Jackson Free Press

This is the first time I've written since The Storm of the Century hit the Coast. This has bothered me more than not sleeping in my own bed, as writing is my own form of sustenance. I've been a "displaced person" since Monday. I'm not quite sure when I will be able to return to my house, as I will probably be one of the last people to get power. During the storm, a 150-year-old oak tree fell on the power lines in my front yard. Minus it being one of the scariest moments of my life, it also means there is a lot of work to be done before I am restored on the Almighty "Grid."

I can live with that. I can live with that because I have friends that are willing to house me as long as I need. I have clothes, food and water. I am one of the lucky ones.

I'm usually pretty handy to have around during an emergency. Not only do I have some bizarre sense of super-calm that takes over when something like this occurs, I have a grown-up job that is usually involved in humanitarian efforts after a disaster like this hits. I have been involved in those efforts since I was able to return to work.

In the seven years I've been involved in social work, I have never before seen suffering such as this. I think people around the country are echoing this sentiment. There is a dumbfounded disbelief that clouds my thoughts about this tragedy. It seemed even more surreal to me because Katrina came to land on my birthday. Next year, my birthday will mark the one-year anniversary of the worst natural disaster to ever hit our country. It seems fitting it will also be my 30th.

When I was able to watch news regarding the storm, I, like many people in the country, was incensed about the situation in New Orleans. But unlike Bill O'Reilly, I didn't see looters, or rapists, or murderers. I saw people pushed to their personal limit who were surviving. I saw people trying to feed their babies and take care of their sick. I saw people watching those around them die, and wondering if someone was coming before they too succumbed.

I became disgusted to hear President Bush say there should be "zero-tolerance" against people who broke the law during this emergency. This disgust wasn't because I don't understand the need for civil order, but because there are times when social rules are necessarily thrown by the wayside so that you may live. I saw a government so out of touch with its people that an organized relief effort fell flat. I saw a government painting thousands of poor with the strokes of their own misfortune and calling the color "not worthy."

Like millions of other people around the country I saw people, who could not afford outrageous gas prices that would have allowed them to flee the city, blamed for their "personal decisions to stay in the path of the storm."

These weren't "personal decisions." Most of these people stayed because they had no other choice. There was no government plan to care for the people who were unable to leave. There was no plan for people who had no choice but to stay. These people counted on their officials to tell them where to go to stay safe. This faith was misplaced and caused hundreds to die waiting for the trucks that took four days to appear. Last time I escaped to the colorful streets of New Orleans, it took around three hours.

I will never forget silent scenes of young mothers holding babies, tears streaming down their faces, digging through trash to find something to feed their tiny charge. In the country that has become the symbol of all that is Christian and Holy, I saw us tell our poor they were less than the "least of my brothers."

In a country that has not seen war inside its borders in more than a century, we were staring in the face of thousands of African-American children and telling them we could not send food. We were telling them we did not know they existed and that we never planned for their survival. We traumatized an entire generation of children and their parents who placed their faith in us, their country men, their fellow humans. How can they ever trust us again?

I am a white person, and I am going to say, unequivocally, that the only reason those people were left behind was because they were poor and black.

We should be ashamed of how we pick and choose our worthy. We should be ashamed that we are teaching our poor they do not deserve to be saved. We should be ashamed of each body lying in the streets of New Orleans that only succumbed after the storm for lack of food and water.

We should be ashamed that in those tiny black faces we did not see our "Jesus."

In this country, in this time, this is unacceptable.

Ali Greggs is a social worker in Jackson and a columnist for the Jackson Free Press.

Previous Comments

ID

70686

Comment

Louis Farrakhan chimes in with a sober look at the real cause of the levee failure in New Orleans: Sabotage by white people (Who else? Duh!!): http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/091205-ad-wcnc-farrakhan.4fb21767.html

Author

grinder

Date

2005-09-13T16:12:11-06:00

ID

70687

Comment

Yeah, I can do without Farrakhan personally. But remember that the extremists are out to encourage the rest of us to find each other despite our differences. ;-)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-13T16:14:32-06:00

ID

70688

Comment

Sorry, apparently that link requires a subscription: Farrakhan visits Charlotte's Katrina shelter, criticizes federal response 07:13 PM EDT on Monday, September 12, 2005 By ANNA CROWLEY / 6NEWS Farrakhan visits Charlotte's Katrina shelter, criticizes federal response Minister Louis Farrakhan was in Charlotte Monday to rally support for his Millions More March. However, he did have some choice words about the response to Hurricane Katrina victims some of whom are staying at the Charlotte Coliseum. Farrakhan's been traveling across the country to visit shelters like the one that is set up at the coliseum. He said he's not happy with the job the American Red Cross is doing. He had harsh words for FEMA too. But that was just the warm up. Farrakhan also shared his thoughts on how the levee breached in the first place. "I heard from a very reliable source who saw a 25 foot deep crater under the levee breach. It may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry," Farrakhan said. Gilton Balanos lived in the very neighborhood Farrakhan was talking about. "I think that's ludicrous," Balanos said. "When this happened we were caught by surprise. Individuals, the government and everybody were caught by surprise." Farrakhan also said that the Red Crossí response to the disaster was inadequate. Red Cross Spokesperson Pam Dagle said "there was no basis for the criticism." As for the issue of how the Red Cross spends money and on whom, Daigle said "the Red Crossí books are open for anyone who wants to see the audits, who wants to see how we spend money." "I'm sure some good is being done, but not enough to answer the cry." Farrakhan said. Some evacuees who spoke to 6NEWS said they support Farrakhan and his look into what happened in New Orleans and other affected areas. President Bush said Monday that Hurricane Katrina did not discriminate and neither will recovery efforts.

Author

grinder

Date

2005-09-13T16:20:41-06:00