From Gulf to Gulf

[Christian Nelson]

An analysis of the discourse related to this event could really serve 
to cast a light on race/class relations in this country. Like the 
others who've posted on this thread, I've been struck by the class/race 
disparities in the government's (non)response to this disaster. (As 
another example, I learned that all the hospitals were quickly 
evacuated EXCEPT for the public ones, which serve the local poor, and 
which were only evacuated when their situation had gotten so dire that 
the administrators gave up begging the Louisiana Governor, etc. for 
help and called a radio station to air their grievances.) Those 
disparities are clearly reflected in the media's discourse about the 
people trapped in New Orleans--for instance, many of the reports of 
"looting" I've heard turn out to be about people breaking into 
cafeterias, etc. to find food. I find it hard to call this looting when 
engaged in by people who are running out of water and have gone without 
food for days, and when the food and drink involved will be uselessly 
spoiled LONG before anyone can retrieve it in order to sell it (a 
process that would take weeks if not months by all accounts). I hope 
someone has the time and inclination to analyze this discourse in order 
to expose the depths of racism and classism in America. Having said 
that, I think some historical perspective might focus light on where 
that racism and classism is deepest. In that regard, I think I'm 
remembering correctly that Bush Sr.'s loss to Clinton was in some part 
attributable to the poor performance of his FEMA director in response 
to another but smaller disaster (in fact, I think it was another 
hurricane--Hugo in '89, but I could be misremembering). Further, I 
recall that Clinton was hailed for appointing James Lee Witt to head 
FEMA, as he was only the first FEMA director who had any professional 
disaster relief experience. (Witt proved his worth by reforming FEMA, 
and the Clinton administration went on to distinguish itself for its 
responsiveness to natural disasters.) On the other hand, it might also 
be useful to recall the words of Marilyn Quail (the wife of Bush Sr.'s 
Vice President), who had chosen disaster relief as her pet project. If 
memory serves, when asked about her experience with disasters she said 
she didn't have any because she hadn't been "invited" to one--as though 
these were cotillions.
--Christian Nelson