OPINION & EDITORIAL
Conservative ideology failed victims
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Also by Mohammed Abed:
- Israeli plan actually hurts Palestinians (September 8, 2005)
- Conservative ideology failed victims (September 15, 2005)
- Local front of war on women's rights (September 22, 2005)
- Case for divesting from Israeli interests (September 30, 2005)
- Columbus anything but a national hero (October 13, 2005)
Related Stories:
- Rebuilding should go beyond houses (September 21, 2005)
- Identity politics stereotypes groups (November 8, 2005)
- Bush contradicts conservatism (October 12, 2004)
- Help for hurricane victims stuck in Iraq (September 15, 2005)
- Domestic readiness takes backseat to foreign entanglements (September 14, 2005)
by Mohammed Abed
Thursday, September 15, 2005
On the one hand, the terrible disaster that struck New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast region has revealed the extent to which institutionalized racism against blacks in this country is alive and well, and on the other it has provided further confirmation that the Bush administration makes policy and budget choices solely on the basis of ideological considerations and partisan self-interest. Well before Katrina struck, the Bush administration already had demonstrated the extent to which it was prepared to engage in shameless lying and intimidation in order to preserve the image that in launching its war on Iraq, it was acting in the interest of both the American and Iraqi peoples. Every reason the administration gave for launching the war has turned out to be false. If the anarchy in Iraq doesn't by itself show the extent to which the administration is operationally incompetent, then surely its response to Katrina — a disaster affecting mainly impoverished black communities — does.
In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that a major hurricane hitting New Orleans was one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." The rational and operationally competent response to this assessment would have been to ensure that FEMA was headed and staffed by people who have extensive experience in disaster management. Instead, in December 2002, Joe Allbaugh — one of George Bush's cronies from Texas — was succeeded as head of FEMA by Michael Brown. Like Mr. Allbaugh, Mr. Brown lacked any experience in disaster management. In fact, he had been fired from his previous job for managerial incompetence.
In April 2001, the Bush administration made it clear that a good proportion of FEMA's work would be privatized. According to Budget Director Mitch Daniels, the federal disaster assistance program had evolved into an "oversized entitlement program" and should therefore be streamlined to "an appropriate level." This is consistent with the Republican Party attitude that any provision for the basic welfare and needs of the American people qualifies as an "oversized entitlement program." Rich, predominantly white people should not have to pay for the social "failures" of the black community and other minorities, so tax cuts for those who earn over $75,000 a year are in order.
In March 2003, FEMA was incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and was downgraded from a cabinet level position as a result. Rather than focusing on disaster preparedness, management and response, its new priority was to fight terrorism. It mattered little that terrorism was only one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." To aid this reorientation, the leadership of DHS re-assigned FEMA's preparation and planning functions to the new and untested "Office of Preparedness and Response." From 2003 onward, FEMA's sole mandate was to be disaster response and recovery, specifically, response to and recovery from terrorist attacks. In summer 2004, FEMA flatly denied Louisiana's pre-disaster funding requests. In June 2004, the Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans was downsized. Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Chief Walter Maestri noted, "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay." In June 2005, funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was cut by a record $71.2 million.
It didn't help matters much that when Katrina struck, 40 percent of Mississippi's National Guard and 35 percent of Louisiana's were in Iraq. When Louisiana National Guard's Joint Task Force did deploy in New Orleans, Brigadier General Gary Jones observed that "this place is going to look like Little Somalia … We're going to go out and take this city back. This will be a combat operation to get this city under control."
As events unfolded, it became clear that prejudice and racism of this sort was an institutionalized norm. Wealthier, predominantly white people had left town, so why not demonize the impoverished black community left behind? The national media took this prescription to heart and set about describing starving people who took food from stores as "looters" and lumped them together with the tiny fraction of the New Orleans population that happened to belong to armed gangs. However, not all people were described in this way: although they are engaged in exactly the same act, black people "loot" and "steal" while whites who remained behind benignly "take food" that just happens to be lying around.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bush didn't let the small matter of a national emergency disturb his holiday, but he did eventually get around to paying tribute to New Orleans by pointing out it was a place he used to enjoy himself in — "occasionally too much." He continued on an optimistic note: "out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." Optimism apparently runs in Mr. Bush's family. His mother couldn't quite understand why people were complaining. In a radio interview from the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, she pointed out that "so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this is working very well for them."
With the Bush administration doing such a wonderful job of re-building Iraq, it would seem as if New Orleans has nothing to fear. Two corporate clients of disaster "manager"-turned-lobbyist Joe Allbaugh have already clinched some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts. One is the Shaw Group and the other is Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. As New Orleans resident and hurricane survivor Jordan Flaherty points out, "This money can either be spent to usher in a 'New Deal' for the city, with public investment, creation of stable union jobs, new schools, cultural programs and housing restoration, or the city can be 'rebuilt and revitalized' to a shell of its former self, with newer hotels, more casinos, and with chain stores and theme parks replacing the former neighborhoods, cultural centers and corner jazz clubs." One wonders which of these options is more likely. However, one thing we can be sure of is that whether it's Iraq or New Orleans and whether it's the forces of nature, God or the firepower of the United States armed forces that causes the destruction, Halliburton will always be there to re-build.
Mohammed Abed (mabed@badgerherald.com) is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He would like to thank Henry Breitrose, Professor of Communication at Stanford University, for his FEMA timeline.
Anonymous (September 15, 2005 @ 7:25am):
I never thought this day would come. Finally, Mohammed writes something I can agree with!
Anonymous (September 15, 2005 @ 11:11am):
Wasn't it Laura Bush who made those comments as to the evacuees being "better off"?
Anonymous (September 15, 2005 @ 2:01pm):
You're right. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and all the other federal government folk should have flown to New Orleans, hopped into those busses, and evacuated those people before the hurricane hit.
Do you honestly believe that beaurocrats from D.C. know more about the vulnerabilities of New Orleans than the people and leaders of New Orleans?
This isn't a failure of conservative ideology, this is a failure of our large, beaurocratic mess of a federal government that fails time and time again, regardless of the party in power.
Anonymous (September 15, 2005 @ 4:45pm):
Is this Mohammed's first-ever article not about Israel and Palestine? Congrats! You're no longer a one-trick pony!
Anonymous (September 15, 2005 @ 5:09pm):
"Wealthier, predominantly white people had left town, so why not demonize the impoverished black community left behind?"
Hey Mohammed, did it ever occur to you that there were lots of poor whites who couldn't get out of New Orleans either?
Hey Editor, how's about giving this race-baiting asshole Mohammed the boot? Let him start his own blog so he can mouth off at his own expense. We don't need to hear this crap!
Anonymous (September 15, 2005 @ 9:25pm):
Last week's article by Mohammad: Israel is racist. This week's article by mohammad: The United States is racist.
For once, maybe Mohammad can tell us how the Palestinians are racist. I guess according to Mohammad targeting as many innocent civilians to die in sucicide bombings, because of their religion/nationality, is not racist. Or that tv shows and books in Palestinian areas claiming that it's good to drive the Israelis into the sea is not racist.
Anonymous (September 15, 2005 @ 9:38pm):
Last Week's article by Mohammad: "I hate Jews/Israelis"
This week's article by Mohammad: "I hate American Conservatives"
The only things Mohammad does not seem to hate are Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the corrupt Palestinian Authority.
Why are Mohammad's articles always negative? Does he ever have a good thing to say about Israel or the U.S. administration?
Has Mohammad ever thought he might be Racist? I mean constantly writing about how evil the Jews/Israelis are, that should give a clue.
Imagine if someone always wrote about the flaws/shortcomings of African-Americans. Imagine if that person never had a good thing to say about African-Americans. The only weak excuse this person could possibly muster for his behavior would be "I know many African-Americans," or "I work with some African-Americans."
Mohammad does the same thing with Jews/Israelis. He never criticizes the Palestinians for atrocious crimes like suicide bombings. Rather, he criticizes the Israelis for leaving Gaza (aka leaving the Palestinians to themselves). He also never criticizes Israeli Arabs. He only criticizes Jewish Israelis. Constantly, in full page articles for years. Sounds like Mohammad should take a good look at himself, when searching for a definition of "racist."
Anonymous (September 16, 2005 @ 12:02am):
Hey when someone criticizes Americans or Israelis every week and never says a good thing about them, ever, could they possibly be racist?
Anonymous (September 16, 2005 @ 1:29am):
Every article here by this author seems to be about race baiting. They are just unintelligent articles about calling other people names.
Anonymous (September 16, 2005 @ 9:33pm):
Ok, terrorism in the name of Islam and Communism is OK, but the US freeing people is not? Hmmmm
Anonymous (September 22, 2005 @ 9:05pm):
People...the fact of the matter is this: if you rely on the government to provide you with health, shelter, money, etc..., you will be disappointed! It doesn't matter who's in power, or what country you're in, unless you're prepared to fend for yourself, you will be left behind with the rest of the masses.
Anonymous (September 26, 2005 @ 8:30pm):
what is wrong with you people? do you honestly think america prepared itself/ reacted well to hurricane katrina? i suppose we should just give the administration a pat on the back and say better luck next time? part of journalism is holding people's and group's feet to the fire, deal with the fact that the world has problems.
Anonymous (May 11, 2006 @ 8:37am):
well, i hope that bush can take care of just killing everyone over there, then we don't have to rebuild and it will get rid of all those arab a**holes
Anonymous (May 11, 2006 @ 8:42am):
maybe the people in new orleans should have use something, such as a car or bus to leave?or is that to complex of an idea? anyway i don't care. they were stupid to stay there after the warnings that a hurricane was going to strike. it's not my fault that white peolple are smarter.
