E Pluribus Unum
George Bush doesn't care about black peopleKanye West on the NBC Katrina Telethon
Somebody I heard - you know, a couple of people said - you know, said, "Bush didn't respond because of race, because he's a racist". That is absolutely wrong. And I reject that. Frankly, that's the kind of thing that - you can call me anything you want - but do not call me a racist. Secondly, this storm hit all up and down. It hit New Orleans. It hit down in Mississippi too. And people should not forget the damage done in Mississippi.George Bush in an interview with Brian Williams
Personally, I'm of the belief that Mr Bush is like most of us and race colors his opinion. The stereotypes he recognizes may be from a different era and I'm willing to bet that in his younger days, he may have uttered the dreaded n-word, when sitting around having a beer with his buds; But, I don't know that he's any more racist than every other person his age, who were raised in West Texas.
Recently, biscuiteater wrote an excellent essay about the n-word. It appears to have been in response to a controversy that erupted in the blackfolk community and in the comment thread, I reveal the circumstances around which the word passed my lips for its only time. Basically, I had a roommate at summer camp who had goaded me for weeks, hoping to find the chink in my armor and trying to prove that deep down, all Southern white crackers were alike, no matter how liberal they may seem on the surface.
I consider myself a pretty accepting guy and I make a conscious effort to never describe people by their most obvious identifying feature. It's just the way I was raised and it had been informed by the things that I witnessed during my youth, but I do have to admit that race can be one of the factors I take into consideration, when writing a person's life story in my head. I don't prejudge based on race, but I do lump it in with many other factors, when deciding upon another's unique perspective. Fortunately or in my own defense, race isn't the only overriding characteristic that gets equal play, when I'm deciding a person's history.
There is an East Indian couple next door. When the wife first arrived, it looked like she wasn't allowed to drive a car or leave the house unaccompanied by her spouse. I automatically thought of the paternalistic Indian culture and wondered aloud, how much unsupervised contact, we should let her have with my daughter.
The other night, we went to the local art crawl and during the course of the evening, we had dinner at a restaurant which is only open in the evening, one night a week. While we were enjoying our meal and I was bouncing the baby on my lap, I made judgments about another family, who were sitting in a corner booth and appeared unfamiliar with the restaurant's procedures.
The father unit was shaggy and the teenage son had hair down to his waist. I noticed that the son rarely looked those he was addressing in the eye, so I thought about some of the things I've learned from LJ about the various social anxiety disorders.
When I pointed them out to my wife and voiced that whatever kind of affliction may have been affecting the teen, it surely couldn't be helped by having him look so different than everyone else in the community, my wife responded that the father was the president of the Governing Council for my daughter's school. This would make him a physics professor at the local college, something else to be taken into consideration. Though none of this changed my diagnosis of the son, instead each became part of the story I had imagined.
I don't think George Bush decided to kill a bunch of African-Americans down in New Orleans. I think the system was overwhelmed and has been noted, budget cuts had decimated FEMA. The situation wasn't helped by the redirection of assets toward the Gulf War and totally inept management, but I don't think race was a direct factor in the Federal response.
Though, on the other hand; I will say that the Governor's armed response and the aggressive nature of those charged with keeping order, plus society's and all levels of government's willingness to believe many of the now disproven claims of marauding gangs, violent outbursts and serial rapes appear to have been colored by race.
Somebody I heard - you know, a couple of people said - you know, said, "Bush didn't respond because of race, because he's a racist". That is absolutely wrong. And I reject that. Frankly, that's the kind of thing that - you can call me anything you want - but do not call me a racist. Secondly, this storm hit all up and down. It hit New Orleans. It hit down in Mississippi too. And people should not forget the damage done in Mississippi.George Bush in an interview with Brian Williams
Personally, I'm of the belief that Mr Bush is like most of us and race colors his opinion. The stereotypes he recognizes may be from a different era and I'm willing to bet that in his younger days, he may have uttered the dreaded n-word, when sitting around having a beer with his buds; But, I don't know that he's any more racist than every other person his age, who were raised in West Texas.
Recently, biscuiteater wrote an excellent essay about the n-word. It appears to have been in response to a controversy that erupted in the blackfolk community and in the comment thread, I reveal the circumstances around which the word passed my lips for its only time. Basically, I had a roommate at summer camp who had goaded me for weeks, hoping to find the chink in my armor and trying to prove that deep down, all Southern white crackers were alike, no matter how liberal they may seem on the surface.
I consider myself a pretty accepting guy and I make a conscious effort to never describe people by their most obvious identifying feature. It's just the way I was raised and it had been informed by the things that I witnessed during my youth, but I do have to admit that race can be one of the factors I take into consideration, when writing a person's life story in my head. I don't prejudge based on race, but I do lump it in with many other factors, when deciding upon another's unique perspective. Fortunately or in my own defense, race isn't the only overriding characteristic that gets equal play, when I'm deciding a person's history.
There is an East Indian couple next door. When the wife first arrived, it looked like she wasn't allowed to drive a car or leave the house unaccompanied by her spouse. I automatically thought of the paternalistic Indian culture and wondered aloud, how much unsupervised contact, we should let her have with my daughter.
The other night, we went to the local art crawl and during the course of the evening, we had dinner at a restaurant which is only open in the evening, one night a week. While we were enjoying our meal and I was bouncing the baby on my lap, I made judgments about another family, who were sitting in a corner booth and appeared unfamiliar with the restaurant's procedures.
The father unit was shaggy and the teenage son had hair down to his waist. I noticed that the son rarely looked those he was addressing in the eye, so I thought about some of the things I've learned from LJ about the various social anxiety disorders.
When I pointed them out to my wife and voiced that whatever kind of affliction may have been affecting the teen, it surely couldn't be helped by having him look so different than everyone else in the community, my wife responded that the father was the president of the Governing Council for my daughter's school. This would make him a physics professor at the local college, something else to be taken into consideration. Though none of this changed my diagnosis of the son, instead each became part of the story I had imagined.
I don't think George Bush decided to kill a bunch of African-Americans down in New Orleans. I think the system was overwhelmed and has been noted, budget cuts had decimated FEMA. The situation wasn't helped by the redirection of assets toward the Gulf War and totally inept management, but I don't think race was a direct factor in the Federal response.
Though, on the other hand; I will say that the Governor's armed response and the aggressive nature of those charged with keeping order, plus society's and all levels of government's willingness to believe many of the now disproven claims of marauding gangs, violent outbursts and serial rapes appear to have been colored by race.