BLACK BLOGGAH

In the wake of Katrina, a flood of images, of black desperation, hopelessness and lawlessness is spewing from the airwaves. What is emerging is an unprecedented tragedy with a black face. This should be a wake-up call not only for Black leaders but for the nation as a whole. So, I'm encouraged that Black leaders are responding quickly and forcefully. But, I must also say that I've felt a certain sense of shame watching the looting and chaos and hearing about rapes and murders. Why, in the face of this tragedy, are we turning to violence and greed? Why aren't we all just trying to help each other? And I heard Ray Nagin loud and clear when he said that the majority of the looters are drug (read crack) addicts who in desperation are looking to "take the edge of their jones." So, now we have the tragic, desperate situation of possible hords of addicts, already mutated beyond recognition by their addiction and now desperate, hungry, jonesing and armed. It a nightmare scenario that has come to life right before our eyes, and it exposes the real stack of Black people in the United States. Its as if we as a people have absorbed some of the worst aspects of consumerism, and now that the lid has been torn off, the ugly and worst side of our charchter as a people is on display.


Black lawmakers angry about federal response to Katrina