ITOW Talk Towing Forum :: Your Online Towing Industry Community :: The Water Cooler :: Hurricane Response was Racially Motivated?

Does it piss anyone else off to see Jesse Jackson get on TV and say that the response to New Orleans was slow because it was mostly black people who needed help? :angry:

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After visiting a homeless shelter in New Orleans, Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, declared: “This looks like the hull of slave ship.” Race was “at least a factor” in the slow response. “We have an amazing tolerance for black pain.”

Asked if the Government would have moved faster if the lines of homeless had been white, Elijah Cummings, a Democrat member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said: “That’s a pretty good probability.” In an effort to rebut the charges, the White House dispatched Dr Rice to her home state of Alabama on Sunday, where she said: “Nobody, especially the President, would have left people unattended on the basis of race.”

I find this racist claim absolutely ridiculous, and I think it's ironic that the color of the population of the city hadn't even crossed my mind until JJ had the incredibly racist notion to accuse countless rescuers and relief workers of being racists themselves!

Who's REALLY the racist Jesse?? :talktohand:

Funny thing, Jesse didn't mention that the Mayor failed to follow his own evacuation plan, and had to be directed by the president to issue an evacuation order (which he didn't enforce) Clearly, this lack of concern must of been racially motivated as well, right Jesse?

I agree with you,and as far as the mayor he was dry and comfortable up on the twelfth floor of the sheraton in shreveport,but it doesn't make sense i think they failled all together,like when they showed an aerial view of all those school busses sitting parked,when they could of been used to evacuate people from the area,and fema they really screwed up with both new orleans,and biloxie and surrounding areas!And Bush wasn't happy with the responce either! :unclesam:

This is a post from a Merritt Island, FL, reporter who's been researching what went on before the storm hit.

I think all of Nagin's pomp, posturing is going to bite him hard in the near future, as the lies, and distortions of his interviews are coming to light.

On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of N.O. and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was destroyed.

President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act). Just before midnight Friday evening, the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet. After the President's final call to the governor, she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.

Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation. After a personal plea from the President Nagin agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration, the President declared the area a national disaster area before the state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations. Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can move into state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.

Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to N.O. for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal government for funding and published on the city's website was never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that they were.

The suffering people of NO need to be asking some hard questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining states. Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.

This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.

,thats rediculous then all those deaths could of been prevented if they would of heed the warnings a hell of alot earlier,they'll have to answer to a higher person for not listening! :veryangry:

The mayor's response to why he didn't use all the buses you see parked was he couldn't find any drivers. Now I know people like Bill and I who are ex-cops can drive a bus and the Mayor had 1200 polce officers there of who I think 100 could drive those 100 buses sitting there. He screwed up and the Governor screwed up but they all want to blame everyone else. It makes me sick everytime I hear all those people yelling we want money and food and a new home. I was flooded out three times and the last time in 1994 but since it wasn't a big media production we DID NOT get anything from anyone and lost everything we had. We selp in my old 1970 Ford van for two weeks and then another flooded out home that we cleaned up for the owner to live in. :wacko: