Where Have The Displaced Gulf Coast Poor Gone?

[Paranoid Pessimist]

As the catastrophe was at its peak, they were there, in the mainstream media -- calling for help. We heard them and saw them, and some commentators said this was a good thing. They said that now that America could see them, they could no longer be ignored. Once something gets into Mainstream Media, it's now reality and, as such, has to be dealt with.

Since then I have seen a couple of heartwarming stories showing racial reconciliation -- New Orleans African Americans being relocated to Utah with nice white cowboy Mormons showing them how to ride horses; another story about a nice Houston white family who took a whole big African American family into their home.

This morning CBS Sunday Morning did a story on them that said that the pictures of the poor struggling in the flooded muck "sent pangs of conscience rippling through the entire country." They showed a few clips of New Orleans poor from the peak of the crisis, then we went to the usual gang of talking heads giving differing views. The Gulf Coast evacuees current situation was not mentioned.

But those aside, the poor -- particularly the black and poor -- are no longer seen speaking for themselves. We don't get to see the current state of their plight. Guess we can't have them continuing to send pangs of conscience rippling around the zeitgeist.

Has anyone seen or heard directly from them lately? Last I heard a whole lot of them were living in the Houston Astrodome, but I haven't seen any reporters talking to them, asking how things are going for them. Are they still there? What do they think now?

I'd like to know how they're doing, but I guess Mainstream Media is no longer interested.

[Vincardog]

1. I went to see them at the Church Camp they are interred at., The Guards

would not let me in. They seem more like prisoners than American Citizens who need help.

[formercia]

2. Just like Joe Stalin did to minorities in Russia

disperse them throughout the country so they can't form an effective resistance.

[SoCalDem]

3. Out of sight...out of mind..

It's no accident that they were "dispatched" all over the country. By diluting the core group , and by splitting families, it's given the evacuees something to focus on.. reunification of their families...and the admin is hoping that by sending them all so far away, they will not be in front of microphones telling America what a shitty job was done regarding their "rescue"..

It also dilutes their voting capabilities (an extra-added bonus). These folks will be considered "visitors" by their new states, and will probably be prevented from even registering to vote.

Voting is probably the last thing on their minds anyway, because charity has a way of withering as time goes on. The New Orleans poor are still poor..poorer than ever, and soon they will be truly on their own, and in places they have no "connection" to...

[democrank]

4. Corporate media`s short attention span could

have a serious impact on the lives of the displaced since the media seem unable to cover more than one big story at a time. The deadly hell in Iraq was hardly covered during the hurricane reporting and given another week or two, the media might be back in Aruba covering the story of the missing upper middle class white woman.

We must keep the story of the displaced front and center.