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September 11, 2005

"From Slave Ships to the Superdome"

Cornel West on race, poverty, and Katrina:

What we saw unfold in the days after the hurricane was the most naked manifestation of conservative social policy towards the poor, where the message for decades has been: 'You are on your own'. Well, they really were on their own for five days in that Superdome, and it was Darwinism in action - the survival of the fittest. People said: 'It looks like something out of the Third World.' Well, New Orleans was Third World long before the hurricane.

It's not just Katrina, it's povertina. People were quick to call them refugees because they looked as if they were from another country. They are. Exiles in America. Their humanity had been rendered invisible so they were never given high priority when the well-to-do got out and the helicopters came for the few. Almost everyone stuck on rooftops, in the shelters, and dying by the side of the road was poor black.

Thanks to Raining Cats and Dogma for the link.

Posted by chuck at September 11, 2005 11:24 PM

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Posted by: Scrivener at September 12, 2005 3:03 PM

Posted by: Chuck at September 12, 2005 3:20 PM

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