Was it a race issue when Katrina hit and US Government or FEMA didnt come to the aid of the people in the Super Dome?

Answer 1

AnswerI'm really sick of everyone blaming Bush for everything that goes wrong, especially Katrina. You answered your own question when stating that the mayor wasn't ready for such a catastrophe. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN! He's the mayor of a city that exists strictly because man-made levies hold back the ocean! For years there have been funds to repair and improve them, but never has that money been applied. The feds and FEMA took 5 days to respond because in our government the state's governor MUST REQUEST federal aid before the feds can act. SHE ALONE IS TO BLAME FOR THE RESPONSE TIME. This is why she is no longer governor of that state. By no means am I saying that once in the state it wasn't a cluster-you-know-what. FEMA was not ready due to complaisance, size, and lack of training. But every government, federal, state, local alike is just as guilty of that. By no means is this a race issue. It was a lack of overall preparedness on all ends of the spectrum, specifically at the state and city level. AnswerOf course it was racist, that area is mostly African Americans and they have been getting the finger for well over 400 years by the government. Why would they stop now. There are people there who still have no place to live and there are also families who are still missing family members. Thee government is treating this as if its no big deal. AnswerThat's a very debated question, but keep in mind that many white people died and lost their life's possessions. An entire city was affected, not minority pockets. The government was slow to act, but mainly due to poor management and lack of cohesion. It was the government of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana -- not the federal government -- that was responsible to its citizens to care and provide for them. They knew for decades that the levee system was no good but did nothing to fix it. They ordered mandatory evacuations too late and never enforced them. They failed to correct a notoriously corrupt police department and then had little help when officers fled or were actually involved in the looting. They were slow to provide medical and physical support, largely because none was set up. FEMA is a back-up system, not intended for front line defense. Most of the arguments for a racial issue came from the town's black mayor, the one responsible for assisting his citizens, after he miserably failed them.

Race and economics definitely played a part in the lack of response before and after the hurricane.

The majority of people living in the area have little or not transportation and live well below the national poverty line.

Although there is plenty of blame to go around, the ineptness of the federal government only strengthens the argument that this country is not prepared for a national disaster of any kind man-made or natural.

What happened in New Orleans would never been allowed to happen in Miami, Ft.Lauderdale or anywhere the rich and influential reside.

AnswerI am the person who posted this question and I'd like to thank you for your replies and agree with all of you. I am Canadian and have been following this particular subject. I do believe it is a racist issue. True, the Mayor of New Orleans did little to improve the situation for evacuation due to any catastrophe mother nature had to throw at them, but I do admire him for saying it like it was after Katrina. It was obvious Katrina was more than he bargained for and he was certainly not mentally prepared for it, but he did care. Most of us don't realize that little funding was given towards this project in New Orleans and that graft is everywhere there. Everyone knows that New Orleans is below sea level and the levees were not repaired or heightened, but I doubt that would have done the job anyway. The mayor announced in the program I watched that he couldn't get enough drivers for the many buses that could have helped evacuate. Why did it take FEMA 5 days to get to those people? I don't blame FEMA as much as the Bush Administration! Bush even flew over the devastated area (as usual) and did little else. Sorry to say, but this man looks like he's been struck by a cattle prod or he has a look of arrogance that he is God and will decide who should live and die. That's the impression many of us Canadians see.

I have since learned that although FEMA was small in stature it was quite the organization and had money for this type of problem. Then Bush had a buddy come in to slash back on different projects that were not needed and since few natural disasters had not occured at that time there was a complacent attitude. FEMA was added to the list along with much larger program cuts and lost in the shuffle and major cutbacks were made because it was concluded that FEMA was indeed bulging at the seams with a cache of money that could be used elsewhere.

I saw the program on New Orleans and the pitiful sights of dying children and the elderly not to mention the fear and terror in those people's eyes. It leaves me feeling sick inside to realize that any government could look at those pictures and then look at themselves in the mirror every morning. When a catastrophe such as this occurs in any country other countries come to their aid. Canada and other countries sent water, clothing, medical supplies and money so where did these go?

I not only think it was a racist occurrence, but genocide! What are the American people doing about this? If the government has committed a crime against these people who will be next! Canadians here are ticked right off (we have our own problems here as well) and many have written to the White House expecting answers. There is far too much of this genocide effect going on in this world (also in other countries) and the last time I looked the majority were the poor and black people. Remember "Africa .. the forgotten country!" The poor in general whether black or white get the short end of the stick. Time to change! The U.S. and Canada are wealthy countries no matter what our governments tell us. Just look at the taxes they charge us (do the math) and Natural Resources we each have.

In British Columbia we have little to no preparations for natural disasters because our province has little to worry about on a general basis and has become just too laid back. We get lots of rain here at times and some high winds, but nothing compared to what other parts of the world are dealing with. We are forcing our government to prepare better evacuation methods and give info where shelters would be for a natural disaster that could hit us at any time. Unlike the U.S., Canada is smaller and we have very little Army left (cutbacks) to help keep control during a natural disaster. We have a range of mountains in British Columbia that if one goes off it could cause a chain reaction and we are dealing with a "ring of fire." The people here realize that we can't go on forever expecting that a natural disaster won't occur. It has been predicted that sometime in the near future (so scientist say) we will be facing a Tsunami of our own and it will wipe out our Islands (such as Victoria, Sydney, etc.) and Vancouver, B.C. is not prepared. Yes, I blame governments.