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
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