I get really angry when I think of Katrina, Does America really believe that I am an equal citizen?

Question

The clearest message ever sent to the black person in America, is the response by all levels of Government before, during and after this sad affair.

We are nothing more than the residue of slaves. We are unwanted. If I had doubts previously, all that has gone.

Answer 1

We are not considered equal citizens in America and we will never be. However, because we are born in America and contribute and support its government we have the right to demand the same treatment, opportunities and quality of life as others. Black people in America have been distracted from the real issues that are hurting our community. We need to refocus and concentrate on our own future. Instead of complaining about what white people are doing. White people are surviving while we are killing ourselves with drugs, gang violence etc. We are killing our family structure, our black men are in jail and mothers are struggling to raise their children alone. Stop focusing on what white people think about us or what they are doing. What are we doing?

Answer 2

White people are the residue of "traitors" to the British. American Indians are residue of "savages". None of us have glamorous ancestors if you go back far enough.

With Katrina I have read a few things.. First FEMA sucks.. that is obvious. But you have to ask why were the black people the ones left behind to begin with. Many many of them had cars but didn't leave. A well respected (black) author wrote a book about this. His theory was that the majority of the people left behind (who were on welfare) were used to the government taking care of everything for them. So when the government didn't bus them out, many of them chose to stay. Some, obviously did not have cars, and I guess didn't know anyone who had cars.. but many of them did. They were just used to the government taking care of things. When that didn't happen they were SOL.

My point is, stop looking at your skin and look at the opportunities available. You seem to be a bright person, If you haven't finished school then finish (minorities have an advantage in getting funding). If you have, then use your degree to land a well paying job in a good community (non violent, non government depending). If you have this too, then why do you feel unwanted?

Black people aren't unwanted, lazy people who wait around for someone else to take care of them are unwanted.

Answer 3

Please don’t feel that you are not considered an equal citizen by America. The real America still believes in equality and what this great nation fought so hard achieve. But the present day administration is another story..
The callous and inept federal response to Hurricane Katrina revealed that, when faced with a crisis that experts had actually predicted, the Republican administration was utterly unprepared and unresponsive.
Meanwhile, the shameful foot-dragging since the storm on reconstruction and help to families shows the same lack of interest in solving real problems and saving lives. So far, the administration has gotten around to spending barely half of what Congress authorized.
The Republican administration's failures before and after the storms are linked by a common approach to the solemn responsibilities of government. Simply put: they aren't interested.
This Republican leadership's philosophy means that our government simply will not meet the needs of our people no matter what color, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, as long as they are not the wealthiest 2% who give them campaign contributions.
Not because it's impossible -- but because they don't believe it should.
Only 18% of New Orleans children had returned by the end of the last school year, according to the New York Times. More children will return this year, but the conditions they will return to can be terrible.
This administration time and time again fails to do the hard, unglamorous work that comes with solving real problems that impact people's lives.
With that sense of responsibility missing in our leaders today, we find ourselves in deep trouble.
A fifth grader interviewed by the New York Times recently -- one of the few who have made it back -- told the reporter that his father, who is in the National Guard, has been sent to the Middle East. Meanwhile, back on the home front, their house has been burglarized.
The boy summed up what people on the Gulf Coast -- and people all across the country -- are feeling right now:
"We deserve better."

Answer 4

1- The next time a Category 4 or 5 Hurricane is barreling down on the place where you live, leave. Don't wait around to be rescued. The Hurricane isn't the governments doing.
2- It was your mayors job to make sure that everyone got out of the city safely. You had a whole parking lot full of buses that were under water. Are you telling me that he couldn't have evacuated people in them before the hurricane made landfall???
3- Your Mayor is black. Does he think your all slaves too?
4-You blame the President. The president runs the country. Like a CEO runs a company. The CEO doesn't send faxes. The people below him do.

Answer 5

I am black, not from New Orleans so I can only speak of what my impressions were. Yes there was a high percentage of black people affected, but I also believe that there were quite a few more people of all races affected as well. I think the biggest impact was due to CLASS moreso than race when it comes to the government. If anything the racism was in the way the media only showed blacks looting and not the ones who stayed and helped out - too many stories to even go into here. So if you're looking for racism, yeah it was there, but blame FOX news and other tv stations that love to focus on black crime and not black successes

Now, if you were POOR and caught in Katrina you basically had no options. The majority of blacks that you saw on tv were/are poor. Upper and middle class people, no matter the race, had options that poor people and elderly people did not - those with "means" could pack up, get in their cars and leave! You best believe a whole lotta black people with the money and cars LEFT - I know a whole bunch of them. They've relocated, found new jobs, gotten their kids in school, etc. So it really is about MONEY.

I blame the city, state and federal government for being so unprepared that many people died and went through hell because there was no real disaster plan in place. How do you live in a state on the Gulf Coast and not prepare for a hurricane? Why weren't there checks and balances in place to ensure that there was a plan on how to evacuate poor and elderly people??!! Katrina showed me that I better not EVER be down and out and caught in a disaster in this country.

The whole Katrina debacle tells me that when it comes right down to it, it is all about the almighty dollar. If you don't have much of it well in this country you are screwed. Not only is your government NOT looking out for you in a disaster, Social Security is on its way out, the cost of healthcare ais so prohibitive that a high percentage of Americans don't have any, and those who do have healthcare have sub-par coverage and they pay through the nose for it. Many Americans will never be able to buy a home, or get a quality education (unless they can get a scholarship).

In America, yes racism exists but there are a whole lot of things MONEY will cure here. Trust me, if those people that you saw in the dome were people with MONEY, George Bush would have been impeached by now and FEMA would be defunct.

Answer 6

i think your are very correct *** to all the insenitive whites that answerd get over what your just as bad as the government thats the main reason why this question even exsist now .. get over what ? 30% white yay an the rest are minorities i know if it sfor a could cause whites will let there own die .. isnt there a war ? where little brain washd whites go fight for a unknown cause everyday an die for a unjust america its ok to kill poor an black or poor anyway because they simply dont matter to anyone but there own kind other poor i guess .. Some nerve those peopel have rubbin it off like its over an dne New O rleans is completly fixed the skys not cloudy everyones happy now.. Well how about on sept 11 we stop with the memorial its done that **** wa syeas ago who ****** cars a whole lotta whites died so an people die everyday in the hood so sept 11 is just liek another day .. an for that whole go back to africa thing you shoud read up only one race can produce all kinds of colors .. so when you dont care its just self hatred you albino morph people ..

Answer 7

Then you should calm down and take a look at some pertinent information.... One item in particular......

The Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor allowed 259 public school buses to sit and watch the water rise around them, instead of using the buses to help people evacuate New Orleans before Katrina struck.....

There is plenty more if you care to look.... like black gangs shooting at rescue helicopters.... black police looting stores.....

I can't tell you if other races were doing the same or not, but you brought race up and made it about the blacks.

The saddest part of the affair was the neglect by the NO Mayor and the LA Governor.....

The FACTS shoot down all claims of racism.... the truth does hurt..... racists.

By the way, those school buses are being sold, some of them on Ebay.... hows that for apples and oranges.

Answer 8

It is easy to blame the lack of response on race but the sad truth is race had little to do with the response. Bush has shown himself time and time again to be an idiot and while a majority of the Katrina victims may have been black, not all were. One of your responders correctly pointed out that people had up to 3 full days to leave and chose not to. If part of their reasoning was because they were poor and couldn't afford to leave, well that was as lame an excuse as second and 3rd generation welfare recipients. Katrina was a national disaster, being poor in the richest country in the world, is a national disgrace and while the Bush administration showed it's ineptness, you all voted him in twice so you have no one to blame but yourselves. When you have a leader that is a moron and cares for no one but his cronies, what do you expect? Get off your butts and find a black candidate to run for president if you really think race is the issue. Blacks outnumber whites in the U.S.A. , you would think after all these years that someone of African heritage would have been at least a Vice-President. Under the Constitution, all are created equal, what they do with what they have is not a race issue unless you allow it.

Answer 9

ok dude you got flooded out and it was a year ago you should pick up any pieces if they are left and move on **** happens it ain t like you can prevent nature from happening my home was flooded this year and i lost almost everything i own but hey i m not dweeling on it i have moved on and this was what 2 months ago when you go through something like this the only ones who understand it are the ones who have been through it i was treated like a fraud a liar abeggar and worse but I am not gonna let that affect me for the rest of my life and it was not just a black thing it was an american thing that happened many different people lived there it was the simple fact that most of the people seemed to be hurt the worst were blacks because that is what you see on tv and such but if you look at the whole fact the misinformed the people who don t care to watch the news or the people who did not have other resources to get out of the situation maybe the majority of the people you see were poor and maybe that did consist of a lot of black people but don t take it as a full black thing just like the other dude said making race an issue makes u a racist also fk kanye west

Answer 10

Many black Americans have moved on with their lives and those who fail to seek the aid they need should follow those who have done something instead of complain. The government has been trying to cope with the mess but corruption and inaction on the local and state level holds up the federal aid that is in the pipeline. Stop the pity party and do something for Yourself and family. If all else fails You can move to another area. America is still the easiest place in the world to start over.

Federal Aid programs have paid for millions of people to relocate but time is running out.. Get busy and good luck.

Answer 11

I think you better take a good look @ your Mayor Nagin and your Governor. New Orleans was allocated over 900 million $$ years a go to reinforce your levee's. It's your local government and state government who spent the $$ elsewhere.
I was hearing about Katrina a week B4 it hit you guys, why didn't you get outta there? If you didn't have a way to leave why didn't Nagin provide use of the school buses,municipal buses,taxis,trains and other forms of transportation to evacuate HIS CHOCOLATE city!
When are you people gonna learn that the government don't owe you a thing,you have to do for yourself, make your own decisions.
Its a sad thing what happened down there, we've had alot of hurricanes hit us too, I have friends in Montana that have to deal with blizzards and getting snowed in with no electricity, I don't see any1 helping them. they choose to live there so they learn to deal with it. You have the same choices!