Race, Class, And Hurricane Katrina

As you may know, about two-thirds of New Orleans’ population is black. Some liberal blogs charge that there was a conspiracy by New Orleans officials (and they toss in the Bush administration for good measure) to kill off the city's black population. That is ridiculous. They neglect to point out that the Mayor Ray Nagin is black, as are many of the city's top officials. Many if not most of the city's black residents were able to leave out in time, thanks to the mandatory evacuation call. A mandatory evacuation is not what one does when one is trying to kill off a population (and never mind the liberal tendency to stereotype all black folks as poor when a sizeable percentage if not the majority of New Orleans black residents ain't poor, but I digress). Same goes for the Naval flotilla and National Guardsmen and state troopers that are part of the relief effort.

The Louisiana Superdome and other locations were used in order to provide shelter for 10,000-30,000 poor folks (and tourists) who otherwise had no place to go. Given the short amount of time, I believe New Orleans did a creditable job in evacuating folks. And of course, some obstinant folks of all races were stupid enough to stay in their homes (and then are now complaining when FEMA doesn't arrive to save their asses in lickety split). On the news, city officials were upfront in their concerns about where the Superdome's dome structure could withstand a Category 5 hurricane. Was there a better alternative? Had city officials not used the Louisiana Superdome for shelter, then these same liberals would be whining about how it wasn't used to shelter folks.

And it ain't the federal government's job to maintain the city's levee system. Hello, local government? State and county governments? That is where these liberal critics should place their blame, but they won't because both New Orleans mayor and Louisiana's governor are (moderate) Democrats.

A key question that these liberal critics should ask: Where are their Hollywood and other entertainment friends, while various Christian and other religious groups are already out in force with relief efforts? Why aren't their beloved European allies helping out, as America helps out folks when disaster strikes? Using their own logic, it must be because (at least in New Orleans and parts of Mississippi) it mostly affected black folks. By the way, BlackAmericaWeb.com reported yesterday that the National Urban League and the NAACP are assessing how they can help.

One more thing….I am trippin' (but not surprised) about the reports of looting and such. Ain't helpin' the cause. Come on, my people, we are better.

Aid Links (hat tip: Instapundit): American Red Cross, Mercy Corps, Methodist Relief, Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse