Spring Break
Blaming Katrina victims is not the way forward
Letter to the Editor
Rev. Tim Emmett-Rardin
Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Ed-Op
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Having recently returned from an Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans with 29 other Drexel students and staff, I feel particularly compelled to respond to Ken Kaighan's commentary in last week's The Triangle, "New Orleans: Helping those who help themselves."
In reflecting on the reality in New Orleans now 19 months after Katrina, Kaighan first argues that, unlike the victims of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks, the "victims of Katrina" "invite(d) their destruction" by choosing to live in a city that sits largely below sea level. I suppose, using this same logic, he might also blame someone who gets mugged on the grounds that they "chose" to live in a crime-ridden neighborhood.
Nobody deserves the kind of suffering experienced in the wake of Katrina. Nobody. Such logic, of course, also fails to take into account the complex social, economic, cultural and historical factors which inform anyone's decision to live where they live. Choice is often a luxury reserved only for the privileged among us.
Kaighan continues his assault, further blaming the "victims" of Katrina for their inability or, as he so blithely suggests, their unwillingness to rebuild their lives. Claiming "there have been no concerted efforts seen by the local citizens to rebuild their lives," he observes that some areas are still described as "ghost towns" and "graveyards" (though strangely, he is also critical of the U.S. public's "inability to grasp the concept that reconstruction efforts on this grand scale take time").
I wonder where he's been looking. And perhaps more importantly, from where he's been looking. Just focusing on New Orleans, as Kaighan does, there are indeed many areas that still look like "ghost towns." But it's not because people are unwilling to rebuild on their own, or as Kaighan suggests through a paraphrase of his friend, because they are too "lazy" to rebuild. Sure, there may well be some who fit that description, seemingly content to live off of others' "good graces," but such clichéd stereotyping, loaded as it is with a legacy of unspoken race and class prejudice, mistakes a small part for the whole, and turns a blind eye to a reality that is significantly more complex.
In reflecting on the reality in New Orleans now 19 months after Katrina, Kaighan first argues that, unlike the victims of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks, the "victims of Katrina" "invite(d) their destruction" by choosing to live in a city that sits largely below sea level. I suppose, using this same logic, he might also blame someone who gets mugged on the grounds that they "chose" to live in a crime-ridden neighborhood.
Nobody deserves the kind of suffering experienced in the wake of Katrina. Nobody. Such logic, of course, also fails to take into account the complex social, economic, cultural and historical factors which inform anyone's decision to live where they live. Choice is often a luxury reserved only for the privileged among us.
Kaighan continues his assault, further blaming the "victims" of Katrina for their inability or, as he so blithely suggests, their unwillingness to rebuild their lives. Claiming "there have been no concerted efforts seen by the local citizens to rebuild their lives," he observes that some areas are still described as "ghost towns" and "graveyards" (though strangely, he is also critical of the U.S. public's "inability to grasp the concept that reconstruction efforts on this grand scale take time").
I wonder where he's been looking. And perhaps more importantly, from where he's been looking. Just focusing on New Orleans, as Kaighan does, there are indeed many areas that still look like "ghost towns." But it's not because people are unwilling to rebuild on their own, or as Kaighan suggests through a paraphrase of his friend, because they are too "lazy" to rebuild. Sure, there may well be some who fit that description, seemingly content to live off of others' "good graces," but such clichéd stereotyping, loaded as it is with a legacy of unspoken race and class prejudice, mistakes a small part for the whole, and turns a blind eye to a reality that is significantly more complex.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
kagedmunky
Andy
posted 4/27/07 @ 5:13 AM EST
Well said Pastor Tim!
Ken
posted 4/27/07 @ 9:05 AM EST
Hallelujah, someone responded. You kind of figured it was coming, having received ample negative reviews.
The apparent insinuation that NOLA folks "invite(d) their own destruction) was meant to show the ignorance of people wondering why it was such a mess down there (because the water had nowhere to go), not to indicate the folks actually did deserve what happened. (Continued…)
doctorj
posted 4/27/07 @ 10:11 PM EST
Rev. Tim,
Thank you for your response. I have thought long and hard concerning the arrogant response the people of the Gulf Coast have received from so many Americans after 8-29-05. (Continued…)
Post a Comment