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KATRINA CHRONICLES PART 3: Politics, Race, Class Laid Bare
By: Mr Kevin J Walker
September 07, 2006
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 No Forum
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The politics of deprivation driven by race, class and connections were shown vividly last year during the Katrina disaster, with ramifications from ward politicians in storm-drenched Louisiana and Mississippi, to the very steps of the White House.
And it seemed some Blacks were more equal than others when the floodwaters rose, as veterans and wannabe political stars all made beelines to the Gulf, and in front of the nation's media cameras as we continue to recount the news wires and analysis of the time... 
Katrina Chronicles Anniversary of historic hurricane's devastation show problems with restoration of Gulf area, direction of a major American city Part III-- Politics, Race Laid Bare from Katrina Disaster ------------------- Part I – Katrina Devastates Gulf; Govts Powerless as Millions Affected Part II – Chaos and Confusion in a Black-Run City Part IV – A New American Pompeii? Political Analysis By Kevin J. Walker
Netitor of the Word Netpaper
An Online Journal of News Analysis, Popular Culture Critiques and Commentary mailto:thewordnetpaper@excite.com
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WalkerWorld Politics Sep. 08, 2005 BUT YOU DIDN’T HEAR THIS FROM ME:
* Is New Orleans The New Pompeii? Should US Rebuild New Orleans For The Next Disaster?
* Mayor Roy Nagin Could Benefit From “Rudy Guliani Syndrome” And National Exposure
* Condi, Colin, Obama, Jesse, NAACP & CBC Come To Stage As World Looks On
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Milwaukee Wis USA ------------------
These are articles and news feeds that were written while the disaster unfolded a year ago. They are being presented again just as they were, except for spelling.
“There’s a house way down in New Orleans / they call the Rising Sun...“ -- Rolling Stones As New Orleans is under Mandatory Evacuation orders issued by its Black mayor, the fallout after Hurricane Katrina begins in earnest with politicians jockeying and elbowing for media face time; contractors are eyeing billion dollar contracts as a potential quarter million homeless, or due to be resettled in four states, ponder their future. The news of the human, property, psychic and political damage of Hurricane Katerina is dominating all else, with other news vainly trying to bogart into the limelight. The destruction of large swaths of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, parts of Alabama and Florida, and the submergence of four fifths of the city of New Orleans is very much an Africans in America crisis. The images are being beamed into every home and over much of the world of what used to be America’s second largest population group in a genuine crises of nature and compounded by the foibles of bureaucrats and the loss of civility of a severely stressed population. The goings on and the 24 hour news cycle is feeding images that are beyond anything cooked up on reality TV, and the added appeal is that is really real. No electricity, so bank ATMs don’t work, even if people could swim down to them. Cities find their populations swelling as a steady stream of refugees/evacuees head Anywhere But Here. Women’s rights as a concept is laughable, and the handicapped and those with medical conditions like diabetes or in need of dialysis realize that in a less technologically advanced and caring world they would as well be in the Middle Ages or in a jungle somewhere, where life is nasty, brutish and short. For those of African Descent, they’re getting a small taste of what their ancestors must have gone through post Emancipation when they were turned out of the plantations and mansions. They were free, but free to do and be what? Its like an episode of TVs “Lost” except its real, and new showings are everyday with an extended run that won’t be canceled anytime soon. We see the images of the looters/borrowers/survivalists; and the affected and the disaffected who are predominately all low income people now, even if they weren’t before their city and coastline was covered with several feet of water brought inland from the Gulf of Mexico. RACIAL POLITICS: The racial dimension is starting to rear up, much as the firefighter sculpture brouhaha at the WTC Ground Zero in Manhattan when the brotherhood and Kumbaya moment passed when a Black firefighter was included in the sculpture when in reality they were all white, and there were protests at the political correctness and attempt of multiracial inclusion. The use of terms is part of the racial mix. “Refugee” as a term has set some off. Jesse Jackson as expected has joined the fray, telling a crowd in high and dry Baton Rouge that the primarily Black victims “are citizens, not refugees” in some far off foreign land. Not even Black people are being the respect they should have as citizens.
HUNGRY WHITES “FIND” AND “BORROW” THEIR FOOD “Looters” as a label being applied to photos or footage of Black people looking for food from stores has been contrasted with captions of Whites “finding” or obtaining food. On the Yahoo! News pages there are two photos that show the stark labeling. There is a forum post on http://www.Salon.com with Whites weighing in on the controversy, as well an earlier one on “Put the N*s in the Superdome” that mostly dealt with sensitive Whites upset with another’s use of the N-word. DEFINITION OF TERMS - “REFUGEES” OR EVACUEES?” We hear the nit-pikking over language, whether the traditional definition of “refugee” is used, or the United Nations and political version which apparently upsets some since they think it denies citizenship to those whom a semantics debate is the furthest thing from their shell-shocked and traumatized minds as they seek refuge from the elements and are evacuated by the authorities from a destroyed city and region. But just for the record, here the terms are used interchangeably, although I prefer the passive term “evacuees,” which is certainly apt as the more than 1 million displaced from the region try and get their minds around whatever is to become of them as their world was turned upside down, blown aside and then drowned for good measure. I’ll bet they couldn’t possibly care less what they are called, just help them is all they want and need. Food, clothes, shelter, safety and security, and sleep. They see the images of Roy Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans, an unlikely leader even when the former cable company executive was surprisingly elected two years ago. He is in a position to become the same sort of political icon that New York Mayor Rudy Guliani did after September 11, when he took charge of a devastated city and a psychically scarred and scared population. Now they’re talking of running Guliani as a GOP presidential candidate against New York Senator Hillary Clinton who is expected to make a run for the Presidency in 2008, if she can just get past Condoleeza Rice. (Keep reading, and remember: you didn’t hear any of this from me!). NAGIN COULD RIDE THIS TO GREATER HEIGHTS Nagin’s initial outbursts could be forgiven and may even be politically and personally beneficial. Such moral outrage at the sluggishness of rescue operations for his city, and his move Heaven-and-Earth attitude from an elected leader is something the American people could respond to. In other words, Nagin could be in the position of being catapulted onto the national stage, which was something Philadelphia Mayor Nelson Goode was being groomed for when he dropped a deadly firebomb on his own city and people during the MOVE standoff in 1992. Vice presidential candidate at first, then upward from that was the plan. Now, Goode is a shamed and virtually exiled figure because not even White people want someone who would show such reprehensible and spineless bad judgment, and the Democrats have been looking for a personable Black male proto-candidate ever since. Sen. Barack Obama has been trying for some Post Katrina face time, but as an Illinois official three states away that would be difficult and a bit impolitic, and only shameless self promoters such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton even try and do things like that! (But you didn’t hear that from me!). SEN. BARACK OBAMA COULD SEIZE STATESMAN ROLE There is a possible opening for Sen. Obama. His fellow Illinois Congressman Rep. Dennis Hastert has said something that is on many thoughtful and forward looking minds: that New Orleans shouldn’t be rebuilt for human habitation at the bottom of a flood prone bowl caught between a 40 mile wide lake, an erratic Mississippi river, and the tides of the Gulf of Mexico, which just happens to be the world’s largest. Sen. Barack Obama could act as the statesman and be the Good Cop, taking on his fellow stater and so elevate his profile. And if you don’t think this has occurred to he and his people, then you lack the cynicism and mistrust necessary to be a political analyst and commentator! Mayor Nagin could be a future Congressman or even US Senatorial candidate with his now elevated profile. Since it will be months before New Orleans is ready for even the partial industrial rebuilding that some are starting to advocate instead of moving people back into a dangerous low-lying death trap, there will be many months and opportunities for the loquacious Mayor Nagin to remain on the national and media scene. JESSE JACKSON FLIES IN, READY FOR HIS CLOSE-UP Rev. BabyDaddy, I mean Jesse Jackson, has of course inserted himself into the fray, fighting the effects of jet lag from visiting with the president of Venezuela, and mediating without being asked about the recent controversy concerning an utterance by the fellow Reverend Pat Robertson musing that it might be better for America to knock off the troublesome but freely elected South American president. If there are TV cameras, media notepads and microphones around then you can bet Jackson will be winging his way there, using the personal jetliner he received from the Democratic party as a bribe so he wouldn’t run for president again, then not get the nomination and cause Black voters on which they depend to stay home and coast them another national election, meanwhile scaring off their needed White voters. This is why there was the excellent quote by an astute African American observer of the Washington scene: “Jesse Jackson is just like a Terrorist. All he wants is some money and a plane!” (But you didn’t hear that from me!) CONDI RICE ASSUMES LEADERSHIP ROLE IN DOMESTIC CRISIS Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State appeared on the syndicated Michael Reagan radio show out of southern California to talk about the federal efforts to repair the south central and Gulf Coast areas after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina a week before. The Black woman with the Homegirl first name who could end up being the first female elected to the Presidency of the United States has been prematurely but providentially thrust into the domestic arena. The offer from more than 40 nations to aid in the relief for Hurricane Katrina is within the purview of America’s Prime Minister, which is how the rest of the world views what we call our Secretary of State who deals with other countries. Those who are looking forward to a matchup between New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice are slavering at the prospect, and this was a good test of Condi’s skills which brought her into a domestic crisis where ordinarily a Secretary of State wouldn’t even have a stateside part. Michael Reagan: “You’re from Louisiana, aren’t you?” Rice: “My father is from Louisiana. I am from Alabama, and its a part of the country that I know well,” said Rice. Although known as a Californian, Condoleeza Rice is originally from Birmingham, Alabama, and knew the girls who were blown up in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which was a local meeting place and beehive during the Civil Rights Era in the early 1960s when a White man, grinning and nodding and seemingly friendly to the trusting Black people and sympathetic to The Cause, placed a powerful bomb against the outside wall next to the area where the girls changed their clothes to sing in the choir. Another famous Black woman noted as a Californian who has parallels with Condi Rice but went on a different track was Angela Davis, also from the city the locals at the time nicknamed “Bombingham” and who also knew the 4 little girls. Davis’ life and philosophy went on another way entirely, but this event had an effect on both women’s development. This could make an interesting article itself one day about these two women from similar Black Middle Class backgrounds whose paths widely diverged. One working within the system and achieving positions of power and authority, becoming as much as a woman can become The Man. The other, an activist against the very system and at one time advocating its overthrow. FOREIGN AID TO AMERICA: Even foreign countries are jumping in to help. Above, the refused Russian offer of shooters and rescuers was already covered. Germany was among the first countries to offer their help along with Canada. Surprisingly, Venezuela has offered more than a million dollars in aid, and discounted its oil, of which it has plenty. The president of that South American nation was connected with a mini-controversy late last week after TV evangelist Pat Roberts of the 700 Club called for his assassination, then recanted and apologized. • El Salvador offers peacekeeping troops,
• Sri Lanka offers monetary help;
• China sends oil from its strategic reserves,
• Australia offers disaster aid
• Israel offers care kits and trauma units POWER/ENERGY: Venezuela and Nigeria supply most of the nation’s oil, which is one of the several reasons why people wonder at these overnight price spikes for gasoline that is already in the ground beneath service stations when the countries of the Middle East undergo tension. But Hurricane Katrina has made her presence felt in the oil platforms and refineries of the Gulf of Mexico, whose operations were severely curtailed. The platforms were evacuated earlier of all personnel, with some ending up ashore, so gas prices will go up until they are brought back on line. Prices will be affected as petrol supplies are getting pinched, with cities already being told they will get no new shipments of gas. In Atlanta gas prices already have hit $6.00 per gallon. The energy infrastructure has been damaged, and the shock and awe of the extent has added to the building notion that the old New Orleans shouldn’t be rebuilt much if at all, except for the industrial infrastructure. Most of Wisconsin’s natural gas for instance is piped up from Louisiana. COLIN POWELL MAY RE-ASCEND WORLD STAGE AS ‘RECOVERY CZAR’ Colin Powell’s name has been floated as a person to head a cabinet level recovery department for the Gulf Coast region. Rice’s predecessor in the Secretary of state position is another person who could walk into the GOP presidential candidacy for the asking. Powell’s stature remains strong; the former general and head of the Joint chiefs of Staff and commander of the Pentagon, was a reluctant but effective prosecutor of the first Iraq Gulf War. And it was he who cautioned Bush the Younger on getting involved in Iraq with his referencing of the Powell “Crate and Barrel Rule:” ”You Break It, You Bought It.” People can’t but be reminded daily of his foresight. He discouraged a “Draft Colin Powell” movement for the job in 1992 and 1996 until he made it clear that he wasn’t interested, even though people tried to prevail on his sense of duty insisting that his country needed his services just this one last time. But even this old soldier can’t mollify his wife Alma who is reportedly fraught with the idea that he’d be assassinated if elected. Besides, he makes millions as a speaker and consultant. (But you didn’t hear that from me!). As a former military man -- if there really is such a thing -- Powell could get things on and cracking down in Louisiana, since a military presence and frame of mind is what is needed on the ground. The process of delivery coordination of services and even fighting the local domestic version of the insurgents is something that calls for Powell’s particular skill set. They wouldn’t last long, and people also remember what he said coldly about what he was going to do to Saddam’s army and vaunted Republican Guard: “First we’re going to cut it off, then we’re going to kill it.” Don’t play with that man! Powell’s participation also would go a long ways toward integrating a multi-city response to something like another September 11th terrorist strike, which this natural disaster exposed has severe shortcomings. On 9-11 police and firefighter radio frequencies didn’t match, so they couldn’t even communicate and coordinate with each other. GENOCIDE SET UP DRESS REHEARSAL? Coast To Coast AM regularly features researchers and gadflies on subjects such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monsters, Crop Circles, Weather Control and Flying Saucers. But often some of them are scientists, political observers and former military intelligence personnel or consultants, and they bear an ominous diabolical warning: They say that plans are being hatched to depopulate the planet to a mostly European Descended population of a half billion people after tailoring racially tailored Ethnic Bio-weapons carried by SARS, Bird Flu viruses and others, and that in America FEMA would be the main instrument to herd terrified Black and Brown peoples for detention and disposal, after faked mass inoculations that would actually be the opposite. The overwhelming images of the herding of Black victims are akin to a dress rehearsal to a stages disaster that would cause the voluntary massing of Africans America for a 21st century “Final Solution” and the culmination of a 500 year old goal. Dr. Sam Yette warned about just this development in his book “The Choice.” Novelist John Williams likewise tried to warn people indirectly in his fictitious “The Man who Cried I Am” with the long-whispered about “King Alfred” contingency detention plan for the decapitation of the country’s African American Black leadership, and its combat trained Black troops, much like the Indians before them. The images of New Orleans natives who were prevented from leaving after they reported for relief at the Superdome, and the food-less convention center have reminded people of this threat of Genocide. ------------- NEXT: These are articles and news feeds that were written while the disaster unfolded a year ago. They are being presented again just as they are, except for spelling. This includes such as the erroneous information proffered by the mayor of new Orleans and even his police chief on the supposed carnage happening inside the Superdome. I make no apologies for the errors while as many others we were caught up in the unfolding drama. If the city leaders say people are getting killed and raped inside their city; Junkies crazed under withdrawal are running amok; and street gangs are shooting police; the media would be inclined to take their official word for it. In a media conference we'd be using them as our informed sources because we'd think with their inside access they knew what they were talking about. Silly us. There will be another series of such articles near the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, again presented just as they were of that awful day and the aftermath. (If there is any doubt, just go to the original stories in the authors link by clicking Walker's picture above the stories). We also will be including something we call Terrorism Video Views, or movies with a tie-in to terrorism or similar disasters, such as Denzel Washington's "Under Seige" when multiple sleeper cells wreak disaster after disaster upon NYC; and homegrown terrorists in "Arlington Road" with Jeff Bridges who uncovers a middle class terrorism cell led by Chicagoan Joan Cusack and Tim Robbins, in the government-hating Timothy McVeigh mode. http://wordnetpaper.tripod.com
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Our Partner:Kevin Walker
Mr. Walker is a print journalist who often includes Science and Travel articles among his forays on political and societal observations. A past professor of Journalism at his Alma Mater of Marquette University, Walker has written extensively for several newspapers on urban issues, and is presently compiling his essays on the phenomenon of intractable trans-generational familial poverty into the book in progress "The Culture of Poverty," based on his observations on the effects of Welfare Reform in his hometown in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He often writes from an Undisclosed Location in the Hidden Valleys retreat inland from the Mississippi River in western Wisconsin, where he indulges in his first intellectual love, amateur Astronomy and stargazing.
Milwaukee, WI, 53202
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