What would you do?
What would you do if you were black?
Sadly, the two questions don't have the same answer.
To the first: Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.
For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina has told us the answer to the second question. If you're black and a hurricane is about to destroy your city, then you'll probably wait for the government to save you.
This was not always the case. Prior to 40 years ago, such a pathetic performance by the black community in a time of crisis would have been inconceivable. The first response would have come from black men. They would take care of their families, bring them to safety, and then help the rest of the community. Then local government would come in.
No longer. When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results.
Enter Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. Jackson and Farrakhan laid blame on "racist" President Bush. Farrakhan actually proposed the idea that the government blew up a levee so as to kill blacks and save whites. The two demanded massive governmental spending to rebuild New Orleans, above and beyond the federal government's proposed $60 billion. Not only that, these two were positioning themselves as the gatekeepers to supervise the dispersion of funds. Perfect: Two of the most dishonest elite blacks in America, "overseeing" billions of dollars. I wonder where that money will end up.
Full column here: Jesse Peterson on Katrina
Common sense. Is that allowed when talking about Katrina?
“Two of the most dishonest elite blacks in America, “overseeing” billions of dollars. I wonder where that money will end up.”
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Bingo! Yet another reason NOT to give any more taxpayer money to New Orleans.
Only a coward leaves town when a hurricane is coming. Now, if you live where you know you are going to flood, you should move to higher ground, but you certainly shouldn’t leave the city.
We live in a flood zone, I know that any car we leave at the house will flood with a high enough surge. That’s why we only keep essential vehincles at the house during hurricane season. So when we need to move to higher ground, we can. However, only the sissy cuts and runs from town when a hurricane is coming. I lived in New Orleans at one time. When we lived there, we lived in Lakeview. Now, without a doubt, I would have evacuated Lakeview. It is some of the lowest lying land in the country outside of death valley. If I had lived in the French Quarter, which is the highest ground in the city, I probably would’ve stayed, and in fact, alot of French Quarter property owners did ride out the storm in the Quarter.
It is a coward’s act to leave in advance of a hurricane if you don’t absolutely have to, because, especially in a town like New Orleans, when you leave, you willing accept the idea that you are willing to let looters go through your property until you come home. During Katrina, they evacuated 80% of the population of the city. The people who stayed were people who lived in higher ground, people who stay for every storm, and there were a few who stayed because they couldn’t get out.
But, for the most part, it was the most successful evacuation they ever had. Never before have they moved out 80% of the population for a hurricane, because New Orleans is not the kind of place where people leave. Neither is the rest of the Katrina area.
And actually, Katrina was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Typically, when they used to run disaster simulations of the big one hitting, casualties were usually expected to be over 100,000. I’d say, considering everything, Katrina was mild compared to what it could have been.