Wednesday, September 07, 2005
A Message from Anne Rice
"To my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs.
Well, we are a lot more than all that. And though we may seem the most exotic, the most atmospheric and, at times, the most downtrodden part of this land, we are still part of it. We are Americans. We are you."
go here and read her whole article
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Good for her, I say. I used to live a couple of blocks from her in New Orleans. She had a really pretty, understated little house.
I find it undeniable a notion that the response wasn't as strong and immediate as it would have been if certain other parts of the country had been the ones affected. Surely that's more an unconscious national bias than a conscious one, but it's a bias nonetheless. And while Rice's comments about dismissals and failures may be a bit hyperbolic, I think we can forgive anyone directly affected by the devastation a little exaggeration and frustration.
I think everyone's comparing this to 9-11, and how the response there was immediate, people jumped into it with both feet, that very day. With New Orleans on the other hand, it seemed like people thought about it over the weekend, and by Tuesday and Wednesday decided to volunteer. It took a while to get into full swing, and for all the people swimming through nasty sewage water, that isn't fair. They had days without food, shelter, and no one helping them out, no one appearing to care. I don't know why it took so long, I don't really think that it's because "Bush hates black people;" people are just hurt and upset that when they needed help there was no one to help them. I don't blame them for that.
Most people (not involved) just felt this huge wave of helplessness, and no one knew what to do. It took a while before someone told us what we could do...
I'll step off my soapbox now...
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Most people (not involved) just felt this huge wave of helplessness, and no one knew what to do. It took a while before someone told us what we could do...
I'll step off my soapbox now...
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