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Race, Katrina, and Republicans

By TChris, Section Huricanes Katrina and Rita
Posted on Sun Aug 27, 2006 at 08:27:41 PM EST
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by TChris

Racism -- or more broadly, intolerance based on characteristics of race, national origin, religion, and sexuality -- remains one of the most compelling challenges confronting the United States. The anniversary of Katrina drives the point home.

To live in the real world is to not be shocked when learning about how relief trucks passed by East Biloxi, a predominantly black community, to get to D'Iberville, a predominantly white middle-class community.

To live in the real world is to understand why the Red Cross station in East Biloxi barely served food, had no mobile health-care unit and was located in a depressing run-down building, while the Red Cross station in D'Iberville was pristine, well-stocked with food and supplies, and a full-service mobile health-care unit.

To live in the real world is to understand how land-snatching developers seized the opportunity to gentrify communities of color out of existence in New Orleans and Biloxi, and how citizens born and raised there had no voice in where they lived.

Republicans offer no attempt at racial harmony. As this summary at Crooks and Liars establishes (to which this post by mcjoan at Daily Kos adds), conservatives lately seem emboldened to use language that signals hostility to diversity. Pat Buchanan frets that people living in the United States who aren't of western European ancestry might eventually outnumber those who are, as if white folk have an obligation to protect their majority status (get out there and procreate, white people!). Can conservative Republicans offer nothing but comtempt to those who don't come from a conservative white Christian background?

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    • Race, Katrina, and Republicans | 3 comments (3 topical)
    Re: Race, Katrina, and Republicans (none / 0) (#1)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sun Aug 27, 2006 at 09:07:52 PM EST
    Nothing has changed and it will happen again. In fact, we are only accelerating our transformation to a third world country these days. The economists call it "globalization" but a better term is "the race for the bottom". The hurricane exposed us before the world for the fraud we are and get used to seeing a lot worse in the future.

    Re: Race, Katrina, and Republicans (none / 0) (#2)
    by jondee on Sun Aug 27, 2006 at 09:44:29 PM EST
    Can conservative Republicans offer nothing but contempt to those who don't come from a conservative white Christian background? Yes. Absolute loathing: if along with those other deficiencies they also happen to be impoverished. Otherwise, a little eleventh hour campaign contribution or tithing's been known to go a long way.

    Re: Race, Katrina, and Republicans (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Sun Aug 27, 2006 at 11:26:17 PM EST
    Sorry, this is all democratic lies. Rascism only exists because lefties refuse to forget about this, to let the dead bury the dead. LMFAO. Even our resident suthner, the poker player, self proclaimed resident of the south, will probably admit to the deep and almost incureable rascism rampant throughout the "South"... Been there (physically in the south that is), and been victimized by whites... Any whites from the south who claim rasicsm is a liberal, northern, elitist construct is an idiot, beyond that... s/he is a deluded fool... Sad really... This story, like all other stories cementing the reality of white privelage is in no way surprising... Except to whites, of course.

    Race, Katrina, and Republicans | 3 comments (3 topical)