The Less Told Story of Katrina
Note: I struggled for a while with whether or not to write this. While I will take on sex, drugs (ok, I have not taken on drugs) and religion, I wasn’t sure I wanted to write about anything racially charged. Because, you see, racism is in the eye of the beholder. Anything that someone chooses to see as racism, they can. I think Jesse Jackson is a racist. He sees skin color behind every issue that does not go his way. Yet, many African Americans see him as a role model.
I don’t think that this article is racist, but simply because I say that some folks get the most Katrina coverage because they are doing the least to help themselves, I’m sure I will be called a racist pig, and worse. Frankly, when I decided to write this anyway, I decided I didn’t care. Call me whatever you want. Many people, black and white, rich and poor, have been destroyed by the disaster, and no one is getting as much attention from the government or charitable organizations as they want. But the folks who are going to get back on their feet the quickest, the ones that will be earning a living the most quickly, are going to be the ones that quit waiting for a government handout first, and start work fixing their own lives.
I know everyone is familiar with the â??storyâ? of Katrina by now. Slow response, accusations of racism, completely unchecked crime in the shelters. General incompetence and stupidity all around (both on the government’s part and the residents’).
But there’s other pieces of this story that don’t get told as much, mainly because it would not sell as well. (â??What,â? you say, â??don’t you think the media seeks to cover all sides of a story, fairly and completely?â?) Uh… no. They cover what sells commercials. The more sensationalistic the better. Stranded black residents screaming and crying that they were abandoned by the government gets people watching. Affluent, self-motivated white people picking up their lives and moving on quietly doesn’t. There’s no hook. There’s no emotion.
(Let’s be clear here, I am not saying that black folks are not self motivated. I’m not saying that white folks cannot be whiners. Both are certainly true. But the picture that the media has been trying to present does not support that view. Both the presentation of the people, and the presentation of their attitude, has been very monochrome.)
Very, very few stories have been about people, standing in lines for their benefits, only to be turned away empty handed (with absolutely no aid at all) because they are â??homeownersâ?. I put that in quotes because no one in New Orleans is a homeowner any longer. They may own a pile of rubble, mold and rotted wood, but not a home.
Very few stories are about the fact that homeless, shelterless and hungry people going to collect their aid checks from the Red cross get… $365. Seriously now, how long could you live on $365? That’s not for an individual, that’s for a household. And that’s from the Red Cross, not the government.
As you may have figured out by now, I heard from my friend Marie yesterday. Thanks to everyone who asked me about her. She’s not â??hungry, cold or wetâ? so in the global scheme of things, she’s ok.
But she’s white, works for a living, and has not been crying on camera. Therefore, she does not seem to be getting a lot of help. Sh’es going to to pack every single thing she owns in the whole world (a few clothes, purchased with her $365, and an air mattress) in a Honda, and she’s coming to Dallas. Get an apartment, get a job, and start over.
Because that’s what responsible Americans do. When things don’t go the right way, they work to fix them. She didn’t own a house. There won’t be any insurance settlement. There likely won’t be any government aid, because by the time they get around to it, she’ll have a job. Anyone have any doubt that will disqualify her? I don’t. And that is the problem that I have with our welfare system. It systematically rewards those who do nothing to improve their situation. And penalizes those who do.