Everyone piled on me the other day both here at Blogcritics and at my blog about this post and this post, saying what a horrible cretin I am and that I'm headed straight to hell, etc., but over the last couple days, I'm seeing the Katrina hypocrites at their best.
"Sure we'll give y'all some money, but you refugees go back where you came from. Huh? Oh, yeah, you can't do that. Well, you can't stay in my backyard."
The other night Barbara Bush, America's white-haired sweetheart, remarked that it was "scary" to have all of these refugees coming to Texas. This was after she told us that camping out at second base in the Houston Astrodome was preferable to living in their own piece of sheet homes back in New Orleans.
And now the people of Texas are buying guns to defend themselves from the very people they were reaching out to the day before yesterday. And they're not shy about telling what they think of these intruders. One angry listener who called in to a Houston radio station slapped down state Governor Rick Perry for freeing up unconditional funds for those afflicted by the disaster. "Why don't they give them a shovel to go work somewhere in return (for) the aid they get?" the listener asked.
Hell, yes. The last time I got plucked off my roof because of water up to the upstairs windows, you best believe I had to be back to work on Monday, even if I was coming from another state. And when my father died in the swirling waters? I just grabbed a shovel and got back to work. That's what us honest white folk do!
So, do you love the poor black people or don't you? You can't just love 'em from afar, you gotta welcome them in to your neighborhood if you really mean it.
Article comments
1 - robert
You try to love, but when the refugees arrive and they start a riot at the local stores, throw rocks at passing cars at night at the top of a hill on a local highway out of town. On the way home today, I see police from all over the county headed to a crime scene, in a neighboring town, and hear on the scanner of some kind of death, probably due to them, as the dogs are out looking and the victim is flown to the hospital. I have not seen in this part of the state in a long while, I'm pissed too. I don't think they are all like that, but we live here for a reason, and bringing people that care less for the peace and just want to vent on us is bull shit. Take them back to the roof tops if this is how compasion is repaid.
And by the way, I work in a mostly black city, they all are more prejudiced than we are and they own the city, but I get along just fine with most of them.
It seems they just want to blame it on the white people. I worked my butt off to have what I have. If the black people would just let it go and do there jobs whithout all of the blaming for there own failures, then society would get better. But because of this catastrophy its all about black and white again. Blame yourselves for not getting out when you could instead of wrecking every town your shipped to, and not even looking at what you have been given. Give me a reason to Love them, as they throw rocks at me, when I gave too!
I don't know if they are black,white,mexican or what, but this is gods country and the hell waters have apparently broke. Take them to places that are use to that kind of people as they need special attention.
2 - Eric Olsen
it's only about race secondarily, it's about class: I think most Americans of all races would rather have black middle class people living next door to them than poor white people. Many middle class and up people think poor, uneducated people don't share their values, and in the broadest sense, they aren't wrong
3 - steve
I get along with all races. It is sad when people judge a person without getting to know them. I dont care if you are black,white,brown,yellow, polka dot...doesnt matter. someones personality is what counts. if they have values and integrity...then thats all that matters.
4 - Dave Nalle
Blunderford seems to be getting reports from a different Texas from the one I live in. Around here everyone seems to be welcoming the refugees, helping them get long term housing and jobs, and hoping a reasonable number of them will stay and get better jobs and lives than they had in Louisiana.
Dave
5 - Eric Olsen
attitude is pretty much everything
6 - big fee
Reading what Robert wrote makes me very sad.
I am a black woman. My husband is a black man. I have a 1 year old black child. We are upper middle class.
What Robert wrote just confirms what I've tried all my life to push out of my mind -- that racism is alive and well in America.
It's sad that I'm going to have to explain to my child, in this day and age, that people like Robert will think he is less intelligent, civilized and important simply because he is black.
I wish I could move to Mars because there's no place safe on this planet for a black child.
7 - Baronius
Where does color enter into this? I wouldn't give a penny to black people or white people; I made a contribution to people who were flooded out.
8 - Barry
"I wish I could move to Mars because there's no place safe on this planet for a black child."
The most dangerous places to raise your black child are probably in black neighborhoods or a country in Africa.
9 - Timmy
OK, so everybody is racist, now what? Is that the conclusion you are trying to get to? What's the solution? What can people do to change peoples' hearts? Is the answer Jesus?
10 - Blunderford
What people can do is stop voting for politicians whose main goal is to give tax cuts to the rich and tell poor people to pull themselves up from their bootstraps, all the while making it more and more difficult to get a decent education that could help kids escape or decent work that actually pays enough to help adults move beyond urban poverty.
Some people will always be poor -- but if you don't think we have so many poor black people because of institutional racism and policies that work against the poor, you are fooling yourself.
Jesus might be the answer if he was around to set people straight and remind them to help those less fortunate, but likely Jesus would get Swift Boated and his miracles derided as publicity stunts if he were alive today. Don't wait for Jesus to change things.
11 - Eric Berlin
Interesting comments. I do think we're starting to shift from a race-based to a class-based society, which you see evidence of in various ways. Of course, racism is still a deplorable blight on the United States.
12 - Victor Lana
Mostly everyone I know has done something for the victims of Katrina. This can be as easy as writing out a check, throwing spare change into cannisters that are everywhere in stores and shops, and donating needed food goods.
A local restaurant (one of many in the NYC area, I might add) donated ALL of last night's proceeds to the effort. We all ate and drank and knew every penny was going to the cause.
Also, my neighbor, a regular working stiff, just gave up a few days' pay to lead a volunteer effort to send clothes, toys, water, and food. Neighbors from every building on the block were packing the truck before it rumbled out of town (completely full, I might add).
Color? These people were of all colors helping people who needed help. That's what love is all about, Charlie Brown.
13 - Anthony Grande
The strategy of the Democrat party is to give the poor minorities enough to make them able to eat (welfare) but not to give them enough to rise out of poverty. This is because as long as they are in poverty they will need the Democratic Party and continue to vote for them.
This is also the same strategy that Mao, Lenin, Castro and Chavez have used to gain complete control over their governments. They got support of the poor majority and got the power which led to burning the constitution and all of the people's rights. The poor stayed poor, but the rich also became poor and the government became amazingly rich.
Now the only thing that seperates the dems and the commies are that in commie countries the poor were the majority. Now all that we need here is a few million people to become poor and the democrats can take the entire Senate, Supreme Court, Presidency, Governorships and Mayorships which would eventually lead to a single party state (Communism) and eventually lead to no more elections.
To know history is to know the future
14 - Bennett
Yo sweet sixteen - What? You post the same comment on every thread you come across?
You are THE cut and paste Master, eh?
What a waste of an American teenager.
15 - Anthony Grande
No a waste of an American teenager would be one that is on drugs, becomes a parent before 16, doesn't know how to talk right and drops out of high school. I despise people like that but you liberals love them because you know that they will vote DemocRat. It all fits into comment #13.
Liberals love an uneducated America and I am smart enough to realize this.
And Bennett I know you probabally don't have any kids of your own, but stop refering to my age because I am much more smarter than you.
16 - Cecelia Brown
It amazes me the vile thinking some folks have and the limited thought process of the folks spuing such ugly thoughts and I bet they call themselves God fearing Christians.
Why is it that everytime a Black Person talks about INJUSTICE they have been subjected to, Some uptight white folks and some uputty Negros gets upset and tell us to stop complaining.
Whether you want to face the fact that this very America whose STATUE OF LIBERTY states says "GIVE ME YOUR TIRED ,YOUR POOR YOUR HUDDELED MASSES YEARNING TO BE FREE." This America has TIRED POOR AND HUDDELED MASSES OF BLACK PEOPLE YEARNING TO BE FREE NOW, NOW NOW.
EVERY DAY YOU SEE IT [injustice] . YOU KNOW IF YOU WOULD JUST OPEN YOUR EYES AND YOUR MINDS TO THE DOUBLE STANDARDS THAT EXIST IN THIS COUNTrY. A blind child can see the terrible circumstances of the lackadasical approach to Huricane katrinia. Yet the Sunammi drew us in droves. Is this just imagined or is it the truth. 911, the oklahoma bombing drew people in droves to help, is this imagined or is this the truth. The faces look different but the response was the same. Government presence was everywhere. Hurricane Katrinas devistation has done the worst damage in Americas history. The faces were mostly black for those who lived through the devistation; Governments presence was nowhere to be found. Am I imagining that or is it the truth. Was that Injustice ,you make the call when you take your blinders off. GIVE US YOUR TIRED YOUR POOR AND HUDDELED MASSES. WE ARE THE TIRED YOUR POOR YOUR HUDDLE MASSESS YEARNING TO BE FREE...
17 - Jive T
Hey Robert....kiss my royal BROWN ass. I work just as hard as you do and my father served in the US Navy to fight for freedom for your lame ass so shut the hell up. Why don't we take you and put you in a place with a bunch of white hooded guys around a burning cross and see how much fun you have.
18 - Bennett
"No a waste of an American teenager would be one that is on drugs, becomes a parent before 16, doesn't know how to talk right and drops out of high school."
I agree with you on that one, my teenage idol.
"I despise people like that but you liberals love them because you know that they will vote DemocRat. It all fits into comment #13."
Anthony, cutting and pasting a comment to multiple posts is just plain lazy, and not respected by adults.
"Liberals love an uneducated America and I am smart enough to realize this."
That is just plain stupid. Or juvenile nonsense, or naiveté, take your pick.
"And Bennett I know you probabally don't have any kids of your own, but stop refering to my age because I am much more smarter than you."
What does having kids or not have to do with my knowing your history here on BC, the general rabid lameness of your comments, your lack of education on most matters and your abject denial of the truth on other matters, and your age being a factor in all the aforementioned shortcomings that cry out that yours is a voice that should be ignored, or countered at every turn?
Your fantasy world is beyond my reach. Dream on young Anthony. One day you will learn the truth
19 - Baronius
Cecelia - Do you really see racism when you watch the news about Katrina? I see a local government that was more inept than NYC in 2001. I see a different type of crisis than Oklahoma City or 9/11.
But mainly I see water. As bad as September 11 was, or Homestead FL a few years back, they didn't have all that water. I (and millions of us) know that I couldn't hop in my car and go help the people in the Delta out.
I can think of a couple of things that could have been done differently, but I can't imagine that skin color was behind the mistakes that were made.
20 - D.C.
The politics of divisive hate from the left, as they find a way to inject race.What do you expect from the party of Howard Dean?
21 - steve
cecelia...you are right. americans are all racists. that is why we helped the ASIANS during their great tsunami.
makes perfect sense.
diplomatically, we forked over 500 million...didnt get as involved in cleaning the mess up. if we had gotten involved, it would have been as time consuming as the clean up of New Orleans.
congress just approved nearly 100 times that to clean up the huge mess down in New Orleans. so dont tell me that america is loaded to the gills with racists.
either way, america was positively involved in assisting millions of refugees. thank president bush, along with his excellent cabinet.
22 - Shadjaxx
I have a lot of different views on these topics.
My first view is that I agree with the idea that everything is mainly based on class and then race. I think Authorities(those at the top of the class pyramid) try to distract of from paying attention to methods used to get in and/or stay in a certain class. The fact is there are more blacks in the middle or lower class than there are in the higher class. There are more whites in the higher class that possess political power or are in leadership positions. I think this is one of the reasons blacks blame whites for decisions made. Think about this. The lower class (lets say those on welfare) may become comfortable with what is given to them by the government. Not because they are happy but because they live for survival. Low-income housing and guaranteed money every month may suffice for whatever circumstance they are in. (lets suggest they have a child or siblings to take care of and cant find the time to finish school or the money for the sitter,maybe they are helping a single parent) The situation could be anything. They are somewhat excepting of public assistance for survival. Then we have the middle class who along with the lower class is being taxed but more of their money is coming out of their checks which slows them down on climbing up the class latter. This way both classes are suppressed while the high class people hold offices or authority and make or approve laws that benefit them. As an example a large percent of people who are in poverty are in Jail or have been in Jail. As we know Clinton signed off on a law that no longer allows criminals to get their education in jail. I know there are reasons like a prinsoner may learn something and use it against authorities. I thought on of the puposes of jail is to create better people suited to live among other citizens. If most of these prisoners are minorities where will they be in terms of class even years after they get out. Where might there children be. I'm not saying they aren't accountable for their crime but what have they learned, and after taking away from society what do they have to give back if they have not been educated. Even when I went away to college I found that the public schools that I attended that were in predominately black neighborhoods had not prepared me as much as my white schoolmate had been who attended public schools in a white neighborhood. Their experiences and opportunities were different from mine. Anyway, I believe class played a big factor in the Katrina crisis. Those who had the money were able to get out because they had the vehicles to drive and may have even had a place to go. Those who were in poverty did not have the means to leave. The majority of people who lived in poverty there were black. That is why the majority that died there were black. I do blame the government because they were under warning that Katrina was coming and they knew the worst that could happen. They responded to Florida's crisis and to the Tsunami with urgency.