The Hard Truth: An obscene consideration

27th April 2011   ·   0 Comments

By J. Kojo Livingston, Contributing Columnist

Part II

Last week we began a discussion of how the political right has taken to judging how people react to disasters. Katrina was at the center of the discussion/debate a colleague of mine had on Facebook with two white racists. They were contending that Katrina survivors, (their codeword for Black folks in New Orleans), were stupid for not leaving before the hurricane brushed the city and were even more wrong for expecting the government to rescue or assist them after the hurricane. They claimed that people in Japan handled their disaster better.

Last time we questioned the arrogance of this entire avenue of inquiry and looked at why many people did not leave. That’s the lightweight stuff. Now let’s look at the more serious considerations and the evil, dishonest intent behind this new vein of attack.

There are two big things the racists who sit in judgment of Katrina survivors boldly ignore about that situation, they are:

CONSIDERATION NUMBER 3: The people that the racists mocked, those who were on bridges, rooftops, the dome and other places; like those of us who did leave, all faced and still face a horrible, life changing event. Most of those folks, like my family, lost all of their worldly possessions and more through no fault of their own. Their entire way of life was taken without warning, they lost loved ones. What about the stuff that’s not so easily measured? Where you worked, where you played, your social circle, where you worshipped, where and what you ate; all gone because of a government that did not handle its business in spite of years of warnings, which brings us to the final consideration…

CONSIDERATION NUMBER 4: The racists in the conversation, like their god, the Limbaugh, claimed that the people should not have expected the government to rescue or do anything for them. This type never has a problem with the same government going across the seas to “save” other folks hit by disasters. What these racists choose to ignore is that the primary reason people form nations and governments is protection. Whether it’s a hurricane or an invading army, people pay taxes so the government can offer them protection and aid when it is needed.

What they also ignored is the fact that the Katrina flood was not an act of a god. People were on those bridges purely because of negligence on the part of the government and the folks who left the barge out there. And that’s only if they didn’t really blow the levee…this time. Katrina was not a natural disaster, it was human-made. The U.S. government, led at the time by George W. Bush, ignored years of warnings that the levees were not strong enough to handle a serious storm. Bush was the last to divert funding for this work that could have saved a city, possibly for the same reasons other aid was denied or stalled…the victims were mostly Black and the governor was a Democrat.

In fact nearly every facet of this society that was created, paid and charged with helping the victims of situations like Katrina absolutely betrayed their trust. The U.S. government did not do a timely rescue or restitution. FEMA is still a four-letter word. The insurances companies refused to deal fairly with the people affected by Katrina. They literally ripped off people who had been paying them for decades by claiming that whatever damage they had was not covered. The non-profit sector went stone crazy, not only mismanaging donated funds but also trampling the dignity of those seeking help…and they were racist in the allocation of resources. I still contend that there should be a federal investigation, agencies should be forced to give refunds, even if it closes their doors, and somebody should still go to jail for malfeasance.

Interestingly, it was individual churches that showed real commitment to helping survivors. Across the nation, ministries stepped up offering food, clothing, temporary housing, permanent housing, counseling and other forms of assistance.

Don’t expect to hear racist conservatives expressing outrage at any of these factors because they are not committed to truth, fairness or justice. In every situation their first objective is to find something nasty For them compassion for the poor is out of the question. Why?

This nation and conservative/racists have victimized a lot of people both domestically and around the world. If you are committed to continued victimization and want to justify that behavior, at some point you have to make the victims the problem. Conservatives have carried this approach to an evil extreme, demonizing those who get smacked down by the components of this system. They are really striving to create a more animalistic society.

You see, it is both right and moral and human to actually care about people who are suffering. Mocking them is simply an evil thing to do. The desire to set oneself up as a judge over how others handle suffering is evidence of evolution in reverse.

The dark, hostile spirit that racists/conservatives are attempting to spread should be a serious concern to someone other than me. We have to confront that spirit and offer something greater to people in general. You can’t fight that spirit with a similar spirit and create something better. We’ve got to push a higher mentality and state of being than the racist/conservatives are spreading.

Next week we talk about how you can make a positive difference when (not if) the next disaster strikes anywhere on the planet and how to address the dark spirit that conservatives would like to see rule this planet.

Until then it’s your world…

Whatchagonna Do?

This story originally published in the April 18, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.