Katrina Survivors Take Government to Court (Int'l Tribunal including Mexico--Unbelievable!!)

Vibe Magazine ^ | July 18, 2007 | Linda Hobbs

[2ndDivisionVet]

It's been two years since Hurricane Katrina and Rita ripped through the belly of the South, and survivors, along with various scholars and activists, are seeking to hold the US government responsible in a tribunal court hearing scheduled for this August.

On Tuesday (July 17), New York City Councilman Charles Barron and former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney met at Manhattan's Center for Constitutional Rights for a press conference to discuss the upcoming trial. The tribunal will target President Bush, the US government, State of Louisiana, State of Mississippi, and various other agencies who were involved in the Katrina and Rita relief efforts.

The Tribunal will include a team of human and civil rights prosecutors, including Joan Gibbs from the Center of Law & Social Justice and Kali Akuno, from the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund.

Overall, the Tribunal's main goal is holding the US government accountable for their reaction to the 2005 storms.

"Some people are being held accountable," said Former Congresswoman McKinney. "But what about [US Secretary of Homeland Security] Michael Chertoff? I'm wondering why he still has a job!"

Councilman Barron believes potential Democratic leaders have not raised the issue enough. "We can't let Barack Obama and Hillary, and all these so-called Democrats, whisper about what happened with Katrina," he said. "America needs a revolution."

"I'm a survivor," said Viola Washington, in a thick New Orleans drawl. "I was there. We had racism, and a whole lot of -isms before the storm, but it don't excuse what happened during the storm. We had helicopters flying over the city and nobody came to help us. We were begging for help."

Like Washington, other survivors will give their testimonies during the hearing, detailing abusive and humiliating treatment during delayed relief efforts.

"They put me in a wilderness, in a place I never heard of in my life," another, graying survivor added.

When Katrina hit, that woman was raising her three grandchildren, after her daughter was murdered. "They [National Guard] were putting guns on you just to ask a question. This is America! It took us from Tuesday to Friday to get out of there," she said.

At the time, the woman owned her home. Her biggest concerned after the storm was returning to it. "But FEMA told me I was supposed to get back to my home or I'll lose my assistance," she said. "What am I supposed to do with three children?"

In addition to survivor testimonies, foreign nations have lent their support to the International Tribunal effort, including Cuba, Mexico, France, and Brazil.

The Mexican government released the following statement: "The Katrina disaster was a disaster organized by a political and economic system rooted in racism, exploitation and oppression. The massive deaths and human suffering could have been avoided were it not for the racism of the U.S. government at all levels."

The hearing will be held August 29 in New Orleans, marking the two-year anniversary of the hurricane tragedy.

[texastoo]

Thanks for the article. No, I didn’t know about it. I didn’t think we were subject to the internation courts but he!! so much goes on behind our backs that we don’t know.

[texastoo]

And after all George Bush has done for them! What a bunch of ingrates!

It is just not enough. George would want you to give more and more. By the way, what happened to the millions that Clinton and PaPa Bush collected after Katrina?

[Quiller]

Charles barron...Isn’t he the @$$clown that said he wanted to walk up to a white man and slap the fecal matter out of him.

And is a "former" Black Panther who supports voting rights for illegal immigrants, who denies any form of racism against whites (ignoring early discimination against Irish and Jews), and has encouraged riots by African Americans if high-profile cases regarding the use of force by police did not have results which suited him.

And McKinney -- the former congressthing that evaded a security checkpoint, then claimed the security officer who stopped her hit her, then apologized, then barely avoided a civil suit by the officer (who had more class).

McKinney -- the congressional has-been that employed members of the New Black Panthers, who blamed the Jews for her defeat, who wrote to the Saudis about Israel's "inappropriate" response to terrorism.

At some point, these people seem to lose all sense of shame in their efforts to gain support through encouraging the victimization mentality. This is just a "grab-the-spotlight" ploy, and since it won't wash in the U.S., these two have enlisted support from countries which are either openly hostile to the U.S. or are hoping a little cash will flow their way.

[texastoo]

Check out post #17.

[Fresh Wind]

Aw, Jeez... (you know the rest)

[Jaysun]

I guess they want more money to blow at the casinos. The idea that the federal government was racist when handling Katrina has always been nonsense.

"Progressive" blacks are idiots and the majority of them are militant racist. We shouldn't bother to give them the time of day.

[Savage Beast]

The Bush’s have taken their legendary good will and politesse to a sufficient extreme for it to have become a nemesis. In fact, they passed the nemesis point a long time ago—especially regarding Mexico—and U.S. Leftist politicians.

[nyyankeefan]

the true victims of katrina are the US Taxpayers....the so called victims were poor before the storm and still are after the storm...

they have glommed the system as people opened their hearts and wallets with charity and support....as did jorge bush and the congress.....

after all that has been spent/wasted.....these victims want demand more....an endless annuity with no end in sight...charity begins at home but at some point God helps those that will help themselves!!!!

[yankeedame]

"I'm a survivor," said Viola Washington, in a thick New Orleans drawl. "I was there. We had racism, and a whole lot of -isms before the storm, but it don't excuse what happened during the storm. We had helicopters flying over the city and nobody came to help us. We were begging for help."

I got a box of doughnuts here says that without even setting eyes on a picture of her, everyone reading the above knows exactly what Ms. Viola Washington of New Orleans looks like.

[MichiganConservative]

...seeking to hold the US government responsible...

Well, yeah. Rove made a hurricane with his weather machine. Anyone who believes the federal government is responsible for a hurricane, should be institutionalized. If anyone was responsible for the infrastructure in New Orleans failing, it's the corrupt local politicians and bureaucrats, who are all Democrats. New Orleans was one of the most corrupt places in the country. No wonder they couldn't make levees that could hold.

[Hoplite]

The Mexican government released the following statement

No, it didn't.

That was one Luis Vasquez, speaking on behalf of the Independent Democratic Workers Party of Mexico, which appears to be a fringe communist party. source

[SkyPilot]

We had racism, and a whole lot of -isms before the storm, but it don't excuse what happened during the storm. We had helicopters flying over the city and nobody came to help us. We were begging for help."

The 82nd Airborne, the entire Coast Guard rotary rescue fleet, 1st Army, the SeaBees, scores of Navy rescue helicopters, hundreds of Air Force aircraft, the Army Corps of Engineers, two Marine Expeditionary Units, the Air Force east coast Contingency Response Wing, thousands of volunteers, Defense Logistics Agency, and dozens of other agencies came to their aid.

The problem is, many of the people everyone came to help were dysfunctional, lazy, and ungrateful.

I know, I was there working recovery 3 days after landfall.

[yankeedame]

By the way, what happened to the millions that Clinton and PaPa Bush collected after Katrina?

The same thing that happened to the millions that Clinton and PaPa Bush collected after that tsunami a few years back. (You know, where most of the victims were Muslim but nearly all the relief aid came from us western infidels?)

[yankeedame]

after all that has been spent/wasted.....these victims want demand more....an endless annuity with no end in sight...

"Reparations" anyone?

[EBH]

Thank you. I was wondering that myself! What the heck is a tribunal and what legal standing in the United States of America does it hold? I’ve heard lots of talk about tribunals from online libs in the recent past and this stinks to high heaven.

To the ‘graying evacuee’ there were warnings to get out before the storm, the city didn’t put their emergency plan in motion, all those who stayed behind knew it would take several days for help to get to them....

Other hurricane places they tell you if you choose not to leave...you are on your own and no one else is responsible for your sorry butt!

Enough is Enough already! You saw how well your mayor loved his chocolate city...keep your racism slander to yourselves!

[Mila]

“”I’m a survivor,” said Viola Washington, in a thick New Orleans drawl.”

Okay, right off the bat the reporter is making things up. There no such animal as a “thick New Orleans drawl”. I suppose the claims made in the rest of the article are as accurate. HAH!

[Wonder Warthog]

"Okay, right off the bat the reporter is making things up. There no such animal as a “thick New Orleans drawl”.

Well, the reporter is probably a Yankee, to whom any Southern accent is a "thick drawl". But some parts of NO definitely have their own distinct accents (and yes, I'm from Louisiana with kinfolk in NO)--some of them quite different from "Southernese". The "Ninth Ward" accent sounds more like Brooklynese than Southern.

[OBXWanderer]

career counseling, etc.. We offered to bus them to huge job fairs, but there were few takers.

Career counseling??? Now that's a hoot, when your "career" is that of a loathsome freeloader.