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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 5A
BUILT FORD TOUGH
Class or race: A big difference
Was Katrina a case study in 21st century racism?
Looking at the footage of victims on TV, and the photos in the newspapers, it was very clear that a majority of the people who were left behind were African American.
I spoke to Mark Maddox, a native Kansan, who two years ago moved to New Orleans to study at Tulane University for his masters and Ph.D. He is now back in Kansas because he had to transfer to the University for the semester as a result of Katrina.
Maddox, who is white, expressed his views on the slow reaction of the government. "Locally, (New Orleans) Mayor Nagin was not prepared for this at all, but at the federal government level, I think it could have been a race and class issue. At some level, the government decided that they were not going to go in and help these people," Maddox said.
I believe, as do many people, that it was almost as much of a class issue as it was a race issue. Some of the people who were also left behind were poor whites.
It didn't really matter who you were; if you had money or connections, whether you were black or white, you got out of town.
According to the 2000 census, at least 67.25 percent of New Orleans's population is African American, the median income for a household is about $27,133 and 23.7 per
GINA FORD
opinion@kansan.com
cent of families were below the poverty line. They had the least money and connections and they were targets for the suffering, as an examination of some of the events shows.
As those who survived the hurricane tried to flee the floods, masses of them were dropped off in front of the Earnest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans approximately 10 blocks from the Superdome.
When the superdome filled up, people were turned away and sent down the street. They were to stand outside the convention center until busses came to take them out of the city. Some 20,000 people later, with no food, no water, no busses, they broke into the convention center to seek shelter.
Because the center was not equipped with the proper tools to take care of these victims, lawlessness and chaos soon broke out. It was mayhem from Monday, Aug. 29 until Friday, Sept. 2. Some of the few policemen in there were so afraid they took off their uniforms. It was that bad.
Some actions or lack of actions raise the race question. According to the The Washington Post, a police officer from Jefferson Parish, a nearby county pleaded with SWAT team Captain, Jeff Winn to help him by bringing his wife and female relative from the convention center to safety.
Once the people realized that the SWAT team had not come to help them, but came only to save the two white women, they soon grew angry, shouting "racists!"
Yet, even worse, as women were raped and men were murdered by thugs at the convention center-in that very same
When the SWAT team entered the convention center, desperately fearful people, mostly black, thought help had finally arrived. The officer called out his wife's name. She and another woman soon came to him, and the SWAT team surrounded them and took them immediately from the building.
building, about 250 armed Louisiana National Guard troops were also camped out. The troops simply barricaded themselves in an exhibition hall hoping that no one would get in. The troops did nothing, because supposedly they were not there to keep order in the convention center. Were there 20,000 mostly white people suffering, would they have sat on their hands? Would they have tried to provide food or water, let alone protection?
"There is a definite link between race and class; there always has been. Living in New Orleans for two years, I see the way people are treated. I see the way cops treat young rich kids from uptown, and I see how the blacks are treated," Maddox said. "It's a big difference."
*Ford is a Washington D.C.
junior in journalism.
Max Kreutzer/KANSAN
Free All for
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Can we really go to class barefoot?
What message is the Kansan sending by publishing Sara Garlick's grammatically offensive, abortive attempts at journalism?
From now on, Jesus will be known as Baby Jay.
Remember when Free for All was stricty for David Padgett? I do, and I like to keep the tradition going by laughing at him for hurting his foot.
I was just wondering why the Free for All missspells everything all the time
It's that time of day again! Time to get out the hookah and read Free for All!
I just want to say as a cyclist, the only reason I ride on the sidewalk is to avoid the drunk people driving in the streets.
I just want all the waiters at Tri-Delta know that they are really hot.
I want to say to whoever put in the Creed quote that God hates Creed.
I think Free for All is really biased against Greeks.
My friends call me "whiskers," "cause I'm curious like a cat!
So in my Western Civ. II class, my teacher says, "Fraser Hall is the highest you can get in Lawrence." Then he chuckled to himself and said, "Wall, maybe there are other ways to get even higher." My teacher said this!
+
Sometimes I call this thing, and I don't even think about what I'm going to say.
Nate: Can I interest you in my big zucchini?
Nate's Pat: That's not a zucchini!
If we aren't going to use the whistle, then give the teachers clocks!
Whoever did the comic strip today spelled masturbate wrong.
Sometimes when I'm playing Tetris, I add my own commentary like they're showing all my best moves on Sportscenter.
Kappa girls are the hottest on campus.
Oh yeah, the Pi Phi's are the hottest girls on campus.
Hey, everybody, don't stop believing in dinosaurs.
★
George W. Bush doesn't care about the Kansas City Royals.
If you are going to include Iraqi deaths in the 25,000, then you have to also realize that there were way more than 25,000 killed when Saddam was in power. 25,000 isn't that much compared to him.
Vic Contoski is the greatest English teacher in the world,
and we should not have a quiz on Friday.
My boyfriend is in the kitchen cooking dinner naked.
How can I study when this is going on?
I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm so pissed. I just saw a member of Rhombus House take the last pizza from Wescoe Underground.
I just told a girl that I've had a crush on for a year that I like her.
Pocket-farkle? On Saturday? I'm there!
The new crossword puzzle is awesome. Good job, guys.
I wish that I had Jessie's girl. Where can I find a woman like that?
I hate school.
▼ GIVIN' IT TO YOU STRAIGHT
College time to find self
MEGAN LOGUE
opinion@kansan.com
Think back to when you were a freshman in high school. I bet when you see pictures of yourself when you were 15 you laugh and you wonder how you even made it this far looking as ridiculous as you did then.
It's funny how I thought college was going to be this instant life-altering experience that began the second I set foot out the door of my parents' house and into the exciting, independent, and rather drunken world we call college.
Most people reflect back on those years and can only focus on the overwhelming realization that they have drastically changed.
Now, I can proudly report that I have accomplished all of those commendable aspirations, but there is another large element involved in these very precious and important years that is sometimes overshadowed by those other things.
I planned on meeting thousands of people, spending random weeknights at bars and doing stupid things that would land any parent in the hospital from a sudden and dramatic anxiety attack.
There is nothing worse than a person wasting his time being fake and behaving in a way that isn't a genuine portrayal of who he really is.
Simply be who you are, that is all there to it. It sounds simple and tedious, a phrase that you have definitely heard before on flowery daytime television, and throughout your life up until now. The real question is how many of us actually live that way?
Don't be afraid to branch out from the norm and partake in something that is outside the
realm of what is mainstream and in style. Isn't style supposed to be reflective of a person's own distinctive and unique essence? Girls are especially concerned with this phenomenon. For example, most girls would rather jump off a bridge than wear something that some fashion magazine considers distasteful.
Likewise, many guys have a strong, healthy fear of appearing even the slightest bit sensitive or unmusculine. When it comes down to it, these things are frivolous and ultimately insignificant.
This same type of thing applies even in the way we act. If you have strong feelings about something or particularly enjoy an activity that is not the most ordinary, don't run or ignore these notions, embrace them.
At the same time, don't go out of your way to do things that you wouldn't normally do in order to impress or get the attention of someone else.
Why would you want to compromise yourself for the approval of another person?
Chances are that if they don't notice you for who you are then you probably don't want them around anyway. Don't give in to the shallow, one-dimensional band wagon that seems to be running along side as you go through life, because believe me, it is way over-rated.
Making decisions about who you are and what you do based on the opinion and judgments of other people is a terrible way to go through life.
When you are 50 years old and taking that sweet walk down memory lane, it's not going to be about what you wore, or how "in style" you were, but about the inimitable and distinct yet crazy experiences that made you into the person you will be. Unfortunately for those who learn this too late, enjoy the land of "what its" and regret.
Logue is an Overland Park senior in journalism.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Documented Iraqi civilian deaths stand at 24,000 (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/). The use of torture by US troops in Iraq has been documented, as has the use of napalm and depleted uranium, all rebuilt under international law (http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030810-napalm-iraq01.htm).
Grossly mistaken
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7967-20040ct28.html).
Major Gross severely misinterprets the LCR campaign in his Sept. 15 letter. LCR cares about the conditions of oppressed people; that's why it opposes the occupation of Iraq. Iraqi deaths since the start of the war have been estimated as high as 100,000, with 84,000 caused by coalition forces.
Contrary to what Major Gross
claims, the anti-war, labor and civil rights movements have ensured the right to protest, not the military. The military has often been used to quell their protests.
Abroad, the U.S. military has intervened to insure that US business interests are protected without regard for the effects these interventions will have upon ordinary people. We do not accept oppression, whether America causes it or not.
LCR is opposed to the US Military as it opposes US Imperialism. To suggest, as Major Gross does, that a lack of support for the US military equals support for Saddam Hussein or the Taliban is faulty logic at best, disingenuous at worst.
Scott Ruby for Lawrence Counter Recruitment
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Anti-recruitment effective
In response to the Sept. 21 column by Ashton Martin, as far as I know, no campaign on campus has actively targeted soldiers on the campus, or the individual members of the ROTC.
them to join the military (and the war in Iraq).
Instead, I know that a campaign currently exists that strives to prevent military recruiters from being able to lie to students (typically those who come from poor socio-economic backgrounds or that are failing) and entice
People have been lobbying for three years, and the war hasn't ended. In fact, the biggest threat to the military's effort in Iraq is the lack of fresh recruits.
It's disturbing to me that Ashton promotes the idea that those who are against the war should not work to reduce the number of new recruits in the military, but instead focus on joining the Democratic Party or lobbying our congress people.
K
Logic would indicate then, that if you want to end the war, you wouldn't ally yourself with a political party that actively supported the war (as the Democrats did, and still do), but instead focus on concrete measures that you could take to reduce the capacity to wage war.
♦ David Strano Lawrence Resident