New Liberalism

This is the last thing we need to be discussing right now. I found it interesting- very interesting, actually- that many of the newsies on television and in print began their coverage of Katrina buy criticizing the Federal Government's response to the the hurricane, saying that not enough energy was being expended on the rescue effort, and then launched immediately into an analysis of the “racial component” of the devastation while people were still suffering inside the city of New Orleans. Shouldn’t they have been focusing on the rescue effort, too?

And of course they were in the overwhelming majority of cases, but Bill Cafferty’s tirade and the constant presence of Jesse Jackson on television making analogies to the 18^th century slave-trade seem like something of a distraction, do they not?

The implication was a classic example of the latent or not so latent bias that runs through the news media: the rich white Republican country clubbers were doing nothing to help the poor black urban dwellers because they were indifferent, at best, or racist, at worst. NO Mayor Ray Nagin- who, I mention only because its relevant here, is black- was quickly held up as a martyr of sorts for his ravaged city, until most of the people holding him up came to their senses and realized that Nagin didn’t exactly do a whole lot before the storm to help out his constituents, either. The earlier charge just doesn’t hold up. The problem Katrina evidenced is much greater: there was a failure of government at all levels, and a failure of any individuals to stand up the way Giuliani did on 9/11 and take charge. Why didn’t Nagin send school buses to evacuate the residents he knew wouldn’t be able to drive? Why didn’t the Governor preposition the National Guard to move in after the storm and secure the Convention Center, the Superdome and the hospitals?

It wasn’t just that NO saw a transition from normalcy to a scene from Lord of the Flies, but it was the speed at which that transition took place. Instantaneous. That suggests- rather strongly- there was a complete vacuum of authority inside the city. No local power. No state power. No federal power. Total failure.

So race doesn’t seem to be an issue here. Yes, the overwhelming majority of victims of this event are black and poor. But the same could be said for the overwhelming majority of the citizens of New Orleans. And the city government- which failed the same group of people- is also an overwhelmingly black affair. Are they being accused of racism, too?

There are plenty of reasons to be angry at the Federal Government right now that have to do with Katrina, but I don’t think the racism charge sticks.

# posted by Mayflower @ 5:42 PM