The Shame of Katrina
I am actually not sure where this topic goes...and I don't have this week's NCR beside me, but the cover story on Katrina, and the US response was one of the best I have ever read. (See: NCR March 2, 2007, About Katrina: Catastrophe exposes U.S. race reality, by Bryan Massingale.) The connections of racism, materialism, and militarism were so very well researched. My heart was touched deeply as I read the words...and I want to share them w/ friends and coworkers alike. How resistant we are to look at "white privilege" and the connections to war and poverty. KUDOS to the author!
Sister Zelda, I found myself
Sister Zelda, I found myself with so much cynicism/discouragement as I read your post a few times that I think it would be good for me to respond and put some of it out there, if only for my own benefit.
"...so that we can hasten God's vision for all creation." I don't really think I believe that Catholics have that kind of pro-life stance or that the nation has that kind of sense of community and shared future anymore. The Catholic pro-life position mostly relates to individual decisions that people don't see themselves actually having to make (we get most passionate when it is someone else's decision), and the nation has given up on shared social responsibilities and commitments. It takes money out of our pockets to do more, and that has become most people's bottom line. I long so much sometimes for the time forty years ago when the nation believed that we could do anything, but those days are gone. We now know that we are, in fact, largely on our own, when it comes to times when we might need a safety net. It's a high risk life, but people mostly try to bolster up their own chances of making it through based on whatever privilege they can muster. That is certainly tied into our short attention spans and lack of deep relationship.
I don't feel as hopeless about it all as this may sound, but pretty close. Our conversations on the subject quickly turn into platitudes and cliches, because re-making a civic society or catholic community culture is not only tremendous work, but requires that people start giving things up and working for something different just at the time when we know deeply that we are on our own and need to preserve and protect privilege to make it through the next crisis. The bishops can't show the way, snarled up in their own problems and issues, so moving as a church appears unlikely at this time. So, while I'm interested in hearing response, I'm really discouraged. That's just my personal truth. And I'm one who does work for change and is willing to give up some of my privilege for larger causes. So, if I'm this discouraged...
I just remembered that NCR
I just remembered that NCR had an essay about white privilege about a year ago. Read this: Essay: Owning unearned white privilege, Issue Date: May 26, 2006.
Dennis Coday, NCR cafe management
Denise, thank you for
Denise, thank you for posting this link. I welcome your voice.
I have followed the commentary of African-American columnist Bob Herbert on Katrina with great interest. He has done much to keep the faces of those dispossessed by the storm in our minds' eyes, and to remind us of the racial connections to our shameful forgetfulness of these human beings.
In yesterday's NY Times, he published an op-ed piece about the treatment of soldiers returning from Iraq entitled "Lift the Curtain." Herbert has drawn parallels between how our present pro-life administration treated the folks in New Orleans during and after Katrina, and how it's dealing with the soldiers returning from Iraq.
A memorable set of lines from his commentary yesterday:
"And President Bush has always given the impression that he is more interested in riding his bicycle at the ranch in Texas than in taking care of his life and death responsibilities around the world.
That whistling sound you hear is the wind blowing across the emptiness of the administration’s moral landscape."
Yuo're right: racism, militarism, and materialism are connected, and the NCR article did a great job of illustrating those connections in the Katrina story.
William D. Lindsey
Hi Bob, Without reading all
Hi Bob,
Without reading all that has been said let me define white privilege by example. I'm a rather tall white freckled older woman who left her petiteness in elementary school. My usual dressing style is quite casual even wearing jeans.
In a certain department store in the urban area where I work, I have never been stopped at the door to have my bags checked. I have watched darker skinned women and men being searched on a regular basis. I have seen women better dressed than I routinely followed around the clothes racks, and I am embarrassed for both of us.
When it is hot and muggy, I can take my work and sit in a hotel lobby to complete it. They cannot. In this same urban area there is a huge pizza chain, that has white male waiters. In 20 years I have never seen a dark skinned, even when minorities are hired, it is the lighter skinned ones.
Continuing by example, any one can look at the jail inmate population which is predominately dark-skinned. Do any of us really believe that the 30% of the urban population that is black really commits 90% of the crimes in the city? Or is it more likely, that darks skinned youths are feared and detained whenever possible while white old ladies are given the 'benefit of the doubt' for identical behavior.
In summary, I am saying that my aged freckles allow me into stores, hotels, jobs and the 'benefit of the doubt' in ways that dark skinned citizens and undocumented worker-taxpayers will never experience.
Hope this helps?
Sister Zelda
Sister Zelda
Correction! My bad! Its
Correction! My bad! Its not 59% of gang members, its 59 incarcerated gang members who have been identified as illegal aliens. Sorry about that.
Sister Zelda: I appreciate
Sister Zelda:
I appreciate the input. But there are questions. Privelages are granted, either by private or governmental entities, or by individuals for whatever reason. If, by law, a government entity grants privelages to individuals based on race or ethnicity, we would be talking about something like the South sixty years ago. By law, this is now not allowed in America, although one can always find examples of it still happening here and there. If a business owner, based on his/her experience engages in racial profiling I can certainly empathize. After all, the owner is in business to make money, and taking the time and effort to screen people etc. is not going to make more money, its going to make less.
About the crime issue: I have no reason to doubt the statistics you allude to (do you have documented evidence that the stats are incorrect?), and given the catastrophic condition of the African-American family, the poisonous hip-hop culture wherein black women are routinely referred to as bitches and whores, and where studying hard and attempting to speak standard english is viciously derided as "Trying to be white", I have even less reason to doubt it.
I assume the "undocumented worker-taxpayers" you refer to are people violating our immigration laws. Here in Los Angeles, I just read today that the LAPD has stats that demonstrate about 59% of gang members are illegal aliens.
DeniseS: What exactly is the
DeniseS:
What exactly is the definition of "white privelage"? And what precisely are the "connections" between it and war and poverty? Answering these simple questions would help all of us who have not read the article.
I seem to remembert that the African-American mayor of New Orleans balked at sending out buses to help people evacuate. Is that an example of racism? And if it is, who is the racist?
Bob asked, "I seem to
Bob asked, "I seem to remembert that the African-American mayor of New Orleans balked at sending out buses to help people evacuate. Is that an example of racism?"
Bob, I think poor ole New Orleans will forever become the example of how NOT TO do community disaster preparedness. I was in a community disaster preparedness meeting earlier this month and that point was aptly made.
Ray Nagin was very unequipped for his job as mayor but most mayors depend on great advice from professionals in the field and this component seemed to be missing OR he was not smart enough to listen. Can't say I know on that.
But in the face of a lack of community disaster planning, the people that clearly suffered the most were the ones with the fewest options--the poor.
And that should be a concern to all of us.
I'm guessing that an overall
I'm guessing that an overall critique can be made of racism in the response to an event without each aspect of the response at every level being equally racist?
Dear Annie, Bob, Denise and
Dear Annie, Bob, Denise and All,
This table conversation is something of an hurricane itself. This communal social analysis of our experience of racism is so important if we are to really listen to Jesus who says so plainly that 'everyone has a place at the table.'
Key social analysis questions fall into seven fields: political, economic, ecological, security, religious, cultural, and social.
Our conversation so far has centered on the social question of racism which was seen so flagrantly in the aftermath of Katrina. It is never easy to set the table for everyone. In this hurricane, the poor and the black were flagrantly excluded. The response to the hurricane exposed a contemporary culture of exclusion in new ways.
The power questions remain to be discussed here: who has benefitted from this recovery effort? Catholics are known for their pro-life stance, how was that expressed in this recovery effort? What values continue to be expressed in the settling of insurance claims and rebuilding decisions? What can the citizenry of the USA influence their government so that it supports the life of all it's citizens? Establishing a network of military bases throughout the globe by maiming and killing the poor and the dark skinned peoples created in God's own image depletes our preparedness for the next natural disaster which will come.
These are serious questions which need to be asked and answered in communities throughout our world so that we can hasten God's vision for all creation.
Sister Zelda