When you were a little kid, did you ever have a sneaking suspicion that your mom loved your best friend a little more than she loved you? Maybe it seemed like she thought more highly of your buddy. Maybe she always gave the other kid the better grilled cheese sandwich. Somehow, the most dominant event in recent news has me considering this youthful phenomenon in a deeper way.
I've been thinking a lot about Haiti and if/how the crisis there is comparable to what happened in New Orleans after Katrina. The outpouring of support from the US and other countries is encouraging, but I wonder how NOLA residents are feeling when they remember how they were ignored and left to fend for themselves in their time of need.
I was talking to my grandma the other day and she was saying that she thought it was a little ridiculous that we were spending so much to help people in another country when there are so many problems here at home that need addressed. I hear this argument a lot when it comes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in all of the commentary I've read about the Haiti situation, this sentiment hasn't seemed to come up. Is that because people are really behind the humanitarian aid efforts in this incredibly poor country, or is it because it would be an unsavory opinion to voice?
It's very striking (and inspiring) to me that so many avenues were quickly made available for people to easily donate money to help alleviate the tragedy that is unfolding in the western hemisphere's most economically disadvantaged country - but where were these efforts when the city of New Orleans was virtually incapacitated, our own citizens waiting for days in horrifying conditions before help arrived?
I don't solicit comments very often, but what do you think about the disaster response in Haiti? Can we compare this situation to what happened after Hurricane Katrina or the other devastating hurricanes that have recently hit the gulf coast?
Wellll I wonder if people of NOLA feel slightly vindicated-just in the fact that Kanye's declaration that George Bush hates black people reflected the suspicion that racism was behind the lack of help... and now that we have a black president... I don't mean to simplify things, just that one of my reactions to the situation was "it figures," and I'm not ever from the south.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if all the racial critique that followed Katrina might be partially responsible for our monetary/humanitarian reaction-setting a precedent for people up for reelection soon. Not to be cynical or anything. Basically I just wonder if our response might have been different if not for Katrina.