~J. Palmer, Warminster, UK: "In times of disaster and desperation, it is the ability of those involved to pull together that defines the outcomes for the survivors. There has been a clear failure in New Orleans at all levels of American society. While those in positions of authority must be called to account for their failures over the coming days, there is also a need for America as whole to try to understand what the collective failure illustrates about the American way of life."
I've watched more footage than I intended to, because (frankly) I couldn't pull myself away from the TV. I felt guilty, for being fine, and being blessed, and not being able to do more. I watched Sheperd Smith on the bridge overpass in New Orleans, near the convention center, calmly, methodically and logically picking apart all the excuses FEMA, President Bush, and other political analysts used to explain the delay of aid to the "refugees" of New Orleans. I watched Geraldo Rivera walk thru the crowds, touching the sick & elderly on the shoulder, picking up dehydratred babies and pointing their crying faces toward the camera to elicit an emotional response that would possibly make people understand the gravity of the situation. I watched them point toward the dead 2 ft away, I looked at the dead bodies floating in the rivers of NewOrlean's streets. I watched exhausted and hysterical New Orleans cops rant about the lack of organization, I listened to Ray Nagin go the f&*% off about the lack of federal response, I listened to Bill O'Reilly/Sean Hannity editorialize about the causes, the effects and the blame. I've read a half dozen message boards, US and international, where common people are asking the common question: Why?
Why did the evacuees have to wait so long to be evacuated?
Why was the federal response delayed?
Why was their no communication between state, Federal and local law enforcement in the early stages of this disaster?
Why didn't people leave?
Why did people, the elderly, the sick, the babies...why did they have to die?
Why were funds to the Army Corp of Engineers cut?
Why weren't the levies strengthened?
Why did _______ (insert gov't official here) do _________ (insert inept, ignorant or illogical activity here)?
At the end of the day, we'll all be asking more questions than we'll ever have answered. Months & years later, when the immediate needs are being met, we'll vote at the polls, or we'll rant & rave all over again or we'll decide to start a revolution, and maybe that will come to fruition. Or maybe it won't.
But.
My hope (out of a myriad hopes, most of which are that the death toll is less than expected, and that people are reunited with their loved ones....)...my hope is that we all reexamine our stance, our values, our morals our priorities. Our compassion. Our integrity. Our patriotism. Our collective conscience.
As J. Palmer so eloquently and succinctly illustrated, there is something deeply and inherently flawed in our collective social conscience. We came together and were so benevolent, briefly, after September 11th. And now this..this shows what a farce that benevolence actually was. The average American has mentally lined up to take a side on the racism/classism issue that Katrina's aftermath has highlighted, and they've probably basing it on where they fall on the class/race model. Or their politial leanings. Or their tax bracket. Or whatever.
Lawd, help me...I'm rambling...but I have a point.
I believe that the divide between the have's and the have-nots has widened so much, that neither side can even imagine the other's. A poor person in American can no sooner imagine the daily life of a person with money, power, or prestige, than a middle-class (not even rich, not even well-to-do!) person can imagine why "looters' or "thugs" would shoot at rescue helicopters. We watch each other on TV, and expect that we know each other, but we don't have a clue. And that cluelessness has robbed us of our empathy and compassion. This, this allows Michael Brown to basically say "well, they should've left when we told them to" and the looter to say "well, they ain't trying to get us out anyway, they're just rescuing the rich people...so ain't nobody getting out this bytch and I'mma take whatever I want. When civilization fails, I've got the power". Not excusing either, not siding with either, those are just the facts that lie openly for us to see.
This, more than anything that has happened in the last few days, terrifies me.
