Monday, September 12, 2005
Does George Bush Care About Black People? I mean, besides you, Condi?
Was he directly responding, ten days later, to Kanye West's charge on Friday, September 2nd, that he doesn't care about black people?
Who knows? But now that Kanye has broached the subject, the heavies have weighed in:
In Newsweek's "The Other America": this cover article points to a more dynamic, pervasive idea of race and class than to spell out R-A-C-I-S-M in relation to Katrina. In the article, "How Bush Blew It", all levels of government share blame for the chaos. Several excuses are made for the President, though the article does ultimately wag its finger at Bush.
Newsweek might be a little gun shy.
Harper's Bazaar runs a broader study of our how our culture has shifted in the last twenty-five years, with self interest winning over a desire for community. It also points out the Superdome as the epitome of the race question in this mess. They contend that Katrina was a natural disaster, but that the Superdome was created by, and then by indifference and neglect, enforced by our government. "Hell on earth," is what Geraldo Riviera called it on Fox News. You can watch the clip here.
Senator Barack Obama, the only black person in the US Senate, is quoted in the Newsweek article on Bush. I had been waiting to hear what he would say. Unfortunately, his quotes smacked of someone who was trying to mend a fence, rather than incite people to tear it down.
Today I received in my inbox a letter from Dr. Cornel West (no relation to Kanye), Professor of African American Studies and Religion at Princeton University, who gives a much more radical perspective in his the UK's Observer.
Meanwhile, today the Senate Judicial Committee began its hearings for the Roberts nomination. Pacifica Radio aired the beginning remarks on Amy Goodman's show on KPFK in LA. More than one Senator conjured the ghosts of the black poor abandoned in Katrina's wake.
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said it best: this shows us "how many more miles we have to walk" before this country is the one promised by our Constitution.
Hopefully, these comments are not just rhetoric from politicians, but show that the failures of our government in New Orleans will have implications beyond magazine covers and sound bites.
