*** this. No seriously, **** it.

[Chovexani]

I posted this in another thread, but I need to scream it again before I'm out of here. You know what I am sick and fucking tired of? I am sick and fucking tired of (white) DUers saying this has nothing to do with color. Denying it when we have a history in this country of systematic oppression and genocide against people of color. When we have a history of things like the Tuskegee experiments where BLACK MEN were treated like lab rats out of Nazi Germany. Where we had native peoples who were WIPED THE FUCK OUT. I am sick and goddamn tired of being told this is all in our heads, we're crazy, we need to "think".

And you people wonder why people of color are so cynical of the Democratic Party. You people never want to fucking listen to us unless it's election time and you want our goddamn vote.

Fuck this noise, I'm out.

[xultar]

1. It has everything to do with colour.

[Melodybe]

36. Amen I have been screaming all day

[MelissaB]

67. Even most white people in Alabama that I've talked to realize this and

they are pissed!

[lebkuchen]

157. and America's rigid class lines

which go hand in hand with color.

[Dhalgren]

2. Kicked and nominated!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Of course it's about race.

I don't remember having seen any posts that suggested otherwise (though I haven't read all of them). I think most of us know damn well what's going on -- don't give up on us.

[Matariki]

17. oh, i saw those

when i pointed out that unsubstantiated rumors about roving "rape gangs"
had everything to do with the national fear/fantasy about black men, i was told that it had nothing to do with race and that perhaps i was racist for suggesting it did.

[Tigress DEM]

109. Why is it that racists call other people racist when they tell the truth?

Rape gangs - if there are any - are more about violence and rage and it doesn't matter what color someone is to get into that, but the biggest "rape" is against the defenseless people that they (BushCo)won't allow others to rescue. People stranded in hospitals, those at the dome who can't leave and who can't be assisted by the Red Cross.

Someone mentioned Genocide before and I didn't think BushCo is smart enough to actually be "thinking" in those terms, but I agree, the end result is the same and they MUST be held accountable.

Bush is the biggest terrorist. He's the biggest rapist and his little shows of support by putting his hands around people for photo ops and then going behind their back and screwing them over isn't fooling anyone.

One thing though, when people say this is MORE than race, that there is "classism" involved here it isn't to invalidate the race component as much as it is to make it OUR WAR regardless of what color skin we have. I would gladly kick his a** if given the opportunity for just the things he has done to people of color, but sadly it's even worse than a total disrespect for blacks. If you aren't an oil rig or pulling in Billions of dollars a year, Bush doesn't believe you exist.

Gone is any sense that people with any brains in their heads can ignore the sins of this administration. Chief among them, not meeting with reps from groups representing black community interests in his whole time as pResident. Then of course, he does steer clear of anyone who is apt to speak their mind and not play along.

[anarch]

123. something you said reminds me of something

I just heard on CNN, some commentator, saying "poor people come in all colors..." almost immediately followed with "in New Orleans, most of the poor people are black." Hmmmmmm.

I guess my point is, you're right about our society suffering more primarily due to classism than racism...it's just that the specific breed of classism in America is so heavily infused with racism that it's hard to tell the difference sometimes.

[Mythsaje]

I think it does.

but I also think it has to do with class...

I believe in Class Warfare. And it's the rich who started it.

Again.

[Chovexani]

11. Of course there's a class element involved

That's not in dispute, it should be plain for all to see.

I'm just saying people who don't think that race is playing a part in this are either ignorant or they don't want to listen. After the last few days of screaming till I'm red in the face (something hard to do with my complexion), I'm beginning to believe it's the latter, and I've had enough.

[Mythsaje]

45. I hate to say it

but you're probably right.

But, then again, you have to look at it this way. Had it been a bunch of poor WHITE people in the South, they could be looked at as likely Republican voters. They'd have been rescued in short order.

Poor black folks? Not bloody likely.

Oh, yeah, it's racial...but it's even dirtier than that, in my opinion. They were expendable simply because this administration has no use for them at all.

[Slit Skirt]

87. you are right on...right on....right on

this has come out of my mouth many many times...racism is alive and well in the good 'ol USA.

and the treatment of people after katrina...it is so fucking obvious that anyone with an IQ higher than lawn furniture can see that

[PittLib]

133. Chovexani - I was put on the spot yesterday ...

when a NYC firefighter I've gotten to know, asked me if I thought this was a racial issue. He had just informed me that he was volunteering to go to Houston to provide assistance. I immediately said yes. Then I paused ... and thought that perhaps economics played a primary role and therefore was more immediate - but that we have such a history of racism that we ensure that minorities stay where they are ... poor. It makes it less obvious and more palatable to point to economics ... in some people's eyes, that can be helped (meaning it is not discrimination because it is your own fault) - whereas racism is blatant and unacceptable as it is not within one's control. The racism still exists ... but we've learned to be more surreptitious and bury it under other qualifiers. Basically, we've come up with a "better" argument ... while perpetuating what keeps people at a disadvantage. We pretend that America offers a level playing field when it comes to opportunity - absolute bullshit.

Anyway - I didn't have time to offer a complete answer, and was told to think it through. This is what I believe to be true (my theory thus far) - but I would never claim to understand this completely. If I may suggest (and I acknowledge that I may be way off base) that this be argued secondary to economic discrimination while showing how the 2 are inseparable, why the poor in NO are predominately black and how this is long term and ingrained, not just immediate. I'm afraid this will be compartmentalized - this is a national problem, not just NO's or the South's ... it exists all over this country. If we argue only in terms of racism, and leave out the class or economic aspects, they'll tear the argument apart. I hope I am making sense.

[DawgHouse]

38. I've been telling myself for days that it's a "class" thing

but then I watch the news coverage and it's finally sinking in. I believe there was no urgency to help these poor souls because they are black.

[Prodemsouth]

142. Warren Buffet agrees with you - but he adds his side is winning.

The Very rich are not the problem. Its the what the very rich call new money, middle class and lower middle working class white suburbanites who primarily support these right wing polices.

[Tyranny_R_US]

4. Thank You for speaking for these poor people.

:patriot:

[Opusnone]

Please don't leave my brother

Though I'm a white guy I was born and raised in Detroit and now live in South Florida. I consider myself blacker than most blacks. There isn't a black person in the world I wouldn't lay down my life for and fight to the death for their rights, struggles and causes.
This is about race, goddamn right. Though it isn't overtly stated, listen to some of the callers on RW radio. White people are afraid of black people. Plain and simple. I'm not, but most are. When they think Democrat they think blacks and jews. The only hope we have is the people, black and white, working together. Stay safe and be at peace.

[Chovexani]

15. Sister, but thanks for the sentiment

I think I need a break from DU and the news, because I really do feel like I'm going crazy.

[OhioBlue]

46. i'm sorry Chovexani -

many of us don't walk in your shoes. racism is much worse in some parts of the country than it is in others. we all know it exists, but not everyone sees it on a daily basis. i'm sorry you have been offended in this forum. i'm glad you expressed your frustration b/c we can all give our opinion on this forum - and obviously your emotions and frustraion have been running high. i personally know there is horrible racism in this country and i also believe that the admin discriminates against all poor people. again - i'm sorry if the class issue seems to trump the race issue at times. maybe it is an attempt to be too pc - i don't know.

[faithnotgreed]

54. dear friend - i cant even imagine

but were with you if thats any small small comfort

thinking of you and hoping you can know that we know and feel this beyond injustice
its immoral and unthinkable and unconscionable

but we better face right up to it because the horror is us

i posted a bit about this well before katrina
in a post about what i want in a president and that was most definitely a crucial aspect
we need all humanity and truth before its too late

please take good care and know were thinking of you

[leftchick]

117. I am a white person who gets it. There are thousands of us on DU

please don't let the ignorant comments of a few make you leave. Every group has their dumbasses, even DU! My ignore list is big!

:)

[Warren DeMontague]

148. Take a breather, it's been a rough week

hell, it's been a rough five years.

[goclark]

164. My sister, I know exactly how you feel

Every time I looked at the video clips from inside the Super Dome, it looked like a slave ship to me.

Every time I heard a word out of any reporters mouth, I questioned how sincere they were about wanting my people to have water and food.

I am real touchy right now, this whole thing makes me think of 21st Century Slavery.

It may not be 100% about race, but race is sure up there in the 90 % range.

I once told my father, " I love being Black!"
His response was, "Baby, you have never been given the choice to be White,so you will never know how that feels."

That has stuck with me because I really don't know how it must feel to be anything other than Black.

But I do know this, it works in reverse. White people can not possibly know how it feels to be Black.

They may try to understand but I can't believe they can know how it really feels to see those Black babies crying for food and taken away from their mothers!

It HURTS, really HURTS to see my people ,that worked to build New Orleans, begging for a crust of bread from that bastard GWB!

I am so hurt that I can't even cry.

Please don't give up on DU. There are some really good people here that are trying hard to seek the TRUTH. Many times their reality is not ours.

Sometimes I believe that we were directed to DU to be the voice of our people. To give our side of the issue. We have every right to be here!

"Don't Cha Let Nobody Turn You Around!"

Peace my sister, peace!

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. Chovexani, I think it has everything to do with color, and birthrite.

The haves were saved, the havenots are struggling to survive. The black people are looting, the white people are foraging. It makes me shake with rage. There are many, MANY, of us who agree with you.

One of the most poignant images of this whole tragedy was of a white woman convulsing against the side of a building. Who came to her aid, with a bottle of water, and took control of trying to save her life? A black man. Probably somebody she had never met before....probably somebody who had "looted" that bottle of water. He is a HERO, not a lowlife. Many of us know that...and wish that the rest of the world would care so much as this one man. Please don't go...I'd miss you too much.

~Laura

[Corgigal]

6. Wait

Listen I see race issue too. I just think that some DU'ers don't want to believe in the year 2005 that a Govt of a 1st world country would behave this way. It's a defense mechanism.

It's like me, being a NY'er, and thinking my Govt actually actively acted on bring down the towers.

[Horse with no Name]

7. You are right

I'm an white middle aged woman and I see it, plain as day.
But there is a HOPE when I see stories like I posted earlier from a conservative guy with racist tendencies (I didn't miss those) who was afraid of some black guys--no other reason than they were black, and walked away knowing those guys and many others were the heroes.
I HOPE that our country will swing the pendulum
This story is making alot of white people uncomfortable because they know in their heart of hearts that it is true.
I HOPE the pendulum swings and great things come out of this tragedy.
If we can excise the cancer in this country, I think for the first time our nation might come together.

[wli]

8. I have to use "the 'g' word" euphemism to aviod getting posts nuked n/t

[steve2470]

9. hey dude, I posted a thread two days ago saying bush was racist

many people disagreed with me.

[2Design]

10. Most du'ers agree with you - the rest may not be real du'ers

don't attack all whites - that would not be true either

Most of us have been just as frustrated - the incompetence of admin and lack of concern is evident

[Ekirh]

12. Today in African American Literature

My Teacher came in with an angry expression on her face. She looks at us and goes. . "Does anyone have any love ones in New Orleans". We all shook our heads no. Getting that out of the way . . She goes to the Chalk Board and writes two words. She writes the word "CLASS" and she writes the word "RACE" and then looks at us and go. What is going on down there has to deal with both RACE and CLASS... and don't let ANYONE tell you any different. We then proceeded on with the rest of class.

I've mainly believed it is about Class... but I agree with my teacher.. no one will tell me any different.. it is both Race and Class. . . it's plain to see. . and it's a fucking shame. In just a few classes I've already started to love and respect my African American Literature Teacher.

THat's all I had to say. I don't think I really had a point. I'm just saying don't think all of us White Duers don't think it has anything to do with color. . . I agree with you in believing it does.

[fiveleafclover]

13. This is a case of race and class going hand in hand

I don't even know any rich black people. So when someone says it has to do with class, they're not necessarily ruling out race. Not unless they're really stupid.

[KenCarson]

34. yes. this i can agree with. since our AA SOS thinks shoes are a priority

it's both a race and a class issue.

[Chovexani]

66. Don't get me started on CondImelda

My mom, as sincere a born again Christian as you can find, was cussing her out on TV today.

That woman makes me sick to my stomach. She had the nerve to start in with that bullshit about how she's from Alabama and oh those poor people, well she obviously wasn't hurting that bad when she was shopping for shoes expensive enough to feed the average Alabama family for a month.

[evilqueen]

96. Yeah, that pissed me off too

The whole damned administration was "on vacation" even while the mayor of N.O. was issuing an SOS. Bush licking icing off his thumb, Condi shopping for shoes, Cheney prolly fly fishing in Wyoming, Rumsfeld... who knows, prolly working on getting more of our kids killed with his war plans for Iran, Chertoff completely ignorant and incompetent (we knew where survivors were waiting for help before he did!)...

Damn right it's about race and class. They don't give a shit unless it means future campaign money or profits for the corporations they hold stock in or sit on the boards of.

We're all expendable in their view.

[libhill]

119. A Repuke -

is a Repuke, period. Black, white, yellow, whatever, a god damn Repuke is a Repuke. End of story. By the way, you don't have to tell me that this has to do with race, I damn well know that. As I stated on another thread, if these were wealthy whites, and preferably Republicans, this fucking atrocity would never have happened.

[goclark]

165. CondiImelda is a piece of trash!

I hope those new shoes pinch her funky feet.

The nerve of her to come to "oversee" her people for her Master.

[AbbyR]

140. I do know some rich black people, and...

I heard an interesting story from one of them a few years ago. She and her husband live in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. Apparently they have been stopped by police any number of times while walking their dog right around their home.

I'm beyond disgusted at that. I still think there is some element of classicism, but I am also convinced that if what the government was seeing in New Orleans was thousands upon thousands of poor white people, help would have arrived sooner. Much sooner.

[Turn CO Blue]

14. Of course it has to do with color. And income level.

Anyone who says otherwise is in a state of cognitive dissonance.

[Nictuku]

20. Even Michael Savage

... said today on his show that it was all about Race.

Talk about Jaw-dropping.

But then he went into a tirade about judges.

[Ladyhawk]

48. No shit??? What's the temperature in hell right now? Getting chilly? nt

[Catherine Vincent]

16. As Wolf Blitzer said yesterday....

"They're so poor and so black."

[walldude]

18. Is there a thread I missed?

I've been here all day and most peole on DU think this is a race issue, many are calling it Genocide. Please don't group us all together like that, some of us know...

[RagAss]

19. I'm white... I'm pissed and yes this is all about color and hate.....

...and lying creeps like Hannity....

[wellstone_democrat]

21. absolutely *everything* to do with color

and claiming it ain't so, don't make it go away (as the old saying goes)

There have been a notable few people who are constantly harping on "TVs being stolen!!!!" (I don't give a damn frankly), or "its not the time to point fingers" (no, that would be when its over and Bush bots can say'that's ancient history' as they always do

And the people who claim that it isn't over RACE or that they "don't want to believe...." whatever are fools. Its about race, its always about race and anyone who says differently is either pathetically naive or lying.

Oh, and yeah, I'm white---I also live in the whitest city I've ever been in at the moment and I can tell you the "sympathy" is about 1 millimeter deep and the racial comments that are casually uttered are dreadful. On some threads here I wonder if my neighbors are posting and they're all "Bush is God!" people. Makes ya wonder.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. Can you get a witness?

uh hmmm!

You got it chovexni.

[sniffa]

23. there are white DUers who agree with you

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4591976

[LittleClarkie]

72. There are DUers of every race and creed who agree

and don't damn well deserve to be called out as if we as a whole didn't understand. Most do. So why is this being painted with such a broad brush.

Most of us here have nothing to either apologize or defend ourselves about, and don't deserve this calling out.

(not to mention that "dramatic exit" posts on the internet are usually bullshit and meant to elicit a response like "oh no, don't go!"

To hell with that. If this person can't see that most of the people here are good people who agree with her, well that's her problem. Most of us don't deserve this shit.

[Chovexani]

81. Then why pray tell are you on this thread?

The fact that you continue to choose to dismiss the anger and frustration that not only me, but other folks have been feeling the last few days tells me everything I need to know about you.

Yes, there are many people on DU who understand this issue. But too many of y'all want to act like it's just Freeptard trolls posting this shit, and asking "who's been saying this?!" when I've been seeing it for the last few days. I'd pull the threads up but search is down. We had one guy the other night who screamed he was sick of people (read: whiny minorities) crying racism, and even ran to the Lounge to elicit sympathy. There were people that agreed with him that weren't low post count trolls. We had Will Pitt, as close to a "Big Name" as DU has, telling people that genocide claims were all in our heads and we need to "calm down". That, combined with a post I just read earlier decrying Kanye West's statements, basically calling him stupid for calling it like he saw it, made me snap. There has been a steady pattern of racist bullshit being espoused, from the looting threads on.

I'm not leaving DU for good. I never threatened to. I like the Lounge, I've met some cool people rl because of it. I just couldn't fucking take it anymore and had to say something, and the only time anything gets any attention in GD is when people scream (one poor guy from NOLA was trying to be heard and no one wanted to listen).

Racism is a problem on DU and has been for some time, and if you don't believe it I suggest you pay a visit to the AA group forum and see how frustrated some of us are because we aren't being heard. That's what this is about, this is about people on an ostensibly liberal site not wanting to hear about it.

[sniffa]

89. indeed

:hug:

that was more poLite than i couLd have been.

[Karenina]

113. Chovexani, You GO girl!

:hug: :yourock: :hug:

[Stand and Fight]

154. You're absolutely right...

Some of the so-called liberal members on this board remind me of the right-wing racist I work with in Oklahoma. They can dress the language up all they want and it still reeks of shit. Period. Keep speaking truth to power, Chovexani -- this is one brother and LIBERAL DEMOCRAT that agrees with you.

[Binka]

92. What A Nasty Little Screed

You have issues. Seriously. Totally uncalled for LC.

[Stand and Fight]

153. Your snide post is a symptom of the very malady that affects us...

Could you possibly be any more RUDE? If the thread does not apply to you personally then why take such offense? I agree with the OP -- there have been PLENTY of so-called "fair-minded" DUers who dismiss that race is an issue, because they're wearing rose-colored glasses. The reality is that there are more than a few -- though opaque -- racist comments made on this board, and it does makes those of us who are NOT white uncomfortable and feel somewhat unwelcome.


Your post most definitely leaves me with that very feeling.

[democrank]

24. Chovexani....

I`m white and I wish you could have heard my calls to my senators yesterday and my call to the DNC today. I have fought against racism for decades.

[Cleita]

25. Most of us have been trying to say it's about race and

not only the African Americans are saying it. You are talking about the same white DUers...sigh...who go on about undocumented Hispanic workers and say it isn't racist.

[OhioBlue]

26. of course it has to do with race n/t

[Qibing Zero]

27. I don't see how anyone can disagree at this point.

Oh it's scary, no doubt about it. No one wants to believe it, but it's blindingly obvious.

[madmax]

28. 'Why Black People Tend to Shout'

'Cold Facts and Wry Views From a Black Man's World'. by Ralph Wiley.

Great book...

[Turn CO Blue]

42. I'm a loud-mouthed "broad" raised in Texas- we tend to SHOUT too

It doesn't mean that I'm irrational either...it's just my way from time to time. It's a way of being heard, of not disappearing.

Of course, I've mellowed and learned to communicate more quietly most of the time over the years, but my whole family tend to be shouters. (Oh, and not black, we're white and vocal).

At my work, many people admire my way of bluntly speaking truth to power. I have to say, "thank my mama".

[Chovexani]

71. Bless you

I think it's just a southern thing. My roots are in the south (Virginia and South Carolina) and I get loud and uppity and I don't give a damn. Kinda like now, heh.

We need people like you speaking truth to power.

[tnlefty]

137. I've realized from the beginning this horror is blatantly about race

and it is also about class. I've been enraged, I've cried, I don't sleep, I run my mouth to anyone whose ear I have access to. I don't understand why so many people around me just seem to be ignoring what is happening and just seem to be going about their business.

This can not stand. If it looks like a genocide could it be because it is?!!! This left the realm of gross incompetence/negligence for me Tues. People are not receiving water and food, nor a way out of a sheer hell, and it is intentional. I'm furious, disgusted, horrified and in shock and a state of sadness that this is going on in my country.

I've been ready to peacefully descend on either DC or outside of NO for days. This can not be allowed to happen.

National disgrace just doesn't cover it. :cry:

[Coexist]

29. who is saying its not about race - all day long thats what people have

been saying. Even the media has recognized it.

Bush is racist, sexist, classist - you name it. If that was Long Island - the National Guard would have cleaned up and left already.

[titoresque]

30. I'm with you!

And yes YOU SHOULD BE CYNICAL OF THE DEM PARTY!!!!

[Thtwudbeme]

31. did you miss my thread?

?

[LittleClarkie]

32. Bye y'all. Because for days people have been saying it IS about race

so if you want to have a hissy, that's your problem.

Go and be a Republican. Just don't live in a hurricane zone as they will let you die.

Yeah, that would be the better choice.

[Chovexani]

56. Thanks for playing, but try again.

Did I say one goddamn word about defecting to the Republican party? No. I come from a family of Democrats. I volunteered on campus get out the vote drives to register Dems. A family friend is running for a local judgeship as a Dem and I've been volunteering handing out leaflets.

And let me tell you one more goddamn thing. Look at my profile. Yeah, that's right, I'm from New York Fucking City. I was born and raised here and watched my goddamn city burn on 9/11, and watched my friends and neighbors die and that useless POS cokemonkey in the White House do the exact same thing he did now, that is run away from the problem while people were dying. I sat in my house alone crying because I didn't know if my family was coming back to me. So don't you fucking presume to tell me what party I should and shouldn't join to watch people die.

No, as fucked up as this party is, it's all me and people like me have. I meant this site, which is ostensibly for and by progressive people, which has its head up its ass when it comes to race issues.

[New Earth]

156. hey

i don't know you or your posts, but you can't group the entire community like that. there are plenty of people here who are not racist at all. it's just not fair to group everyone together as ignoring you or black people/African Americans in general.

i know you are frustrated, but you have to know there are people here on your side who see the truth of the matter. don't let the assholes spoil it for you.

you want to know how NOT racist I am? wanna see something someone posted on myspace that made me furiated, i wrote to him and went off on him? listen to this bullshit:

" i see that there is a big problem down south because of the hurricane, and as moral people we are inclined to help them out in their time of need..........but this is the wrong thing to do.

FUCK THOSE PEOPLE......THEY DON'T DESERVE A PENNY.......WHEN YOU START SHOOTING AT RESCUE WORKERS WHO ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU IN YOUR TIME OF NEED, YOU ARE NO LONGER A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF SOCIETY AND THEREFORE YOU NO LONGER SHOULD BE ABLE TO REEP THE BENEFITS OF OUR COUNTRY.

MY PROPOSAL.............FUCK 'EM, LET THEM ROT DOWN THERE. THEY HAVE ALREADY DECIDED TO DISPLACE THEMSELVES.....WE SHOULD ALLOW THEM TO FINISH DISPLACING AND JUST WAIT FOR THEM TO KILL EACH OTHER OFF.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST "


now THAT is an asshole. it seems my reply to him made him think twice and has since deleted his post.

see, there are racist assholes and there are people who care. i just hope you wouldn't leave DU entirely because of a select few. don't go.

[Stand and Fight]

158. You know what?

You're being a real prick! What's with all of the anger? Can't you be your normal reasonable self, LC? What's up? You're normally someone's who's comments I look for on here, but you're being very rude in this case. If this is your response to someone reaching out and trying to communicate, let's just hope other Democrats don't follow suit because eventually we -- black people and other minorities -- will tire of your bullshit and just say fuck it.

[stevedeshazer]

33. I think most DUers agree with you.

I sure do.

[distantearlywarning]

35. This white girl woke up this week.

It finally got through to me that it is about race and class. The images of the people this country thinks are expendable, unimportant, and not worth wasting good food on are very clear. They're on everybody's television 24 hours a day this entire week.

The poor. The black. The elderly. The disabled.

These are the people we have thrown away. These are the people we don't care about.

And reading that conservative guy's blog tonight was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Many of the people we have left to die in New Orleans tonight have been heroes and have done everything they could for their fellow man, regardless of color. Some of them have saved the lives of white people - the same race who are leaving them there to rot. They have no reason to do such a thing and yet they did it anyway.

You're right. About everything you said. And I'm sorry. Please don't leave. Not all of us feel the way you said.

[Booster]

64. I, too , am sorry to watch this genocide. Bush and his ilk want to

"thin the herd" and are holding back aid so that more of the poor, weak, sick, and the blacks will die so they can get them off of food stamps, welfare and Medicade. It's so blantantly obvious and so shameful. I think God's vengence on these thugs is going to be something we would all like to see.

[Chovexani]

75. Thanks. I really mean that.

I think a lot of white people just don't understand because they don't see it on a daily basis. They don't experience it. A lot of times it takes close friendships or relationships with people of color to understand. One of my exes is a hardcore Libertarian type who didn't think there was a need for civil rights legislation, blah blah. That is until he started dating me, and noticing how people were treating him different when he was with me. Then he started to get it. It's not just me either, I've heard this over and over again from folks.

I just don't understand how anyone can see what's going on plain on TV, "looting" vs. "finding things" and still not get it. I'm glad you do. I just wish more people did.

[Beam Me Up]

37. Good god, no, it is NOT all in your heads! I'm a white man -- a gay one

-- and I've felt some small share of prejudice -- but NOTHING like what the African American community has suffered and endured in this country for GENERATIONS!

:cry: I am so, SO, very very sorry for everything that has happened and everything that IS happening due to the IGNORANCE of racism!

[roseBudd]

39. It's racist, voter ID laws are racist and I am so sick of arguing with

middleclass whites, who have no clue the reality of not a pot to piss in. What is it about not one red cent extra for anything extra do people not understand? Blacks are disporportionately poor. Hmm, wonder why?

Voter ID laws. Poor people don't drive and they sure as hell don't have the wherewithal to evacuate. How clueless do you have to be to not understand how difficult it would be to get the poor all set up with IDs even if it was free. And these were DU arguments. Not freeptard arguments.

[Chovexani]

84. Word.

Just, word.

It ain't just freeptard trolls. It's DUers. Not all, not by a longshot, but a very loud bunch. Loud enough to piss a person off.

We shouldn't have to do this kind of education on DU. And when I'm seeing people that could be my family dying in the streets for lack of food, babies crying...you know I don't much feel like educating.

[roseBudd]

121. Everyone one does not have a picture ID, a car, a credit card, a checking

account. Even if the people had been able to get far enough away from the coast, they would have had no chance of finding free or cheap shelter. And they were not evacuated by the gov't because gov't did not want to be responsible for their food and shelter after they got them inland.


"Those people" who bear some responsibility for not evacuating according to FEMA are the housekeepers, the dishwashers, the cab drivers, and the cooks who fuel a tourist mecca. They are also the sugar cane workers and any other agricultural low paying workers of the coastal region in those states.

[SnoopDog]

40. It is about color. It is about being poor. Being poor black....

These bastards probably called it the daily double.

I am a white guy and you all better believe it is about color and poor. This happen in a white middle class area? - it would be just like 911 - they would be there in a heartbeat.

This is such a fucking embarrassment.

Who has the fucking right to think THEY are better than anybody else. I judge people into only two categories: good people and bad people. Well let me tell you, not only are these neocons 'bad people' they are evil murderous people.

A fellow DUer wrote a great post... She made a timeline and compared it to 911. Read it - it to is very telling.




Link herehttp://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4587895

[Marr]

41. Someone is saying it has nothing to do with race? I missed that one.

This shit has ALOT to do with race. Race and poverty.

Take a look at Fox News. Those assholes know just how to talk to their sheet-wearing viewership. Lot's of talk about looting TV sets and rapes. Same old song and dance.

[Digit]

144. Tucker Carlson was on TV insisting it had nothing to do with race...

I began screaming so loudly at him I thought I was going to have a stroke.
Sharpton nailed him in the end!

[blondeatlast]

43. It has EVERYTHING to do with color and class.

The people living in 3rd world squalor aren't tourists.

I'm a blonde, blue-eyed white woman and I smell racism all the way to the White House.

[CrackpotAmerica]

44. Know This:

It has EVERYTHING to do with RACE and ECONOMIC MOBILITY, but ESPECIALLY RACE.

Forgive me for not being as clear about it in my various writings.

Please remember this phrase:

"BLAMING THE VICTIM"

That is what you should say to anyone who says anything that deters or distracts the issue.

I can't speak for everyone, but please know that at least one person, namely myself, can see the federal government's complete abandonment of our African American brothers & sisters in this travesty. I can see it as plain as day and I shall do my best from now on to repeat this point.

Kicked and Nominated for outright truth!

[A Brand New World]

47. I'm white and I've been posting for days (since Tues) that if this had

happened in, for instance, Houston and the majority of those faces were white that the help would have been immediate. I'm a white Ohioan and I can see the obvious. I'm totally ashamed of my government and I've stated as such many times on here. I don't know what else to say. I'm speechless that this is happening in the United States in 2005.

[peacetalksforall]

49. No way would whites be dying like this. No way. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

50. You are absolutely right...no argument whatsoever

and that is what makes it so much more hard to understand that there are those like Rice,, Powell and even Thomas, who allow themselves to be used by this racist administration to further their goals.

They are being used as Judas Goats:-A Judas-goat is an animal who leads the rest of the herd to the slaughterhouse chutes. At the last minute, the Judas-goat is led away to do it again while the rest are taken inside and slaughtered.

[brazil]

51. About 95%...

...of the posts on this site are saying race is a factor here. I just think the other 5% don't want to say so.

It's like the old saying, 95% of teenagers masturbate, and the other 5% lie.

[LittleClarkie]

57. So instead of seeing the 95 percent

our friend here is focussing on the 5 percent. Not fair. 95 percent of us don't fucking deserve it.

[fishwax]

95. I think your comment is unfair

"our friend" sees the 95%, and didn't blast everybody on DU. She didn't say all DUers or most DUers or most white DUers are denying it.

She said she's sick of the ones that are.

Frankly, I'm sick of them too.

[Stand and Fight]

160. Okay... Reading comprehension here, LittleClarkie...

Did you READ what the OP said? Did you?

She does not use the term ALL or even MOST.

She pinpointed and called out the offenders -- do you understand? If you're not one of the people who have done this, then why the fuck are you throwing such a hissy fit? :wtf: Enough already!

[Swamp Rat]

134. Oi cara!

Sou da Nova Orleans... tô morrendo de saudade da minha cidade! :cry:

[really annoyed]

52. Amen

I agree with every word.

[Dastard Stepchild]

53. Reading the book Heat Wave by Klinenberg might help...

to put things in perspective. It is an excellent book that details the manner in which the city of Chicago, my little hamlet, completely bungled the emergency response for the heat wave that ended up killing a disproportionate number of African-Americans in Chicago. The author does an excellent job of explaining how it happened, posits some interesting questions about why events unfolded the way that they did, and makes a subtle, but powerful, point about the manner in which race and class intersect with emergency response and propensity for decreased health/survival.

I may actually cut and paste what I have just said and recommend this as a suggestion in the forum. In fact, yes I will.

[Ms. Clio]

112. That is a great book and so relevant

He talks about the geography of race in the city -- who lived where, what it meant during a disaster.

Poor black people dying in stifling rooms -- many of them men, because they had fewer people in their support network.

[Dastard Stepchild]

124. It was excellent...

Klinenberg just gave a talk about his book here in Chicago this summer to mark the 10 year anniversary of the heat wave. It was very moving and very thought-provoking.

[Ms. Clio]

132. Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Davis also comes to mind

The U.S. government regarded the poor desperate people of New Orleans with the same utter indifference as the British viewed the starving millions of India during a famine.

Klinenberg's book was one of the most important I have ever read about how race and class shape every aspect of a person's daily life, from their physical environment (brightly-lit clean streets or darkness and crumbling pavement) to their ability to access survival resources.

[Dastard Stepchild]

141. Thanks for the suggestion...

I've not read the Davis book. I now work in the neighborhoods detailed in the Heat Wave book. They've changed a bit in the past 10 years, but you can still see why so many people would have been at risk during the heat wave.

[JaneGat]

55. Nominated

Of course it is. It has been from day one, and it is being perpetuated by Limbaugh others with a national microphone. The news media seems to be catching on - at least they are talking about it.

[LittleClarkie]

62. So will you be leaving as well

because the OP is saying fuck it to US, not to the media or to America. To us. Most of us understand that this is a race issue. But the OP has chosen to notice the minority of folks who don't.

I say fuck THAT.

[fleabert]

94. have some sympathy for fucks sake.

come on, how many threads have sunk off the page in minutes the last few days? it's very possible that the only thing some have seen is the flame wars with many saying 'it's not about race'.

compassion and understanding are what he is asking for, dial some up.

[Stand and Fight]

162. To quote the Rolling Stones, LittleClarkie should:

"have some sympathy, have some courtesy...."

[JaneGat]

108. Hadn't planned on it, but I think you've convinced me.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

58. Sure it's about race

If NO were nearly 70% white wealthy people you can bet your ass the levy system would have been improved LONG before now. Before Katrina even hit they would have had all the relief workers on stand-by. NG would have been readied days before they were needed. And, FEMA would end up handing out bloated amounts of money to the "poor victims" while bush stood their shaking their hands and patting their backs.

[SW FL Dem]

59. This blonde, causasian, DUer, agrees with you

race is definitely a large part of the lack of a federal government response. Class is also an issue. Please don't give up on all Dems, some of us definitely get it.

[greekspeak]

60. Whoever has been claiming that this has nothing to do with color is fucked

in the head. They are no better than that idiot squatter in D.C.

[Neshanic]

61. I agree it has everything to do with color and wealth.

It does not get more obvious.

[spuddonna]

63. Of course it's about race!

Anyone that says it isn't is insane... It's also about the rich and the poor...

[ticapnews]

65. When I showed my mother the photo...

of the "white finder" and the "black looter" she simply said "That's the South."

She was born here in Maine but much of her childhood was in the South. She didn't understand why it was "wrong" to have black friends, and she didn't care. My grandmother always said friendship was based on what's inside a person not what's outside. At one point my mother was kicked off a bus because she had the audacity to give up her seat for an old black woman.

Yes, I would have hoped we would have progressed by now, but Dr. King's dream remains a dream.

Take a break, re-energize and come back here to continue the fight. We're going to need to be united for what is to come.

[childslibrarian]

70. I'll repeat

It has everything to do with color but also the sex....
their color
The color of the mayor
and the sex of the governor
and the senator....
they are trying to humiliate them.

[QC]

74. "That's the South."

Agence France Presse is in the South? Well shut my mouth!

[Arugula Latte]

68. Whitey here... I totally agree with you!

Had this been a predominantly white city, the helicopters hovering over the place evacuating people immediately would have been as thick as a swarm of gnats.

[KerryOn]

69. I agree an disagree....

In regards to the hurricane, I don't think race had anything to do with the slow response initially, but five days latter it does. Now that evacuations are underway, I noticed that a group of white folks in an up class motel were given special security and evacuated. The children, sick and injured should have been evacuated before them!

And you are 100% correct about election time. In my home town the Democratic Party concentrated their main efforts during the election campaign in the predominately black neighbor hoods.

Kicked and Nominated!

[Hello_Kitty]

73. Please don't leave Chovexani

Your posts are so insightful. And the vast majority of us Caucasians here know you are speaking the truth. The few that still have their heads in the sand will hopefully wake up to it. I don't blame you for your feelings about the Dems either. Where the fuck are they?

[neuvocat]

76. That sucks.

[Imagevision]

77. Bush set this country back 40 years of progress denying blacks

their rights as americans!

http://downingstreetmemo.com/

[greekspeak]

83. Make that their rights as HUMANS

He has denied them the very most basic rights a human has. And for that he has committed crimes against humanity.

[Ilsa]

78. Yep. Spot on. At first I thought it was mostly a class issue,

but not anymore. These people were deprived of life-sustaining support. This was genocide.

[WiseButAngrySara]

79. I posted this thread last night....

I can't stop crying. I'm a skinny white woman. This is racism. No doubt about it. The sweet people of New Orleans have made that wonderful City what it is because of their soul and spirit. And they are being left to die. I can't take this. Its worse than Iraq!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4567299&mesg_id=4567299

[liberalhistorian]

80. I'm white, and I can't say I blame you.

I've also been totally disgusted with the "it has nothing to do with racism" attitude here, when it has EVERYTHING to do with racism and classism. Anyone with two brain cells could see that. Just contrasting the response to the hurricanes in FL last year, which affected mostly whites, shows that to be the case. And the way the media is covering the "looting", aka blacks "loot" while whites are "commandeering" or "looking for food", should be another dead giveaway.

[tamtam]

82. True that

Nominated

[Catchawave]

85. This is *Titanic's Steerage*.....

That was the thread that caught my attention today, nothing to do about race, but class. Big difference! It's about The Poverty Class! Which has no color.

[Tinoire]

86. If you leave, you diminish our numbers and the percentage of

under-the-radar posters pretending to be something they're not grows... and before you know it, DU is too diluted to represent real flesh and blood people like us.

I'm asking you Chovexani, do not leave. Stay and fight. This issue has everything to do with racism and it's so blatant that the foreign press is writing scathing articles about that and even Republican co-workers of mine have admitting it on their own.

Stay and fight. Would you let a few dubious, very dubious posters push you out to make room for one more of *them*?

It is your duty to fight for the brothers and sisters devastated by Hurricane Dubya. If you do not stay and fight, is it fair to expect our White brothers and sisters to remain behind and fight for us?

Stay, I beseech you. We're already under-represented- one less voice would be noticed. You make a difference which is why they bait and goad you with their blinding swill. Stay and throw their putrid words back to their consciences for one day, those consciences may very well torture them to madness.

[kestrel91316]

88. Race and political hatred has EVERYTHING to do with the NOLA

situation. I happen to believe that the reason there was little or no effort put into planning for an evacuation like this is because they just ASSUMED that the 100,000 poor who were not able to evacuate themselves would DIE and not need evacuation EVER.

Well, surprise in the barn! They DID survive, and they DID need help getting out after the flood, and medical care, and water and food and simple compassion. But officials never made the plans at all. The 100,000 were supposed to die.

[TroubleMan]

90. Don't let the closet Freepers beat you

You're better than that. Call them out for the assholes they are and don't turn away.

If we give up here, where else are we gonna give up? Racism is an American Institution, and unless we bash it into people heads that it is, they won't even notice.

We can't get rid of it if we just ignore it.

Take a breather, you need one, but don't leave forever.

[Bluebear]

111. Word. nt

[TankLV]

91. It certainly does have EVERYTHING to do with racism!

Only the blind refuse to see.

And this couldn't be more graphic.

[fleabert]

93. I totally agree with you.

the majority doesn't get to decide what is discrimination and what is offensive, the offended and discriminated do.

fuck white people who think this situation has nothing to do with race or poverty, or that race has nothing to do with poverty. (and I am white)

my husband is a person of color, and my eyes and heart are open.

[R. A. Fuqua]

97. another nomination for the greatest page! N/T

[SlavesandBulldozers]

98. i think it has more to do with class

in which blacks represent a disproportionate amount of poor. so it is actually classism manifesting itself as racism.

i don't disagree with this having to do with racism, but I think it's also racism to ignore the fact that poor whites, latinos, creole etc are undergoing a tremendous amount of hardship in this together.

but that's just me (and Melvin Watt).

[TroubleMan]

100. Yeah but the current and past societal and financial constructs are built

to put people of color in poverty. The financial foot of banks and financial institutions has been on the black neck for 400 or so years.

When you talk about classism in America....it's also racism. The unlucky whites who get ground up in the system get no sympathy from bush either. However, if it was a poor white area, I bet the response would have been better.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

101. good post

i agree completely.

[TroubleMan]

103. Thanks

It means a lot to know somebody's listening.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

106. one thing that I always keep in the back of my mind

is that neither lens - the class lens or the race lens, or the historical lens, etc - portrays a completely clear image of society. various lenses work to help see certain facets, but none allows a perfect view. combining the lenses, however, allows for the clearest representation of our surroundings. and then still, it is "thru a lens, darkly".

[TroubleMan]

99. Yeah, let's all remember how bush got here - by suppressing the black vote

in Florida in 2000.

The more he can kill, the less he has to suppress.

[earth mom]

102. I'm seeing a LOT of denial around here tonight.

We have witnessed something so horrific this past week that most people can't wrap their minds around it.

What happened was ON PURPOSE and some unenlightened people are talking like it's all supposed to fit into old school text book type politics 101. Get a Fucking Clue! Those days are gone! The people in charge don't play by ANY rules! They don't care about the middle class or the poor of any race. And while racism no doubt played a part in the horrific events this week, make no mistake, it was mostly all about the "cost" of saving those people who were mostly poor!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[BootinUp]

104. I hope this ugly spectacle is opening some eyes

You'll get no argument from me.

[beetbox]

105. A Great African American Community In The World Has Been Destroyed

But as culpable, criminal and loathsome as the Bush Administration is, it is only the apotheosis of an overarching trend in American society that has been gathering force for decades: the destruction of the idea of a common good, a public sector whose benefits and responsibilities are shared by all, and directed by the consent of the governed. For more than 30 years, the corporate Right has waged a relentless and highly focused campaign against the common good, seeking to atomize individuals into isolated 'consumer units' whose political energies kept deliberately underinformed by the ubiquitous corporate media can be diverted into emotionalized 'hot button' issues (gay marriage, school prayer, intelligent design, flag burning, welfare queens, drugs, porn, abortion, teen sex, commie subversion, terrorist threats, etc., etc.) that never threaten Big Money's bottom line.


It is Systematic Murder of THE OTHER

It Is Purposeful


"I assume the president's going to say he got bad intelligence... I think that wherever you see poverty, whether it's in the white rural community or the black urban community, you see that the resources have been sucked up into the war and tax cuts for the rich." -- Congressman Charles B. Rangel

Let's be angry! Let's get busy! Let's Act Up!

You are so fucking Right!

[porkrind]

107. I'm sorry.

I agree with your points, and I wish it would change. You are one of my favorite DU'ers, and I'm sorry for this shit.

Please don't think all white DU'ers are like that (racist assholes), because we're not. Don't give up on all of us. Lot's of us are seeking to be educated and enlightened enough to understand and appreciate the differences between all of us. Isn't that the essence of being a true progressive? As you say, the democratic party is sick, but in spite of that there are a rainbow of different kinds of liberals who want a better world (I think you're one of them, and I'm sorry you've been subjected to this shit). I don't know myself if the dem party can be saved, but the liberal ideals of equality and fairness will always be around because that is the best part of humanity (while racism is the ugliest).

If any DU'ers give you grief, just tell old Porkrind and I'll kick some ass! :)

[info being]

110. This is all about color

For the first time in my life I TOTALLY GET IT.

[Biased Liberal Media]

114. Nominated

and check your PM inbox.

[leftchick]

115. what the hell did I miss?

I have not seen any DUers do this and if they have they should be called on it. That is fucking sick. A Moran could see why these folks have been left to suffer and die while Trent Lott gets a "fantastic house".

Please do not leave! I have to believe it is a very small minority or disrupters that would say such a thing.

:hug:

[Q]

116. The New DLC leadership...

...has 'changed the philosophy' of party so that it has become beholden to the very interests that oppress Blacks and consider them 'second class citizens'.

Some will say this is 'no time for politics' as so many suffer. But how the Democratic party responds to this emergency says a lot about how the party has changed.

I will always remember that the ONLY DEMOCRATS TO STAND UP BEFORE THE CAMERAS AND DEMAND IMMEDIATE HELP WAS THE

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

Thanks goodness that we still have some TRUE Democrats left in DC.

[in_cog_ni_to]

118. I'm white and THIS HAD EVERYTHING TO DO WITH COLOR!

And I'm pissed as hell about it! You're right! I have been wondering, questioning all week where the HELL our Dem politician were? Why weren't they speaking out about the lack of response in NOLA? Why were they letting people suffer? Why weren't they organizing their own relief efforts? other than calling for people to donate to the Red Cross?

I don't believe for ONE FUCKING MINUTE that if this had happened in Kennebunkport or The Hamptons that THOSE PEOPLE would have been left to suffer without food, water and basic comforts for 5 FUCKING DAYS! No way in hell! If there's an AA revolt against the Dems...I'll join you! If you start another political party, I'll join you! The Democratic Party is USELESS! I am so ashamed of the Democratic Party. Not one of them had the guts to stand up and scream about the atrocities in NOLA...not one.

For anyone to be believe racism is dead in this country is just ignorance. It's not dead. It's alive and well and we just witnessed 5 days of it...LIVE ON NATIONAL TV!

Paul Wellstone would have screamed about it. Paul Wellstone would have SCREAMED about what was going on.

The Democratic Party is gone.

[fujiyama]

120. This is one of the ugliest episodes of racism in the last half century

in a long history of racism.

Blacks were forcably dragged here as slaves in chains. Yet they served in every war only to come back to being treated worse than the enemy POWs.

As you mentioned the Tuskegee experiments, and then decades of Jim Crow, lynching, race riots (but in its scale, this is unprecedented).

[thinkingwoman]

122. White woman here screaming that it's all about the COLOR

It's racist. It's classist. It's all the most vile of "ists" you can muster.

But in the end every last one of those "ists" boils down to COLOR in the minds of the white massahs running what used to be my beloved country into the ground (that is smarter and more compassionate than they are).

I'm a 13th generation American of European and Native American descent. I am 40 years old. I am so overwhelmingly and desperately ashamed of my country.

God and Goddess help those of us with a clue get something done. I'm past praying. I'm to begging and pleading and bargaining now.

[Michydem]

125. its all about color...

I have no doubt in my mind this is all based on the color of skin those people have..its sickening...babies...babies are dying...the same people that think abortion is murder are KILLING babies right now...

We need REAL Dems to stand up and say this is WRONG...this is ILLEGAL...I am outraged...and I am a white dem..

[scarletlib]

126. dear du friend, I am white and southern and I am outraged

at what I have seen. You're god damned right that it is racism. Those rat bastards running this country don't give a damn about the poor in this country and you can just double goddamn believe they don't care if you are poor and black on top of that.

They are an incompetent bunch of rat bastards. Their response to this disaster in any case would have been bad just because they are incompetent fuck ups. But you can bet that if masses of white people were down there in new orleans they would have at least airlifted food and water to them sooner.

I can promise you that my outrage is bottomless. so is that of many people i talked to yesterday--black, white and hispanic. I live in florida--we know the devastation of hurricanes. we have all been shocked beyond belief at what we have seen.

It is inexcusable. And, I personally, believe that racism has a lot to do with it.

I am so sorry for my country that is has sunk this low. There just are no words to describe the deep, deep anger in my heart over this.

[curse10]

127. Who the fuck said that? This is completely about color

Republicans are racist. Pure and simple. They always have been. They try to hide it- and some of them do. But I swear to fucking god every republican I've ever met has been a racist.

[sniffa]

131. shhhh, don't say that

you might dampen the GOP's efforts to recruit bLack members.

:hi:

[ikojo]

128. Preach on Chovexani!!!! it has EVERYTHING to with the color of

the victim's skin and their place on the class ladder.

The media fixation on the looters this week only confirmed to white America their worst held stereotypes and it fits into a plan to keep poor blacks down.

That is why I think the response was so slow....people in this country think people CHOOSE to be poor. WTF!!!! Please! I grew up poor and it was no piece of cake trust me.

If the victims had blonde hair and been blue eys (Aryan) the politicians (DEMS and pugs) would have reacted more quickly and with more compassion. Instead they allow poor blacks, many of whom have NO health insurance, to die before our eyes as if it's some sort of sick reality show.

Oy vey! This country is a LIE. To think this is the system we are trying to shove down the throats of an unwilling world?

[freedomfries]

129. KICK

[VelmaD]

130. The one thing that gives me hope right now...

is that the American people have opened up their wallets in a big way to donate to help the people of New Orleans. Maybe, just maybe, many of the actual people of the US don't care about the race of the victims of this disaster...they see people in need and are giving. Now if the government could pick up the fucking clue phone. *sigh*

[Swamp Rat]

135. .

:hug:

[DrDebug]

136. Of course it is about color

:kick

The only thing which has changed is that Rich Black people are considered White now and Poor White people are considered Black. Other then that nothing has changed...

[cbear70]

138. Don't leave

I too think its about color,how can it not be. There are many du'ers that agree with you....I am white, my hubby is white... we know this is about color. I have been screaming it from the rooftops.

[LittleClarkie]

139. A big "I'm sorry" for the way I acted in this thread last night`

I don't deny that the OP is probably right. But I thought I was seeing a blanket attack on us all as a group. As someone else said in another thread, we need to stick together.

This whole thing is killing us all. We never thought it would get this bad. A whole new level of helplessness and disgust at this administration. My emotions have been high, just like everyone here, posted without thinking about what was really being said, and I went off at what I thought I was seeing.

I was wrong and I'm sorry.

Kick and nominated.

[Melissa G]

143. Take a Break but hang in here..Racism sucks and there are jerks here

same as anywhere. I took a break for a while too when some obnoxious behaving DUers went after me. All in all though, i think this is a good place. I hope it becomes that for you again also. I'm not black but female and hispanic and i've seen my share of ignorant jerks. I know it is far worse to be black in this country but ignorance stinks regardless..Love and Light to you.
Peace,
Melissa

[Stand and Fight]

145. Amen to that!

You've hit the nail right on the head. I've been having these very same thoughts lately, and frankly the response of far too many DUers on this issue seem quite racist. (This issue among many others to be honest...) I'm glad you pointed it out and I give you major kudos for doing so. As I black man, I could not agree with you more.

[Vektor]

146. I haven't seen anyone say that. Of course it is about color.

Anyone who thinks not isn't paying attention.

[gemlake]

150. race has everything to do with it

not only FEMA, but the media coverage

[Vektor]

166. Absolutely.

Completely agree.

[Warren DeMontague]

147. Who said it didn't have anything to do with color?

Wow. Someone really said that?

That's nuts. If most of the people in those pictures had been white, there is NO WAY the situation would have been allowed to deteriorate the way it has. No fucking way.

I'm white, and that seems just bald-fucking-faced obvious to me.

[QC]

149. One person in one thread said it was also about class.

That's all it took to set off this monumental drama tantrum. I know because I was there when it happened.

What is even more pathetic, which is scarcely possible, is that so many people jumped onto such a shabby little bandwagon.

[Warren DeMontague]

152. I dunno, man. I think letting tens of thousands of people go without food

& water in the richest, most advanced nation on Earth for several days while our "leader" wanks off.. that's what is pathetic.

If some people's emotions are frayed after helplessly watching this shit-storm on tv, with little babies and old people dying right in front of our eyes, well, fuck a duck, I can hardly blame them.

Maybe you should cut the, as you put it, "monumental drama tantrum" throwers a little slack.

[fishwax]

161. Bullshit. One person in one thread?

You must have missed the "I am sick and FUCKING tired of all this "racism" talk" thread (no, really, that was the title of the thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4563721

There were other threads to--entire threads, not one post on one thread--arguing that it wasn't about race, that it had nothing to do with colour, that playing up the racism angle was playing into the GOP hands, and more. Those are just a few of those I saw, I'm sure there were plenty more that I missed.

I think most DU'ers are aware and acknowledge that it was acknowledge that it was about race. But to say that "one person in one thread said it was also about class ... that's all it took to set off this monumental drama tantrum" is demonstrably wrong. But you were there when it happened.

[FreedomAngel82]

151. You can clearly see the racism going on in our country

It's really sick and sad. :( Sometimes it makes me sad to be white with how people treat others. *sigh* Like Kayne West said on NBC: when white people are looting they call it "finding" and when a black person is looting it's called "looting/stealing". *sigh* How much do you want to bet it's the other way around or equal?

[friesianrider]

155. Well repeating "you people" to us isn't much better, however...

Most DUers likely agree wholeheartedly with you. There are countless Freepers on here trolling, stirring up trouble, etc. Many even have high post counts or stars and are likely the ones saying BS like "racism isn't alive today". (hell, I just learned two controversial DUers are actually Freepers just the other day)

No one doubts that racism is alive and well today, particularly in the GOP. Most white Dems (like me) agree with you, trust me. This hurricane shit is sick. I don't see too many well-dressed white folks waiting in these lines. I know I wish it wasn't true in the year 2005, but it is. Please stick around with us - if we really are serious about ending racism, we'll need to stick together to fight this from "the other side." You won't find much help over there, trust me.

Hope you'll come back, friend. :hug:

[New Earth]

159. also

do not give in. this is the kind of shit they want us to do. they want us to make it all about race, when it comes to what is going on in New Orleans, etc. they want to separate us when we need to be united. we can't let them win.

[eleny]

163. One thing that has bugged the **** out of me is this...

Some people said that it wasn't a race issue but a class issue. It's an issue of the unemployed and poor. Who the hell do they think have been the poor, the underemployed and the underclass peoples of this country?

I have had it with that brand of intentional ignorance. People know the score. And Kayne was absolutely right, genuine and sincere to the core last night. His is a rallying cry.

[NVMojo]

167. I missed those asshole posts. It is obviously about color and status ...

...and if this country doesn't make these racist, classist, elitist mother fuckers accountable for the pain and suffering they've created, then this country is racist, classist, elitist and facist!!! And I am outta here!