sagaciously is...

"...It's not a divide between the rich, the poor or the races. Quite simply, it's a disagreement between those who believe in institutions, and those who do not."

I sat in class for a while, fuming over this statement (and my inability to correctly complete a contribution cost balance sheet). The greater part of me was honestly like "oh, that's easy for yo a$$ to say. You're dry, still have your house, your job and your life..."

But as this story of Katrina and her victims develops, and as the "race" card continues to play out in the media, and as the victims are shuttled back & forth between the Red Cross and FEMA, from Houston to Galveston back to New Orleans then fleeing from Hurricane Rita back to Galveston, and as the finger-pointing spreads from isolated incidents into a plague, I'm starting to understand the merit in that statement.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm so not trying to blame the victims at all. But I'm thinking more of recovery, and preparation for the next event, and what lessons we can learn from all this.

In the "aftermath of Hurricane Katrina", "these institutions" failed "us": FEMA, the Red Cross, as well as the Federal government, and state & local authorities. These institutions were created specifically to respond to this type of situation, and all of them were found wanting.

And please note, when I say "us" - you can use whatever definition floats your boat - black people, poor people, low-class people, elderly & sick people, stubborn people, resourceless people, people with purple polka-dots. Whatever definition works for you. But for now, let's generalize this and just say "us" because it's really just people, and that's all we are.

But here's the rub - this isn't the first time the "gov't" or some institutions failed "us". We could substitute many things for those words in quotes:
~ In the "undereducated communities", "the educational institutions" failed "the undereducated"
~ In the "1980's recession", "the Reagan administration" failed "the poor, the jobless, the homeless"
~ In the "crisis of poverty", "the welfare system" failed "welfare recipients"
The bottom line is that we put an expectation on these "institutions" that they were unable to keep. Given that, should we continue to place our expectations, our fate, our destiny in "their" hands?

I don't have any easy answers and I can't offer any real solutions. I'm not suggesting we stop paying taxes, and stop voting. And being the capitalist whore that I am, I'm not suggesting a revolution (cause frankly I'm just beginning to benefit from my hard work, and don't want to forgo that to stage a coup). All I'm thinking about, on a personal level, is changing my mindset, so that when the next "crisis" happens to "us", the response doesn't catch "us" off-guard.

My hat goes off to Oprah's Angel Network, Heal the Hood.com and all the other "grassroots" organizations that are stepping in to plug this breach between expectations, and reality. Meanwhile, we should all do a reality check, and not only decide whether we'll continue to believe in institutions, but what we'll do about it.

...Now, as for me...can I get a refund on my Red Cross donation? hmph, coulda send that stack to TI & David Banner or a local church instead, yanno?