sunday, September 04, 2005
Hurricane Katrina; Expose of an American Caste System
Emmie, et al (a post I wrote for an international Pantheism news group)
I have been shocked at how I have seen other Americans react to this disaster. Although I run with a liberal crowd, I work with a bunch of poor white republicans. In some ways I enjoy it. We have alot of fun. For the most part rednecks take life as it comes, work hard, and play hard. But humanitarianism is not their long suit. The first thing the guys did at work was start cracking jokes about the Superdome fiasco, looters and the intelligence of those who did not evacuate before the storm.I thought, well, thats how "tough guys" deal with their confusion and fear. But I also heard, "Thats 100,000 less cajuns to worry about.", "Have you noticed all the looters are black?", and in responce to a community call for opening spare rooms to displaced families, "....I'm not inviting any of those crazy (insert n-word here) into my house. They'd clean me out!", and get this, "Well if you could see them first, ya know, pick who got to come to your house...you're first impressions are usually right." I found this to be a particularly odd statement because there is no one at the superdome who has had a bath in a week. They all look (and feel) like shit on toast!
I can't help but wonder if the obvious first pictures of New Orleans and its predominantly black and cajun population didn't send a silent wave of fear through the hearts of the nations uneducated, poor whites that put them in a state of puffing up and reasserting their position on America's social ladder.
Truly, if this administration can golf while poor blacks and cajuns die of thirst and hunger, they can do the same for the poor whites. It may be an issue about race, but the poor whites are also considered untouchables by the wealthy and responce to their needs is just as slow and the desire of the wealthy to avoid contact with them (except when its time to vote!) is just as strong.
So I guess what I am feeling is that the social consciousness in this country points to an unspoken caste system where the poor are seen as a burden and the urge to help them is nearly non-existant under the current right-wing hypnotism.
When I see Fox news reporters down in the Superdome reporting live, in tears and disgust, my heart softens because I know these guys have been truly touched by the scope of the humanitarian crisis. They probably won't have jobs when they get back because they were sent down there to bolster the President's image. I see the neatly dressed guys in the studio, like Sean Hannity, interrupting them to speak praises of the administration's reponse and the field reporter's shoulders going limp and responding to the obvious lies with, "yeah". That says to me that its easy to fool yourself about how horrible this situation is from the comfort of your studio or home. I think Sean Hannity really needs to go to the superdome.
Tracy =)
I have been shocked at how I have seen other Americans react to this disaster. Although I run with a liberal crowd, I work with a bunch of poor white republicans. In some ways I enjoy it. We have alot of fun. For the most part rednecks take life as it comes, work hard, and play hard. But humanitarianism is not their long suit. The first thing the guys did at work was start cracking jokes about the Superdome fiasco, looters and the intelligence of those who did not evacuate before the storm.I thought, well, thats how "tough guys" deal with their confusion and fear. But I also heard, "Thats 100,000 less cajuns to worry about.", "Have you noticed all the looters are black?", and in responce to a community call for opening spare rooms to displaced families, "....I'm not inviting any of those crazy (insert n-word here) into my house. They'd clean me out!", and get this, "Well if you could see them first, ya know, pick who got to come to your house...you're first impressions are usually right." I found this to be a particularly odd statement because there is no one at the superdome who has had a bath in a week. They all look (and feel) like shit on toast!
I can't help but wonder if the obvious first pictures of New Orleans and its predominantly black and cajun population didn't send a silent wave of fear through the hearts of the nations uneducated, poor whites that put them in a state of puffing up and reasserting their position on America's social ladder.
Truly, if this administration can golf while poor blacks and cajuns die of thirst and hunger, they can do the same for the poor whites. It may be an issue about race, but the poor whites are also considered untouchables by the wealthy and responce to their needs is just as slow and the desire of the wealthy to avoid contact with them (except when its time to vote!) is just as strong.
So I guess what I am feeling is that the social consciousness in this country points to an unspoken caste system where the poor are seen as a burden and the urge to help them is nearly non-existant under the current right-wing hypnotism.
When I see Fox news reporters down in the Superdome reporting live, in tears and disgust, my heart softens because I know these guys have been truly touched by the scope of the humanitarian crisis. They probably won't have jobs when they get back because they were sent down there to bolster the President's image. I see the neatly dressed guys in the studio, like Sean Hannity, interrupting them to speak praises of the administration's reponse and the field reporter's shoulders going limp and responding to the obvious lies with, "yeah". That says to me that its easy to fool yourself about how horrible this situation is from the comfort of your studio or home. I think Sean Hannity really needs to go to the superdome.
Tracy =)
