“She said all of the recipients of the free school supplies were black. All of the people donating school supplies were white. No exceptions. My relative was completely disgusted because she’s starting to notice that it’s always that way, about a lot of things.”
Been that way for decades. I look at the experiences here after Hurricane Sandy, and contrast them with the Katrina experience. While Katrina was worse, having power out in the northeast for such a long time (days to weeks) was very unusual; people still helped each other out (sharing generators, food, supplies) in ways I certainly didn’t see in New Orleans itself.
The freebies thing has just led to a situation where there is no self-sufficiency or independence at all. When I was young my mother wouldn’t let us feed stray cats, because they would keep coming back; this is the same situation. It really hit home to me when a black co-worker was complaining as Newark NJ was demolishing some of their housing projects (just a few decades after they had been built); she asked where the displaced people were supposed to live, as though they couldn’t imagine having to secure something as basic as housing for themselves.
Very true post, and great tagline, by the way.