The aftermath of hurricane Katrina

It's tempting to go into a lengthy description of the events that started just before Katrina hit land and will continue into the foreseeable future. But anyone reading this now is aware of most of them. Anyone reading it in the future should have no trouble finding detailed accounts of them. So I will hold fast to my main purpose, putting my thoughts, hopes, and fears regarding the controversies surrounding the governments action, or some would say inaction, after Katrina hit land.

The whole situation was poorly handled, yet reading the Wikipedia article on the situation in New Orleans before and after Katrina hit, I don't know that anyone would have done better. Most of the problems were actually years, and maybe even decades in the making. Levies and retaining walls that should have been updated and reinforced long ago. Disaster plans that failed to accurately assess the results of a category 4 (or 5) hurricane and officials who failed to fully appreciate the number of policemen and soldiers or the number of relief workers necessary to keep order and assist victims following a disaster of such proportion. I'm glad that, after doing some quick research beyond Wikipedia, it appears to me that the delays and problems were much more likely due to poor planning and a failure to understand the likely result of Katrina hitting New Orleans than to an actual racist attitude pervading the government. But the fact remains that the majority of the victims were black, and it's not very far to leap to see a racist agenda in the handling of Katrina.

Why is it that in a time of disaster, a time when we should be pulling together more than any other, we are purposely wasting energy perpetuating racist stereotypes that we all know are not true? Why, instead of attacking the president, aren't we encouraging him to take action, and taking action ourselves? Why are we looking for reasons to hate each other almost as hard as we are trying to help the victims of Katrina? Yes, the situation was handled horribly. Yes, most of the victims were black. But in my heart of hearts I hope and pray that what I feel to be true really is. This entire horror of a rescue effort was a result of poor planning, not racism. That difference may not matter to those who died, but it is direly important for those who survived.

Forget race. Love people.