From: Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM
Date: Fri Sep 02 2005 - 09:27:21 EDT
Hi Howard:
Thanks for raising the issue for discussion. All too often, explanations
of "natural disasters" concentrate only on the natural forces involved
and ignore the ways in which social relations contribute to the devastation.
After I graduated from NYU, I spent the better part of a year living in
the French Quarter of New Orleans. It is horrifying to see such a once
beautiful city and people drowning and immiserized.
The comparison with Cuba is interesting and relevant. A few quick points:
1) The City of New Orleans, as I'm sure you all know now, was built below
the level of seawater. It has been known for a long time now -- certainly
for at least several decades -- that the existing system of levies could not
cope with a major disaster. Yet -- despite repeated calls for federal
funding for upgrading and re-design of the infrastructure -- there were no
serious attempts made to change the existing system and develop realistic
contingency plans. Reasons why included the budget priorities of the
federal government and, I believe, racism (see below). In any event,
given this history I was floored yesterday when, in an interview with Diane
Sawyer for the TV show "Good Morning America", G.W. Bush claimed
in response to a question about why federal aid had been slow in arriving
that "no one could have predicted" the breaking of the levies! Quite
remarkable! -- especially since all of the news coverage in the days
_before_ the hurricane hit emphasized the real possibility that N.O. could
be partially or entirely flooded!
2) For the most part, the people who stayed behind in N.O. after the
evacuation began, were poor -- primarily impoverished African-Americans.
The reason for this, in large part, was that the costs of the evacuation
were not borne by the government but by individuals and those who did
not have private transportation (cars) and financial means were most often
the ones who stayed behind. Additionally, the poor in N.O. and on much
of the Gulf Coast lived in homes which were uninsured (and often
uninsurable). Many of them must have felt that the only way of protecting
their belongings was by staying behind. Here another comparison to Cuba
might be worthwhile. If a city in Cuba was evacuated, the residents would
have reason to believe that no one would privately appropriate their
belongings while they were gone. The people of N.O., however, had no
reason to believe this -- that is, except for the wealthy, who knew that
whatever security and police forces that were left behind would 'prioritize'
and seek to protect their interests and belongings before those of the
working class poor.
3) Is it too cynical a claim to make that the major reason that federal aid
has been slow in arriving to N.O. -- and why many thousands of poor people
remain trapped in the City -- is because the majority of those in desperate
need are poor and African-American? I think not. It has been estimated
that there will be over a half-million refugees from the City and
surrounding parishes -- all of which will need long-term assistance. If
many of those people die then that decreases the "surplus population"
and the financial responsibility of the government to provide for their
needs.
"What has happened down here is the wind have changed.
Clouds roll in from the north and it starts to rain
Rained real hard and it rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline.
The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright.
The river has busted through clear down to Plaquemines.
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline.
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're trying to wash us away
They're trying to wash us away.
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're trying to wash us away
They're trying to wash us away.
President Coolidge come down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The president say. 'Little fat man isn't it a shame
what the river has done to this poor crackers land'.
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're trying to wash us away
They're trying to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're trying to wash us away
They're trying to wash us away
They're trying to wash us away
They're trying to wash us away."
-- "Louisiana, 1927" by Randy Newman (1974)
In solidarity, Jerry
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