| But if poverty was the proximate cause of the tragedy, then race – or more precisely, post-racism, was the proximate cause of the poverty. That’s the link that most people are missing. Most obviously, the poverty we are seeing is the result of past, public-sanctioned racism. There’s simply no other reason why the poor of New Orleans would be so disproportionately black. The much bally-hooed market hasn’t corrected the problem, as anyone with eyes can see. The consequences linger on, tracing back to the past public acts of discrimination for which America has never fully atoned. [On an aside, that’s why it enrages me to read boarding school crackers like John Roberts talk sarcastically of the “supposed” need for remedies to discrimination – especially in 1982.]
But if racial malice explains what caused the poverty, it doesn’t explain why America continues to tolerate it. To me, the reason also traces back to post-racism. Many people with power and influence (who are not malicious) simply grew up and currently exist in a segregated bubble that was created by past discrimination. They have no contact with minority communities. They have no knowledge of the poverty that continues to plague them. And they have no understanding of the costs and effects that certain policies will have upon them. This is the Roberts problem – to him, efforts against discrimination violate some abstract principle in the Borkian Wonderland in his head. To people in New Orleans, it means they can’t get housing. |
This is precisely the debate we should be having but aren't. Was the response to Katrina slow because of the race of the victims? No. Not only do I not believe that, there's no evidence to support that claim. But the explanation provided by Publius is dead on. Sadly, its one we're not likely to hear much, either from inside or outside the black community. And until we do, I suspect the national conversation on race will continue to provoke little change.
UPDATE: I've been very quickly reminded that one politician has in fact been speaking precisely this language: John Edwards. He said these words as a private citizen. Imagine if he had said them as president?
| Now every single resident of New Orleans, regardless of their wealth or status, will have terrible losses and life-altering experiences. Every single resident will know and care about someone who was lost to this hurricane. But some, ranging from the very poorest to the working class unable to accumulate a cushion of assets to rely upon on a very, very rainy day, will suffer the most because they simply didn't have the means to evacuate. They suffered the most from Katrina because they always suffer the most.
These are Americans some of whom who left everything they possessed behind in order to save those they loved. These are Americans huddled with their children or pushing a wheelchair between rows of those too beaten or weak to stand. In this moment, we have to remember they are part of us, Americans who love their country and are part of our national community. In this moment, it is hard because our hair is clean and our clothes are washed and our eyes are not glazed with hopelessness. But these are our brothers and sisters, and we have to remember this not just for them, but for us. We must finally recognize that when any of us suffer, we are all weaker; it affects us all. Commentators on television have expressed surprise, saying they think that most people didn't know there was such poverty in America. Thirty-seven million Americans live in poverty, most of them are the working poor, but it is clear that they have been invisible. But if these commentators are right, this tragedy can have a great influence, if we listen to its message. The government released new poverty statistics this week. The number of Americans living in poverty rose again last year. Thirteen million children -- nearly one in every five -- lives in poverty. Close to 25 percent of all African Americans live in poverty. Twenty-three percent of the population in New Orleans lives in poverty. Those are chilling numbers. Because of Katrina, we have now seen many of the faces behind those numbers. Poverty exists everywhere in America. It is in Detroit and El Paso. It is in Omaha, Nebraska and Stockton, California. It is in rural towns like Chillicothe, Ohio and Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Nearly half of the children in Detroit, Atlanta and Long Beach, California live in poverty. It doesn't have to be this way. We can begin embracing policies that offer opportunity, reward responsibility, and assume the dignity of each American. There are immediate needs in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and the first priority is meeting those, but after that, we need to think about the American community, about the one America we think we are, the one we talk about. We need people to feel more than sympathy with the victims, we need them to feel empathy with our national community that includes the poor. We have missed opportunities to make certain that all Americans would be more than huddled masses. We have been too slow to act in the face in the misery of our brothers and sisters. This is an ugly and horrifying wake-up call to America. Let us pray we answer this call. Now is the time to act. |
That is a speech that would have made America proud.
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