16 September 05
My sadness is so minor
In comparison to so many people across the country, my sadness surrounding the Katrina hurricane and the devastated gulf region (and in particular my beloved city of New Orleans), my sadness is inconsequential. But it still sits with me.
I’m still angry and sickened by the lack of response by the federal government, the downright bungling by FEMA (while paid contractors of the government toured the city of New Orleans looking for survivors who couldn’t leave their homes, 600 Illinois firefighters who were volunteers sat outside the city playing football and using up the rations they’d brought with them. These people wanted to get to work and help people. But instead their help was declined while the federal government paid contractors to do the work.
I’ve heard people say that we couldn’t have been prepared for this properly. And they’re right to a degree. But once it happened, we could have jumped to action much faster than we did. We didn’t leave New York City floundering in dust for 5 days before we got rescue crews to them. And a rescue on land is far different than a rescue on water, but we have a Navy, we had an aircraft carrier located a few miles from the Superdome which sat their unused. We didn’t leave 600 (or more, can’t find out how many aid volunteers from other states were turned down) firefighters playing football in New Jersey while paid contractors of the government went around Manhattan rescuing people from buildings which had to be closed up due to structural concerns.
We had food, water, rescue dogs, military, blood drives, and much more happening the next day. And this is the part that still bothers me, the part that disgusts me, the part that gives me nightmares. And whether we didn’t mobilize faster because the government is inept, or whether we didn’t mobilize faster because George Bush really does hate black people, or whether George Bush just hates poor people, or whether George Bush saw this an opportunity to take control of a city based on sin and remold it in his Christian image, I don’t know. And I don’t care. But it was wrong.
And out of all this wrongness, I’ve seen huge signs of hope. I’ve seen people give money who don’t normally donate, I’ve known people who drove to the area to rescue hundreds of pets which evacuees had been forced to abandon. There are people who are making quilts and blankets for folks who are likely going to spend at least part of a winter in Chicago. And the generosity is touching. But we know that the trickle down theory just doesn’t work, and the trickle up theory is a complete joke. I see the generosity at the local levels and the individual levels, and in some places at the state level. But I see bureaucracy at the national level. FEMA’s website doesn’t even let you access their help pages unless you’re on a PC running Internet Explorer.
So two weeks later, my anger still grows. Two weeks later, Andrew and I are dreaming and scheming and trying to find a way to help regrow the city that doesn’t bankrupt us. But we want it to succeed. We want it to keep the flavor and the tone it had before, the sense that made it original and made us fall in love with it. And my largest fear is that Bush is going to take charge of the rebuilding at the national level, when I feel it should be done at the local level.
The federal government will squish the flavor of a city. If the mayor, community groups, and New Orleanians are given power to rebuild their city they will hire local folks to do the rebuilding which will keep money in the region far longer than if the likes of Halliburton and Blackwell are hired to do the rebuilding. (Although I imagine the strip clubs would continue to boom, since they’re currently still in business.) The mayor, who’s last name in “Nagin” Mr. Limbaugh, not “Nayger” as you oh so quickly quipped repeatedly”, has stated publicly that he’s been left out of the loop on the rebuilding efforts. And I wouldn’t be surprised. If FEMA can confiscate tree-trimming trucks owned by private companies in Hattiesburg (because there might be price-gouging if they let these companies continue operating), then the federal government can take over management of a city rebuiding effort.
On a good note, I finally got word that Ingrid Lucia a wonderful musician from New Orleans who both deepens and soothes my desires to be in New Orleans, escaped safely although she still has no word what condition her house is in. She’s eagerly waiting a return date. I now know that everyone I know in that area was able to leave safely and will be able to return. I just hope they want to return.
To help musicians in the area who lost their studios and possibly their musical equipment, consider giving a few bucks to Pianos for Katrina. I don’t know a lot about them, but if Ani Difranco says their stand-up folks, then they deserve a few more bucks once I can spare them.
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