Hoosiers echo accusations of racism in Katrina relief

Black leaders from the Rev. Jesse Jackson to rapper Kanye West have accused federal officials of racism and classism for standing aside while Hurricane Katrina claimed the lives of poor black people in flooded areas of the Gulf Coast.\nEric Love, IU's director of diversity education, agrees with this characterization.\n"People need to speak out about their feelings to those of us who are in denial," Love said. "People who don't see it very easily, I want them to grapple with the images and answer the question, 'Do you think racism and classism wasn't involved in the lack of immediate federal response to Hurricane Katrina?' I really hope the people in charge of preventing and responding to the suffering in New Orleans are held accountable for this. To me, that's blatant racism, and the failure was on the federal level."\nAfter the eye of the hurricane swamped New Orleans the morning of Aug. 29, entire neighborhoods were consumed by the saturating effects of broken levees.\n"Those who believe that we live in a virtually colorblind world would argue, and probably genuinely believe, that race had nothing to do with the actions or lack of action regarding the New Orleans tragedy. Those who believe that race still matters would argue that race, though covertly and indirectly, played prominently in the decision that allowed the disaster to happen in the first place," said Lawrence Hanks, an associate political science professor, via e-mail. "It is important to realize that many of the victims of Katrina were already severely challenged individuals who led heroic lives simply to live each day. Yet, because of human nature and the nature of the busy lives that most of us lead, this tragedy is not at the forefront of our thoughts."\nPresident Bush flew over the city aboard Air Force One to assess the damage a few days after the storm as dead American citizens were loaded into the back of pickup trucks or floated atop highway overpasses, as seen by worldwide television audiences.\nBush administration officials met with leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Saturday to resolve public charges of racial insensitivity, which prompted NAACP President Bruce Gordon to issue a cease-fire on "finger-pointing" until "every life has been stabilized and every life has been saved." \nLove called for a congressional hearing after the deceased are collected to hold accountable those responsible for their untimely deaths. He also called for a renewed national dialogue to determine where the nation stands as a whole regarding race relations because racism and classism almost always intersect.\n"Poor people are often perceived by the middle class as having no voice or human value. The situation gets even worse when racism and classism exist in a society," Love said. "There is no excuse to allow people to die. We want to blame the victims by saying there was too much violence, but if they had food, water and medicine they would have been less violent. If they wouldn't have had to walk through crap, sewage everywhere, they wouldn't have had to steal tennis shoes."\nAlabama native and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the president against charges of overt racism Sunday while she toured damaged communities in her home state.\n"Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race," she said to The Associated Press.\nEarl Ofari Hutchinson, a national political commentator, said most media coverage has thus far reinforced negative stereotypical images that emphasize blacks as criminal and their behavior as deviant. He said the depiction of displaced persons as refugees underscores the reality that American citizens are desperate and in need.\n"There is a tendency for far too many to minimize the suffering of the neediest people because it is placed against a backdrop of black people out of control," Hutchinson said during a telephone interview. "Really, the major point is a breakdown and utter failure of federal, state and local governments to address the crisis. It makes no difference if a person is black or white, sympathy should be across the board."\nHanks said he thinks the relief response from all communities across the country is profound, although he questioned why the public doesn't support improved everyday efforts to empower individuals out of poverty rather than financial donations during publicized tragedies.\n"Perhaps this tragedy will call attention to the poverty that continues to exist in many urban areas. It is unfortunate that in the year 2005, in some instances, African Americans were portrayed as 'looters' and whites as individuals who had 'found food,'" Hanks said. "The fact that there is a racial divide over whether or not race mattered regarding the possibility of preventing this tragedy, as well as the response to it, is strong evidence that blacks and whites continue to view reality decidedly differently."\nIU junior James Coulter said he can't articulate words to express how he feels about the week-long suffering that occurred in New Orleans.\n"Nothing like this has ever happened so I can kind of understand why the government failed to respond. On the other hand, you have to say 'If this would have been a terrorist attack, why didn't the government respond quicker?'" he said. "The best thing students can do to sympathize is to imagine your hometown is completely wiped off the map and you can't go home"