New Orleans, cont.

This tragedy is overwhelming. I've been in contact with several of my old classmates, which highlights one of my points from before--how the more affluent among us had all the options. When the order came to leave, they might have hesitated a bit, but for the most part, they left. They are staying with relatives and friends, will likely have their jobs temporarily moved, and upon their return to the city, they will be able to rebuild from the ashes.

Not so with the 15,000 or more folks who were left behind at the Superdome.

Like many other African Americans who have helplessly watched the situation deteriorate in New Orleans, I am struck by the slow response to this crisis. I fault the media for sensationalizing the lawlessness and chaos, for it overshadowed the real tragedy of our sisters and brothers who were neglected for 36 hours and left to fend for themselves. Had this tragedy only been confined to the Gulf Coast (where many of the victims were white), I wonder if there would have been any stories about looting or pillaging. Well, actually I already know the answer to that--it would have been referred to as "the fight for survival."

I feel horrible for those people along the Gulf Coast because all of the attention has been on New Orleans. Along the vast stretch of miles that were directly impacted by this storm, there are millions of people who were in its path. More than likely, these people will continue to be overlooked in the media because of the enormity of the problem in New Orleans. Their struggle is no less tragic.

I can at least credit the media for throwing out the "chaos" scripts by Thursday, because by that point, several reporters began to openly question why relief was taking so long to arrive. On Friday morning, everyone was asking why, and by Friday night another levee broke when Kanye West offered this blunt assessment--that our government doesn't give a damn about poor black people.

West's comments were actually more harsh and direct; he said that George Bush doesn't care about black people. That statement is certainly less eloquent than what had been implied all week on black radio or what had been said directly by the Congressional Black Caucus on Friday afternoon. He might have tried to be more subtle, along the lines of the commentary provided this morning by Nancy Giles on the CBS Sunday Morning show. But the sentiment is the same--George Bush, show us that you give a damn!

Show us that compassionate conservatism is more than hollow rhetoric. People died on the streets of New Orleans after the hurricane hit. Mr. President, show us that your priorities are in line with helping our people (Americans, by the way) survive this crisis.

I am pissed, and the more I write, the angrier I become. We are in this mess because people have misplaced priorities. From the people who waded into abandoned stores to steal electronic equipment and guns to the president who spent time more at political fundraisers instead of with the victims of this storm, we all need to get our priorities straight.

All of us need to give more of a damn about human life everywhere. This hurricane serves as a reminder that life is fragile and has nothing to do with the stuff we accumulate. Life is the substance of our interactions with each other. We need to realign our values so that we place less emphasis on talking about faith and more on living it. God will not be found among the wreckage of flooded buildings and scattered possessions. God will be found in our hearts based on our tangible response to this tragedy.