Originally posted by Evil Dead
I don't understand. Are you saying that hurricanes are intelligent, capable of thought and a decision making process..........and chose to "attack" poor and/or black people?
Nope. Not saying that at all. I'm talking in general by using a year ago today as an example when we found out that both elements, racism and poverty, still exist in the U.S. and is here to stay. And that's too bad for that.
Originally posted by Shalimar_fox
no what he's saying is that matter what happens the gov't dose not give an rats a$$ about black,yes i know white,and other races where in it to but because the majority was black the gov't didn't care
Old statistics warning:
I think you will find that of the dead who have been identifieds by race, only 49% of them have been black; less then a majority. White people make up an impressive 41%.
Before the hurricane struck, New Orlean was about 66% black, meaning that it was white people, not black people, who died in disproportionately high numbers.
white, black........whatever. When they tell you a hurrican is coming, get out of town........4 full days before a hurricane hits, whoever's left deserves what they get (unless physically unable to relocate, hospitalized in a bed or extremely elderly). The kid who eats too many paint chips doesn't grow up to have kids of his own.........survival of the fittest.
I don't care if you're dirt poor and don't even have a car. Four days is plenty of time to hike inland where the damage would be less severe.
Let's all get on the government's ass for not giving the best help to those who were ignorant enough to stay behind.........after they had already been told to leave. If the government tells me to leave my home, I may die if I don't......I'm leaving. If I stay and die.......my family can't really blame the government can they? They warned me to pack my shit and leave.
Evil Dead, are you a Republican? I only ask because that was the exact same line a Republican coworker used with me once. I didn't buy it then, either.
Of course, one of the big reasons that people didn't leave New Orleans on foot was that the Gretna police stood on their side of the Mississippi River Bridge and shot at any refugees to tried to cross. They weren't going to let a bunch of smelly refugees mess up their city, no sir.
I wish we had a way to tell when Earthquakes will strike here in California. If they could tell me that there is going to be a 8.5 earthquake in 5 days. I would pack my bags and drive to Vegas. These people got the early warnings. It was time to evacuate and leave.
However, I will also agree that these people became dependant for help. They figure the goverment was going to be right there on the spot. The local government just wasn't there.
Well, it was reported in a few papers; the chief of police has confirmed it, although he's also tried to defend it. I might have given the wrong impression, though (I misread it at first); this was after the hurricane had struck, and people who hadn't left before were trying to evacuate.
The real problem, though, isn't with the people who didn't get out of town. Hundred of people died, and it was certainly tragic and all, but compared to other natural disasters (North Korea, recently), the death toll isn't staggering. The real problem is with the people who did what you said they should do and got the hell out. Only, now, here they are. They don't have jobs, they don't have money, they don't have food, they don't have places to stay, they can't afford to move back to their homes, and the government ... what the hell is the government doing? It's ignoring them; the government feels that their time is better spent tapping its citizens telephones and screwing things up in the Middle East. I think that's what has so many people pissed off right now.
And the fact that the levees probably wouldn't have broken if the government hadn't taken all of the money that was earmaked for repairing them and spent it on Iraq instead probably hasn't done much to endear them with the people of New Orleans, either.