Feds' racist exaggerations re Katerina (NEWS)
- Thread starter D Town Redd
- Start date
why are you blaming the feds instead of the same media you're posting.
the feds didnt say black people were raping little girls in the superdome. the media did.
the feds didnt say black people were shooting at rescue helicoptors. the media did.
the feds didnt say black people were looting while white people found. the media did.
the feds fucked up alot but its best for you to get into the habit of putting blame where it deserves, and the portrayal of blacks as animals during hurricane katrina was done by the media.
the feds didnt say black people were raping little girls in the superdome. the media did.
the feds didnt say black people were shooting at rescue helicoptors. the media did.
the feds didnt say black people were looting while white people found. the media did.
the feds fucked up alot but its best for you to get into the habit of putting blame where it deserves, and the portrayal of blacks as animals during hurricane katrina was done by the media.
Mayor Nagin and police Captian Compass both repeated that stuff they heard, and the media reported it. Push the blame all the way back to where it belongs.
Although I fuckin' hate the concept of this with a passion, I gotta agree with Greed on this one. It was the media, the local pols and actual survivors rumor mongering about shit they didn't see first hand that caused all of the false stories. I would give the media the lions share of the blame since they fed a lot of the stories to the other parties invlved, but that's probably the ONE thing the Feds DIDN'T completely fuck up in this whole situation.
I'm still curious as to why I've heard from several people who were there that there were bands of rednecks in pickups on a "snipe hunt" in N.O., but the media has still managed to ignore the story other than one vague "Cowboy" reference on CNN.
I'm still curious as to why I've heard from several people who were there that there were bands of rednecks in pickups on a "snipe hunt" in N.O., but the media has still managed to ignore the story other than one vague "Cowboy" reference on CNN.
I don't think you can lay blame on anyone effectively. The hurricane victims didn't know what was going on, there was lack of communication other than word of mouth, and that by itself quickly leads to inaccurate reports. They expressed their concerns to the authorities, who were far outnumbered and incapable of policing the city with their stretched resources. The authorities pleaded through the media to get help, citing what they were told of what was going on. The media reported what they heard from the victims, and what they saw first hand (of course, everything was upgraded slightly because ratings are more important than the truth).
There were no more or less false stories after Sept. 11th, and they had an intact infrastructure. N.O. was a situation where someone needed to step in and take control, and Nagin didn't have the authority, he had control of the police, who were in the same situation the other victims were in.
Basically, there is really no good place to put the blame, and now, it's a moot point because that part is over, and the focus should be on rebuilding and prevention. Nothing worthwhile will come from trying to pinpoint the source of rumors.
There were no more or less false stories after Sept. 11th, and they had an intact infrastructure. N.O. was a situation where someone needed to step in and take control, and Nagin didn't have the authority, he had control of the police, who were in the same situation the other victims were in.
Basically, there is really no good place to put the blame, and now, it's a moot point because that part is over, and the focus should be on rebuilding and prevention. Nothing worthwhile will come from trying to pinpoint the source of rumors.
Only problem I have with that is that misinformation caused deaths. I don't know if the rumors directly affected emergency and support services as is claimed, or if those rumors were used as an excuse for inaction (during and/or after the fact) but someone should be held accountable. That's the part in this that has a racial tinge to it to me. I don't blame the storm on race and I don't think the levees were "bombed", but I DO think that the racial/ poverty component in this made those stories easier to believe and gave those who had no desire to take quick action an excuse to do so.vitrifier said:
I agree. I've been through numerous hurricanes and I can tell you that there is usually chaos and confusion among the people that are affected in almost everyone of them. Add to Katrina the massive flooding that took place, which displaced so many people (without the massive floods a hurricane is far less disruptive), the situation was bound to get ragged -- and I mean ragged from the authorities point of view, the people's point of view and from the point of view of those covering the disaster.vitrifier said:
Now, with the picture becoming clearer and the media has egg on its face, instead of just admitting that it reported things that could not have been verified at the time due to the circumstances, it is pointing fingers when it was part of the problem.
QueEx
I don't think it was "Misinformation" ... just plain ole unreliable and unverified hearsay. And, I'm not so certain that it caused any deaths or affected emergency services to any real degree. In the aftermath of a Cat3 or above Cane, there is just confusion and awe anyway.Zero said:
I think the real question is whether N.O. was adequately prepared to deal with the floods (as opposed to the winds). My experience with canes makes we question whether N.O. could have been much better prepared to deal with the aftermath of Katrina, that is, I doubt seriously that any city in America has the budget to do what it would take to empty a city the size of N.O. ahead of the storm. Not only that, but given the limited advance notice you get and even if you could force everyone out, I doubt seriously that hurricane evacuation routes are capable of handling the traffic. Hell, I've spend 18 hours on the interstate trying to get 250 miles and that was with all lanes going north. Shit is not as easy as it sounds. LOL
QueEx
I'm using the term misinformation in it's original sense (bad information), not in the malicious sense we normally use it on the politics board (LOL)QueEx said:
I was just discussing this with my friend in Houston in regards to the so-called preparedness or lack there-of. Had anything remotely similar to what happened in N.O. happened in Houston due to Rita, we'd be having the exact same conversation we're having about N.O. (I doubt Houston got 60% of it's population out and that's not including the people that turned around after spending 10 hours on the highway and went back home). Although I think the evacuation of Houston was overkill, the city is also HIGHLY vulnerable to flooding (when I saw the flooding in N.O., the first thing I thought was "Damn, that looks just like Houston back in 2001"). There are literally hundreds of cities in this country sitting under the spectre of one disaster or another and I doubt any of them are really prepared or can even fathom what could happen. I was just watching something on the Discovery Channel last night about Mt. Ranier and how Tacoma and Seattle are both directly in it's path should it decide to pull a St. Helens and blow. When the "the big one" hits the west coast, a similar situation would arise as well. I think it's somewhat arrogant to expect a 100% evacuation or rescue rate when "wrath of God" type events come like this. I think people are just SO far removed from understanding the sheer potential for destruction that nature has that they get complacent and arrogant about just how vulnerable they are.
As far as the deaths caused by "bad information", I believe there were a number of people (how big that number was, I'm not sure) that died while awaiting assistance that sat on bridges or staged at the airport due to a danger that was largely non-existant. Those people may have died anyway, they may not have, but the opportunity to rescue them was there yet FEMA, NOPD, Red Cross and the National Guard all let the rumors affect their course of action.
I couldn't agree with you more. With respect to complacency, I really believe that the little tricks that canes pull on the way in has a lot to do with it. As you know, they don't really travel in straight lines. A large area gets the warning (cities within 100-200 miles sometimes have to go on low level alert early on) and many will be pulled off the list as the storm gets within gets close enough to narrow down the area that will be hit. Couple that with the fact that just as they approach the coast they are notorious for late movement (reminiscent of some of the really good baseball pitcher's fastballs) often to the northeast. The city or area that had been the predicted target and with the most urgent warning to evacuate gets missed or hit a lot less than expected. Let this happen a couple of times and people actually start talking about, "man, that shit can't hit us -- you know its going to make a turn." The result = New Orleans -- because I will bet the farm that had New Orleans been hit with a Cat1 or 2 or the outter bands of a 3 or 4 within the last 4 or 5 years -- a whole lot of those people at the Superdome and the Convention Centre would have been out of town, with or without dough.Zero said:
QueEx
yeah, the only hurricane I have actually been involved in was 'supposed to' hit Tallahassee, everyone ran to the groc. store, me included, and all there was was massive paranoia. The groc. store was pandemonium, I had never seen anything like it. It ended up missing us, and I don't think it even rained hard, lol.
As far as people dying as a result of bad information, I see your point, but I also think that FEMA still dropped the ball. The way I see it, N.O. hadn't been hit by a cane in a while, you can't expect them to be flawless in a scenario that hasn't played out in a long time. But FEMA deals with several hurricanes and other disasters every year. As an association, they have experience with the kind of problems a hurricane can cause, moreso than any of the officials at the state and local levels. FEMA should be prepared to step into a situation in which the infrastructure of a city is crippled and restore order and safety. Part of that is getting open lines of communication between the mayor and the police force, and then assisting the police force in keeping control.
FEMA knows that a storm of that magnitude is going to bring about rampant hysteria, especially when there is a lack of communication to let people know what is going on, and what they need to do.
As far as people dying as a result of bad information, I see your point, but I also think that FEMA still dropped the ball. The way I see it, N.O. hadn't been hit by a cane in a while, you can't expect them to be flawless in a scenario that hasn't played out in a long time. But FEMA deals with several hurricanes and other disasters every year. As an association, they have experience with the kind of problems a hurricane can cause, moreso than any of the officials at the state and local levels. FEMA should be prepared to step into a situation in which the infrastructure of a city is crippled and restore order and safety. Part of that is getting open lines of communication between the mayor and the police force, and then assisting the police force in keeping control.
FEMA knows that a storm of that magnitude is going to bring about rampant hysteria, especially when there is a lack of communication to let people know what is going on, and what they need to do.
Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths
Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Correspondent
December 14, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.
Liberals in the aftermath of the storm were quick to allege that the Bush administration delayed its response to the catastrophe because most of the victims were black.
Damu Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, in September said that the federal government "ignored us, they forgot about us ... because we look like we look."
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in October said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn't fit to help the storm's victims because "there are not enough blacks high up in FEMA" and added that, "certainly the Red Cross is the same."
Rapper Kanye West used his time on NBC's telethon for the hurricane victims to charge that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
But the state's demographic information suggests that whites in New Orleans died at a higher rate than minorities. According to the 2000 census, whites make up 28 percent of the city's population, but the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals indicates that whites constitute 36.6 percent of the storm's fatalities in the city.
African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased. Other minorities constitute approximately 5 percent of the population and represented 4.3 percent of the storm's fatalities.
Overall for the state, 658 bodies have been identified. Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian. The remaining bodies were either non-black minorities or undetermined.
An additional 247 victims have not been identified, so their demographic information has not been released.
The data showed that the majority of Katrina's victims lived in the Orleans parish. The nearby St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes had 91 and 25 victims, respectively.
The storm also did not discriminate based on gender. Fifty percent of the victims were male and 49 percent were female, with 1 percent being undetermined.
Calls requesting comment from Damu Smith and the Nation of Islam were not returned Wednesday.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200512\NAT20051214b.html
Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Correspondent
December 14, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.
Liberals in the aftermath of the storm were quick to allege that the Bush administration delayed its response to the catastrophe because most of the victims were black.
Damu Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, in September said that the federal government "ignored us, they forgot about us ... because we look like we look."
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in October said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn't fit to help the storm's victims because "there are not enough blacks high up in FEMA" and added that, "certainly the Red Cross is the same."
Rapper Kanye West used his time on NBC's telethon for the hurricane victims to charge that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
But the state's demographic information suggests that whites in New Orleans died at a higher rate than minorities. According to the 2000 census, whites make up 28 percent of the city's population, but the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals indicates that whites constitute 36.6 percent of the storm's fatalities in the city.
African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased. Other minorities constitute approximately 5 percent of the population and represented 4.3 percent of the storm's fatalities.
Overall for the state, 658 bodies have been identified. Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian. The remaining bodies were either non-black minorities or undetermined.
An additional 247 victims have not been identified, so their demographic information has not been released.
The data showed that the majority of Katrina's victims lived in the Orleans parish. The nearby St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes had 91 and 25 victims, respectively.
The storm also did not discriminate based on gender. Fifty percent of the victims were male and 49 percent were female, with 1 percent being undetermined.
Calls requesting comment from Damu Smith and the Nation of Islam were not returned Wednesday.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200512\NAT20051214b.html
So, with knowing what we know, should we reubild NO the way NO was ?
Exactly. What sense does it make to spend a Quarter TRILLION (with a T) dollars rebuilding a major metropolitan area below sea level in Hurricane alley. When we tried before, we actually made the risk greater (by making the ground sink lower by pumping water out of the table), and , created an eviromental disaster (by keeping the water from flowing through the marses properly and causing tremendous degradation of the marsh grasses, which otherwise would have absorbed and slowed down the flow of water.).QueEx said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVBY_SqzJtI
Plus everybody blames Bush and FEMA.. Though they bear alot of the blame.. The mayor and governor should bear the brunt of it. The governor didn't even bother to run again. Nagin got his family out and they never came back yet they reelected him again. The people of NO were misled and abandoned by their own. As usual we tend to put to the blame on the people we dislike or hate when the people close to us were the ones that let us down.
Plus everybody blames Bush and FEMA.. Though they bear alot of the blame.. The mayor and governor should bear the brunt of it. The governor didn't even bother to run again. Nagin got his family out and they never came back yet they reelected him again. The people of NO were misled and abandoned by their own. As usual we tend to put to the blame on the people we dislike or hate when the people close to us were the ones that let us down.
It will be 5 years in a couple of weeks. I bumped several of the original Katrina-Era threads because I thought this would be good time to look back and analyze, without the passions of the moment.
QueEx
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