First Reflections
by Lynn Bynum
New Orleans is my home. It is where I was born, where my sister was born, where my parents were born, where my grandparents lived most of their lives. It is where much of my family still lives – or did until a few days ago. It’s where I visit at least once a year – where my son, husband and I spent the 4th of July weekend so we could visit family, especially elderly aunts and uncles.
The New Orleans I know is different than that of a tourist. Certainly, we enjoy the pleasures of the French Quarter and the Garden District, of the restaurants and the shops. But it’s a schizophrenic city, too, for it is truly a city of “haves” and “have-nots.” The vast majority of the have-nots are the African Americans who have been displayed on television in such stark circumstances, the “forgotten” people who are still just a heartbeat away from the centuries of slavery followed by segregation that I so vividly remember as a child and my parents fled so that we would have greater opportunities to achieve. So many of these folks you’ve seen on television are just simple people who lived in abject poverty that makes the eastern hollers of Kentucky and West Virginia look like the suburbs.
My family is safe, thank God, but they have lost their homes and businesses for the foreseeable future. They have the resources to rebuild. Most people will not. Imagine people who have lost what little they had managed to accumulate and who do not have the resources to re-build. Think about the fact that the city and state issued “voluntary” evacuation orders days in advance so that the “haves” could leave town. Not until Sunday were the “have-nots” told to evacuate – and the city/state knew all along that 100,000 did not have the means to evacuate. And where were FEMA and Homeland Security? Did they stock the Superdome, the site of last resort, with necessities like water, food and toiletries? No, after all, this was for the “have-nots.” Where is the justice and righteousness in that?
The city I know and long for has nothing to do with buildings and ambience. It’s the people – American refugees – that I think of and pray for. They have lost so much.
Lynn Bynum is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Bellarmine University
New Orleans is my home. It is where I was born, where my sister was born, where my parents were born, where my grandparents lived most of their lives. It is where much of my family still lives – or did until a few days ago. It’s where I visit at least once a year – where my son, husband and I spent the 4th of July weekend so we could visit family, especially elderly aunts and uncles.
The New Orleans I know is different than that of a tourist. Certainly, we enjoy the pleasures of the French Quarter and the Garden District, of the restaurants and the shops. But it’s a schizophrenic city, too, for it is truly a city of “haves” and “have-nots.” The vast majority of the have-nots are the African Americans who have been displayed on television in such stark circumstances, the “forgotten” people who are still just a heartbeat away from the centuries of slavery followed by segregation that I so vividly remember as a child and my parents fled so that we would have greater opportunities to achieve. So many of these folks you’ve seen on television are just simple people who lived in abject poverty that makes the eastern hollers of Kentucky and West Virginia look like the suburbs.
My family is safe, thank God, but they have lost their homes and businesses for the foreseeable future. They have the resources to rebuild. Most people will not. Imagine people who have lost what little they had managed to accumulate and who do not have the resources to re-build. Think about the fact that the city and state issued “voluntary” evacuation orders days in advance so that the “haves” could leave town. Not until Sunday were the “have-nots” told to evacuate – and the city/state knew all along that 100,000 did not have the means to evacuate. And where were FEMA and Homeland Security? Did they stock the Superdome, the site of last resort, with necessities like water, food and toiletries? No, after all, this was for the “have-nots.” Where is the justice and righteousness in that?
The city I know and long for has nothing to do with buildings and ambience. It’s the people – American refugees – that I think of and pray for. They have lost so much.
Lynn Bynum is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Bellarmine University
posted by Jon at 12:52 PM
1 Comments:
I've seen reports today that sites such as Yahoo News have been color-coding their stories. White people are "finding" groceries whereas blacks are "looting" them. Check out this link as the originals have been taken down:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/blackfolk/2420240.html
I've read about cities becoming "No Man's Lands" after natural disasters, but I never thought I would see it here and now. With the wealth of foreknowledge the government agencies had, there is no excuse to see the have-nots suffer so greatly.
Now that the oil companies are free to jump the $3 mark without pause and the Federal govenrment will be using military power to restore order, I am deeply concerned how this disaster will be used to further the Bush agenda.
Post a Comment
<< Home