J 1,1 |Ja rtla n b (©hsrruer Page A4 September 7, 2005 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer O pinion Follow Disaster with Action Make jobs, housing top priority The fo llo w in g is a Portland good to the hurricane and flood zens should be the priority of our victims by providing real housing government every day. But too Observer editorial: The horrifying deaths and im and job opportunities. The long often politicians and corporate in ages of the thousands of people term goal for both victims and all terests slight the poorest Ameri left stranded and dying in the hours Americans must be a future that cans. Remember, it’s been tax cuts and days after hurricane Katrina brings gainful employment, horhe for the rich, protections for corpo devastated the G ulf Coast must be ownership and good educational rate negligence and dividing Ameri followed by action to el i minate w ide o p p o rtu n ities. T hese building cans based on moral values that disparities in America. This epic- blocks were missing in New O r have been the hallmarks of Presi disaster and the inadequate re leans and are m issing across dent Bush and the Republican ma sponse to save lives was not an America in many neighborhoods jority in the Senate and House of Representatives. left behind. equal opportunity killer. B ush’s response to the spec- Economic freedom for all citi- Our government can start to make tacle in the G ulf was im peach able. He continued his vacation in T exas during the early days of the disaster, congratulated fed eral officials who utterly failed to get help to victim s and falsely claim ed there was no reason to believe the levies in New O rleans would fail. Bush spoke more of support for Marshal Law and against looting then he did about saving lives and bringing the full force of govern Racism show ed its ugly head ment to the rescue of people dis placed and forced into disaster cen when the African Americans leav ing ran-shacked stores were d e ters of squalor. It was beyond belief to see moth scribed as looters while white resi ers trying to keep their babies alive dents were described as finders and others try to give comfort to o f liv e-sav in g resources. The sick and elderly parents and other term refugees was also disparag family members who lacked food ing to the U.S. citizens left hom e and water for days. The hype from less. It is our hope that this disaster is the news media to the hysteria of crime overshadowed the goodwill a wake up call for America. We need of thousands of people helping each a compassionate government and a smarter one. other through the ordeal. Everyone Must Help Hurricane Victims Poor African Americans hurt most by J udge G reg M athis Destruction and chaos is a fright ening reality for residents in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. On Aug. 29, Hurri cane Katrina, a Category 4 hurri cane, tore into the region, leaving nearly 80-percent of New Orleans under water and ravaging otherGulf Coast communities. Watch the evening news and you’ll see who has been the hard est hit by this disaster: poor, Afri can-Americans. These three states are among the ptxirest in the coun try, ranking at the bottom in terms of overall poverty and residents who live below the poverty line. Additionally, these southern states have large concentrations of Afri can-Americans; over 60-percent of New Orleans’ residents are black. While our hearts should go out to all of those affected by this trag edy, we as African-Americans are obligated to offer support to our brothers and sisters in need. When you consider that blacks, on average, earn less than whites, it's not hard to imagine that some blacks in the region were strug gling to make ends meet. If it was difficult to put food on the table, it will be almost impossible for many families to rebuild once it’s safe to return to their communities. Many will have no homes or jobs to go back to - the storm wiped away much of what they’ve worked so hard for. Before rebuilding talks even begin, these people - many with families - must first survive the next several months as dis placed citizens or ‘refugees’ as the news media has labeled them. Experts predict that this tran sient lifestyle will continue for the next several months; it will take at While our hearts should go out to all o f those affected by this tragedy, we as African-Americans are obligated to offer support to our brothers and sisters in need. least that long before New Orleans is habitable again. The havoc brought by Hurri cane Katrina will go down in his tory as one of the greatest natural disasters this country has ever seen. In December2004, an earthquake, followed by a tsunami, hit Asia and Africa, destroying communities and killing thousands. President Bush pledged $950 million in long-term U.S. support to help the tsunami victims rebuild. The American people donated money in record numbers, showing their compas sion by providing the funds neces NMBMMVKWHBaW Looting and America’s Poverty Crisis by E arl O fari H utchinson Two things happened in one day that tell much about the abys mal failure o f the Bush adm inis tration to get a handle on poverty in A m erica. The first was the tragic and disgraceful shots of hordes of New O rleans residents scurrying dow n the c ity ’s hurri cane ravaged streets with their arms loaded with food, clothes, appliances, and in some cases guns, that they looted from stores and shops. That same day, the Census Bu reau released a report that found that the num ber o f poor A m eri pole. They have the lowest media income of any group. Bush’s war and econom ic policies d o n ’t help m atters. His tax cuts redistrib uted billions to the rich and cor p o ra tio n s. T he Iraq w ar has drained billions from cash starved jo b training, health and educa tion program s. Increased A m eri can dependence on Saudi Oil has driven gas and oil prices sky w ard . C o rp o ra te d o w n sizin g , outsourcing, and industrial flight have further fueled A m erica’s poverty crisis. All o f this hap pened on B ush’s watch. The poverty crisis has slammed poverty num bers have steadily risen for not one, but all five years of his adm inistration. T here has been no sign o f a turnaround. For that to happen, Bush would have to reverse his tax and w ar spend ing policies, and com m it m assive funds to job, training and educa tion program s, and provide tax incentives for businesses to train and hire the poor. That would take an active national lobbying effort by C ongressional D em o crats, civil rights, and anti-pov erty groups. T h at’s not likely ei ther. The poor are too nam eless, faceless, and vast in num bers to The looting in New Orleans, though deplorable, put an ugly public face on a crisis that Bush administration policies have made worse. , cans has leaped even higher since young blacks hardest o f ail. Even Bush took office in 2000. W hile during the Clinton era econom ic crim inal gangs who alw ays take boom, the unem ploym ent rate for advantage o f chaos and misery young black males was double, to snatch and grab w hatever they and in some parts of the country, can, did much of the looting, many triple that o f w hite males. The tale o f poverty is more desperately poor, m ostly black residents, saw a chance to grab evident in the nearly one m illion items that they c a n ’t afford. They blacks behind bars, the HIV/AIDS also did their share o f the looting. rampage in black com m unities, That makes it no less reprehen the sea o f black hom eless per sons, and the raging drug and sible, but it’s no surprise. New O rleans has one of the gang v iolence that rips apart highest poverty rates o f any of many blackcom m unities. Then there are the children. A m erica’s big cities. According to a report by Total Com m unity O ne third o f A m erica’s poor are A ction, a New O rleans public ad children. W orse, the C hildren’s vocacy group, nearly one out of D efense Fund found that nearly 1 three New O rleans residents live m illion black children live not in below the poverty level, the m a poverty, but in extrem e poverty. jority o f who are hlack. A spokes T h a t's the greatest num ber of person for the U nited Negro C o l black children trapped in dire lege Fund noted that the c ity ’s poverty in nearly a quarter cen poor live in some o f the most tury. Bush officials claim the pov d ila p id a te d , and d e te rio ra te d erty num bers do not surprise housing in the nation. them . T hey contend that past But New O rleans is not an ab trends show that poverty peaks erration. Nationally, according to and then declines a year after the Census figures, blacks remain at jum p in new jo b grow th. But the the bottom o f the econom ic totem I W hen one o f us is flourishing, it is our duty to help another who is suffering. N o m atter your in com e level, you are able to give - after all, you are doing much b e t ter than those in Louisiana, M is sissippi and A labam a. To offer support, contact the Red Cross, A m erica’s Second H arvest or O peration Blessing. Judge Greg Mathis is chairman m ust contribute, to ensure that the blacks affected by this disas o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board ter are able to bounce back and and a national board member o f once again becom e active partici the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. pants in society. target w ith a sustained lobbying campaign. W hile the N A A C P ham m ers Bush on the w ar, and his d o m estic p o licies, p o v erty has not been th eir top priority. T he fight for affirm ative action, econom ic p arity , p ro fe ssio n a l a d v a n c e m ent and busing re p la c e d b a t tling po v erty , re d u c in g u n e m p lo y m e n t, s e c u r in g q u a lity ed u catio n , p ro m o tin g se lf-h e lp and g ain in g g re a te r p o litic a l em pow erm ent as the goals o f all A frican -A m erican s. T hat e ffe c tiv e ly le ft the one out o f four black s th at w allow below the o fficial p o v e rty level out in the cold. T he lo o tin g in New O rlean s, though d e p lo r able, put an ugly p u b lic face on a c risis that Bush a d m in istra tion p o licies have m ade w orse. The m illions in A m erica that grow p oorer, m ore d e sp e ra te , and g reater in n um ber, are b it ter testam en t to that. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a p o litical analyst and social issues commentator from Los Angeles. sary to recover from such a trag edy. Now that the catastrophe is on our soil, we must dig even deeper. A fric a n -A m e ric a n s esp ecially I1,t JJortlanb (Ohsururr Established 1970 USPS 959-680 __________________________________ Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland. OR 97211 Charles H. 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