When Hurricane Katrina hit, why is it that quite a few of the African Americans that were affected by the....?

Question

flood tried to turn it into a racism issue? Hurricanes are predicted ahead of time and you had plenty of time for an evacuation, so why is it that most of the people that I have talked to about Hurricane Katrina have put the blame on others for the deaths of family members and having to wait long periods for rescue assistance when they knew a hurricane was coming? (This is not a generalization and in no way do I mean that ALL African Americans think/act this way)

EDIT: What does the government owe them? If they owe them something then I better be owed something too because I live on the coast of the southeast and I get hit by hurricanes all the time. I'm smart enough to know that I should leave when they say to evacuate the area.

Answer 1

I disagree with your first answer, the government does not owe anyone anything. This was turned into a political thing because it was election time. Actually, the people responsible for the levys collapsing were the Levy Boards, who have been knowing about the condition of the levys for years. Then it is the responsibility of the local and state government to respond, and these were the entities that actually failed the people of New Orleans. It's not up to the Federal Government to do this....it should have been started at the City, Parish, and State level way before that hurricane even approached land, as they well knew that this was a major hurricane. I was affected by the second hurricane that hit Louisiana that year.....the one that everyone conveniently forgot about....Hurricane Rita. You didn't hear about any commotion from that one, and it caused just as much damage as Hurricane Katrina. Both were Category 3 storms. Many people whine about being uneducated, but make no attempts to get educated. There are government grants out that would let people go to college for free. I have to pay for my son's college, cause I'm not considered a minority. The days of people claiming about being a victim is long over. It will take some effort, because a college education, or even a high school education will not just be given to you.

Answer 2

Put yourself there, for one minute, and think what you would do, if you do not own any transportation, have the $$ to take an airplane, buses were only running in the city, how would you get out? The hurricane did not flood the city, it happened when the levies broke, that are managed by the US government and the state and local governments do not control that. Where would you place the blame. Try pulling up a website called levies around the world. Those pics may give you a different perspective on how our brothers and sisters, no matter what color they are were expected to survive with that kind of shoddy work and repair of the levies. To this day, there are people who still can not go home, were torn away from their families, lost EVERYTHING and are still paying taxes on their property. If they lived in FEMA trailers, they have to pay taxes on them, the land they sit on and if they own a home, on that too. Jobs were lost, where does the money come from? In my opinion, this is the government's way to weed out who they want in the city and who they don't. Sounds kind of racially biased to me. The government still has not done what is has in other areas of this country to try to rebuild. It has been over 2 years.

Answer 3

Many of the African Americans devastated by the hurricane had no way out. They were poor. They couldn't afford a flight, didn't have a car, perhaps had a car and couldn't afford enough gasoline to drive away.
It is difficult for people to imagine someone being abjectly poor when they don't have the same problem. That the response was faulty and that the floods disproportionately affected African Americans has been well documented. Here are some facts:
Whites who took goods like water, food, diapers, etc. were reported in the news media as survivors; while African Americans who did the same were called looters.
African Americans were also called "refugees" for a while; as if they are not citizens of this country.
You can check the coverage and decide for yourself. However, I believe your mind is already made up. I only answered because I am giving you the benefit of doubt that this is really an honest inquiry.
It is so easy to believe that people can always help themselves, but the majority of the poor and disenfranchised in our country are African Americans, undereducated, under served, under represented by the government, unappreciated as human beings. It is difficult to, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" when you don't have any boots.

Answer 4

Not sure if you've ever been to New Orleans, but you can't just walk out of the city. Not everyone could afford a flight out, not everyone owned a vehicle. Many people didn't no where to go. If your from New Orleans most likely all family live there too, that's just how they do down there.

As for the government, I'm not sure if they can be blamed for warning people, but as for the assistance after the fact it was pitiful. I pay taxes, so if something bad happens to me I expect the government to at least get a bottle of water and food. Our government can send assistance to other countries in a matter of a few days, but you can't help people who are literally just down the road.

As for the race issue. It may not have been, but it sure looked like a race and class issue. If it had taken place in a predominately white city, I guarantee they wouldn't have had the same problems.

Answer 5

No in basic terms replaced into it no longer the fault of Bush however the recent Orleans issues weren't led to by way of Katrina promptly, Katrina replaced into no longer a head on hit for NO. What led to the misery replaced right into a call made to construct the levee greater low priced, and not as sturdy as needed because of the fact it wasn't 'competitively priced'. Its humorous that once you hint it decrease back it does come right down to judgements made, and not the climate. The Governor of Louisiana did no longer do a good interest, yet he useful had no help in any respect from DC.

Answer 6

Because some minorities are obsessed with bad things that happened to their ancestors, and they think that if bad things happen to them now, it's because someone was out to get them. Basically, they're looking for racism whether it's there or not. It's really sad. I know slavery and segregation, etc. were really terrible, but that happened a long time ago. I wish people would realize that they are free now and not worry about the past.

Answer 7

Because of the mindset of certain people that the government is supposed to do everything for them. They've lost their sense of self, and have become whining beggars who do nothing but suck money from the system.

Answer 8

can you believe they are still paying there way i was in Rita and it trashed everything i own including my job, but i was back on my feet in just one month, this is ridiculous

added, they had a job fair just for them the city paid for four busses and only had seven people show up

Answer 9

because the government owes them something