Thought Mechanics and the politics of race

One of the places I like to visit on the Net is called Thought Mechanics. The site has a liberal slant, but socially, I’m liberal. I’m only conservative when it comes to government robbing me of massive portions of my income stream. Thought Mechanics is usually thought provoking, even if I often disagree. The text below is in response to an article by April Spreeman wherein she tries to make a case for the argument that no one cares about New Orleans because the victims are black. I think she’s way off base. Read her article and my response below if you have an interest.

April: My response in italics and bold.

I think you’re vastly oversimplifying this situation in a very insulting way.

If it is your ideology to believe that ignoring (denying) the fact that right now, accutely poverty stricken blacks in New Orleans are victims of 1) The Hurricane 2) The crooked politicians and 3) The rich whites (and blacks) who could give a damn less about poor blacks, then I respect that, but I do not agree. Part 2 and part 3 are the results of institutionalized racism that usually is followed by discrimination in the actions of prejudice.

a) Poor white people get treated just the same as poor black people in this country

I am interested as to who taught you this. From what I am reading, this is simply an ideology, and not a reality. Poor whites still have the advantage of white privledges that blacks do not. If you still do not believe this, and end up replying to this comment in question, I’ll go ahead and type an excerpt from a very good book that can explain the situation in far more detail than I can currently. If you search for “white privledges” on the thought mechanics search engine, you will find an interested essay regarding white privledges and what they are, if you do not know what I mean.

I’ve been a poor white person, and I base my statement on that experience.

b) New Orleans has been below sea level since it was founded.

True, I cannot argue there.

c) The federal government was not intended by the founders of this nation to be the solution to every American’s problems

The founders of this country are long dead, and they used to be slave owners, oh… and believed that black men were 3/5ths of a person… oh fiddlesticks, but we are not supposed to discuss race… that’s oversimplification. Wait! Ahh yes, the entire country developed money-wise via on the backs of slaves!! We wouldn’t even enjoy what we enjoy without the benefits of having people work for free… is that what you meant by our founding fathers?

Oh come on April. The South may have had an economy based on slave labor. The entire Carribean perhaps. But the Northern portions of the U.S. never had an economy based on slavery. You’re overstating the importance of that institution. If you want to have a historically based discussion of slavery, let’s also include white people enslaving whites, Arabs enslaving Caucasians, black selling other blacks (which is still happening today), etc.

The founders of this nation were certainly far from perfect. But they created the best system of government that humans have managed to date, and we’re working to destroy it. Yes, we have made some improvements, and for every one we’ve made at least two mistakes.

d) The leadership of New Orleans could have done a much better job of evacuating the city

I did not address this in my article, and perhaps I should have. I question though, how much revenue could have been generated by Louisiana considering it happends to be one of the poorest states in the U.S.

I don’t know, but I’ll bet you if I did a complete study of the city and state budgets, I’d find lots and lots of waste that could have been redirected to levees or moving the city to higher ground.

e) There was a mandatory evacuation order which was largely unenforced and ignored

This is not an accurate statement. Indeed, people were asked to leave, but the poor blacks did not own vehicles. New Orleans happends to be one of the cities in the U.S., with the least amount of people who own cars. Go to that link at democracynow.org, and watch the streaming video there to get a better picture.

Well, the elected government of the city certainly failed those constituents who didn’t own private vehicles. I’ve seen a photo today of hundreds of school buses sitting in deep water. I also read the tale of a 20-year-old resident of the city who’d never driven a bus but managed to get one out of the city. Why weren’t those idle buses used to evacuate people?

The city of New Orleans has been in danger for hundreds of years. If it is rebuilt, it will prove what I already know – we humans tend to be arrogant and self-deceptive about the nature of our own existence and it’s fragility.

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