Katrina victims demand 'right to return'

Reuters ^ | 12/10/5

[Crackingham]

With jazz music, prayer and offerings to the gods, hundreds of Hurricane Katrina survivors on Saturday demanded the government move faster to rebuild the city and provide evacuees with more disaster assistance. Shouting "We're Back," protesters said they feared the city's poor would be shut out of reconstruction after being dispersed far across the United States since the storm. City officials estimate more than 300,000 New Orleans residents have yet to return since Katrina flooded the city, reducing entire neighborhoods to a rubble-strewn wasteland.

In one of the largest rallies in New Orleans since the hurricane, survivors marched to City Hall from Congo Square, a centuries-old meeting place where African slaves once gathered to trade, play music and dance. African drummers and a brass band dubbed the "Soul Rebels" set the carnival-like tone, while a tribal priest made an offering of rum and watermelon.

"I lived in my house for 45 years -- my mother died and left it to me," said Gloria Brown, 70, an evacuee living in San Francisco. "I swam seven blocks in filthy water with my dog Queenie to survive. I want to come back but I can't pay for it."

The federal government is providing varying amounts of assistance to evacuees to cover temporary housing and living expenses. But some evacuees said they have not yet received any money.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has held meetings with evacuees living in places like Alabama or Mississippi to gather their ideas about how to rebuild the city. City and state officials have yet to determine how to rebuild a faulty levee system that created the flooding, a key decision for insurers and lenders financing the reconstruction. Some hurricane evacuees said there should be less talk and more action.

"Right now they're treating us like refugees," said Mervin Lucas. "They're worried about health in Afghanistan, the cold in Pakistan. They're giving folks in Iraq better things than they're giving us."

Rally organizers accused the city of discriminating against black residents by moving slowly on rebuilding, particularly in low-income areas that were hardest hit, after failing to rescue them quickly in the days following the storm.

"It's no secret the rich white folks uptown don't want us back," said Malcolm Suber, a protest leader with the grass-roots People's Hurricane Relief Fund. "This government left us to starve and to die."

[Howlin]

They are hardly representative of the vast majority of the people down here.

And I understand that, too.

[WatchOutForSnakes]

Actually I'm not sure that is correct. There are still huge areas of New Orleans East and Lakeview without power or gas services. And most of St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish have no services at all.

[Arrowhead1952]

Maybe they should listen to the begging of their crackpot mayor.

FR search for Mayor Nagin implores residents to return

Nagin implores residents to return, rebuild

New Orleans Mayor Beseeches Residents To Return to Their City

Return To New Orleans Is Urged ("come on home"), Residents Return - to Ruin

New Orleans mayor pushing for people to return

[Conservababe]

Those are the very people who sat by for years and let the powers that be in New Orleans and Lousiana trash that state.

And the same can be said for the blue states, no?

[EGPWS]

"I lived in my house for 45 years -- my mother died and left it to me," said Gloria Brown, 70, an evacuee living in San Francisco. "I swam seven blocks in filthy water with my dog Queenie to survive. I want to come back but I can't pay for it."

Talk to God Missy for he is the only one that holds the key to the demise of those stupid enough to place themselves into a position of calamity and then expect others to take them to their nipple and nurse them back to a position of preparing to only jump at a breast and feed again.

[Citizen Soldier]

I guess they heard about the $90 million that is to be distributed soon to N.O.

[Howlin]

And the same can be said for the blue states, no?

I think Louisiana and New Orleans pretty much have that honor nailed down.

[thathamiltonwoman]

offerings to the gods,

What the.....? That's it. My give a damn just broke. I don't care if New Orleans is rebuilt. Frankly, it sounds like Katrina had a cleansing affect.

[Randy Larsen]

What the.....? That's it. My give a damn just broke. I don't care if New Orleans is rebuilt.

I posted something similar to your post about a month ago and got beat up pretty good!

Welcome to the wiser side.

[horse_doc]

a tribal priest made an offering of rum and watermelon.

Umm. Is this what passes for communion in NOLA?

[SouthernFreebird]

Howling is not racist, but you seem to have no problem defending those who are racists and complain about whitey at every opportunity. It's all those rich working white folks that the blacks are bitching about that pay the taxes to keep the city going and feed the lazy azzes that do nothing but drain the resouces.

I've never in my life seen so many over fed and housed people screaming about being starved by the white folks. Frankly I don't think that many welfare people should be housed together as they were in NO. It's a disaster waiting to happen to have so many who don't have enough sense to come in out of the rain.

[Conservababe]

I've never in my life seen so many over fed and housed people screaming about being starved by the white folks. Frankly I don't think that many welfare people should be housed together as they were in NO. It's a disaster waiting to happen to have so many who don't have enough sense to come in out of the rain.

Well now, ders de projects and ders the homeowners, dude. Homeowners pay property tax unless they are homesteaded as is law in Louisiana.

Why don't you take your innovative idea of not housing welfare recipients to the federal government? They could probably use the idea in Detroit, Chicago or any other large city.

Oh, but wait, they have already. They have proposed housing the poor in your own neighborhood. Did you like it and support it? LOL

[CajunConservative]

They were there to represent the agenda of the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus. The folks who are working hard at the recovery don't have time to get on tv to whine and complain.

Sometimes what you hear and see on tv isn't exactly what's going on.

[CajunConservative]

Habitat for Humanity is doing a lot of work here along with other non profits.

[SouthernFreebird]

Idiot, I am poor. People in my neighborhood are poor. But we all go to work. We prepare for bad weather snow storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires and floods,we get it all.

We don't sit around on our butts complaining about those rich white people who pay a TON of taxes on what they own to keep things running. We appreciate the help we get and try to be as independent as possible.

We were wiped out by floods 2 years ago. Not a town around here was spared, whole communities lost their housings and businesses yet never did we see anyone complain about the Government not rescuing us. No one complained about those who were fortunate enough to not lose their homes. Lots of those places are still in the rebuilding process and no complaints.

Here's what we saw on TV. People crying over the homes or businesses they lost, but oh so grateful for what they still had, their families and the ability to rebuild. Everyone worked together and things got done. No one had to guard their property from dirty thieves who think they have a right to swoop in like vultures at the first sign of people in trouble.

I'm disgusted with the whole lot of NO residents. I wouldn't send a thin dime to rebuild that POS place. Furthermore I'd say the black community needs to take a hard look at their culture to find the reason for such a failure of their people in dealing with adversity.

[Old Student]

"Habitat for Humanity is doing a lot of work here along with other non profits."

Yes, and they do good and useful work, even if they do use Former-President Peanut for a spokesman now and again. I'm easy, so I'll allow them that one error.

[CajunConservative]

He would have done more good for the world had he simply did his charity work and not run for the presidency.

[Old Student]

"He would have done more good for the world had he simply did his charity work and not run for the presidency."

You sure nailed that one! After some years of reflection, I still can't decide if Clinton was better than Carter, or just almost as bad... What a quandary.

[caryatid]

... survivors marched to City Hall from Congo Square, a centuries-old meeting place where African slaves once gathered to trade, play music and dance. African drummers and a brass band dubbed the "Soul Rebels" set the carnival-like tone, while a tribal priest made an offering of rum and watermelon.

---

Latter Day Revisionist History. Possibly invented about the same time as Kwaaaaanzaaaaa.

FWIW, Congo Square was the site of Slave Auctions. That's right, folks ... in a pre-PC World, that is where white folks bought and sold black folks.

In bygone times, there was not a whole lot of partying goin' on by the black folks in Congo Square ... the only "trade" going on in Congo Square was the slave trade.

This faux "tribal priest" making a faux "offering" with rum and watermelon ... [what interesting visual images that conjures up!] ... is, at, best just playtime for people who have too much time on their hands that could be better used in more productive ways [like cleaning up and rebuilding their city].

This whole thing is typical of the ersatz culture, and pathetically Disneyfied fraud, that New Orleans has become.

< /history lesson >

[thoughtomator]

It was crushed mercilessly by the welfare state.