Friday, March 02, 2007

Why I hate living here, Reason #4 - This was an email I received.

***UPDATED TO ADD***
The man mentioned at the end of this email apparently is the one who made this speech. I don't believe that was entirely clear. However, I agree wholeheartedly and would love to shake his hand.

If you are going to email me and say something about how this is racist, save it. You don't live here.

Say a hurricane is about to destroy the city you live in. Two questions:

What would you do?

What would you do if you were black?

Sadly, the two questions don't have the same answer.

To the first: Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.

For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina has told us the answer to the second question. If you're black and a hurricane is about to destroy your city, you'll probably wait for the government to save you.

This was not always the case. Prior to 40 years ago, such a pathetic performance by the black community in a time of crisis would have been inconceivable. The first response would have come from black men. They would take care of their families, bring them to safety, and then help the rest of the community. Then local government would come in.

No longer. When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results.

Enter Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. Jackson and Farrakhan laid blame on "racist" President Bush. Farrakhan actually proposed the idea that the government blew up a levee so as to kill blacks and save whites. The two demanded massive governmental spending to rebuild New Orleans, above and beyond the federal government's proposed $60 billion. Not only that, these two were positioning themselves as the gatekeepers to supervise the dispersion of funds. Perfect: Two of the most dishonest elite blacks in America, "overseeing" billions of dollars. I wonder where that money will end up.

Of course, if these two were really serious about laying blame on government, they should blame the local one. Responsibility to perform legally and practically fell first on the mayor of New Orleans. We are now all familiar with Mayor Ray Nagin the black Democrat who likes to yell at President Bush for failing to do Nagin's job. The facts, unfortunately, do not support Nagin's wailing. As the Washington Times puts it, "recent reports show [Nagin] failed to follow through on his own city's emergency-response plan, which acknowledged that thousands of the city's poorest residents would have no way to evacuate the city."

One wonders how there was "no way" for these people to evacuate the city. We have photographic evidence telling us otherwise. You've probably seen it by now the photo showing 2,000 parked school buses, unused and underwater. How much planning does it require to put people on a bus and leave town, Mayor Nagin?

Instead of doing the obvious, Mayor Nagin (with no positive contribution from Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the other major leader vested with responsibility to address the hurricane disaster) loaded remaining New Orleans residents into the Superdome and the city's convention center. We know how that plan turned out.

About five years ago, in a debate before the National Association of Black Journalists, I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years. The audience, shall we say, disagreed with me strongly. Now I have to disagree with me. I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder.

President Bush is not to blame for the rampant immorality of blacks. Had New Orleans ' black community taken action, most would have been out of harm's way. But most were too lazy, immoral and trifling to do anything productive for themselves.

All Americans must tell blacks this truth. It was blacks' moral poverty not their material poverty that cost them dearly in New Orleans. Farrakhan, Jackson, and other race hustlers are to be repudiated for they will only perpetuate this problem by stirring up hatred and applauding moral corruption. New Orleans , to the extent it is to be rebuilt, should be remade into a dependency-free, morally strong city where corruption is opposed and success is applauded. Blacks are obligated to help themselves and not depend on the government to care for them. We are all obligated to tell them so.

The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is founder and president of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, and author of "Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America."

Labels: I hate this place

Elizabeth at 10:10 AM

17comments

17 Comments

at 10:20 AM Wendy aka Cheeky said...: Woohoo FIRST BITCHES!!!! not let me go finish reading LOL
at 10:24 AM Wendy aka Cheeky said...: So ummm tell us how you really feel honey....and if there wasn't so much stinking snow on my driveway that I have to shovel before even thinking of going anywhere..I just might have taken you up on that spare room offer...hehe (seriously the mailboxes are almost completely covered)
at 1:17 PM Monogram Queen said...: I agree with you 100% sweetie. People don't like to hear it, but it's the truth. We just bought a new (old) house near a neighborhood I lived in when I was 10 and BOY has it changed and the demographics.... yep, you guessed it, of the darker persuasion. Sad but true.
at 2:19 PM Tammy said...: A.M.E.N. S.I.S.T.E.R.
at 5:25 PM Kat said...: dammit blogger... post my comment! Sheeiiiittt.

Anyways...

so, to clarify - the guy at the bottom of the article wrote it right? I just can't see you telling the National Association of Black Journalists they would turn the USA into the ghetto and walking out in one piece. :)

The article is dead on though, I get sick of Farakon and Jackson turning every single thing into a race issue, mostly for their own personal gain.
at 6:36 PM Arlene said...: Amen!! You said it right, and you said it well!!
at 3:05 AM Anonymous said...: Again... I don't understand. I don't like this world at the moment.
at 9:53 AM Me said...: My husband, friends and family have been saying the same things for months and months.
at 10:05 AM Mind said...: I give you credit for having more balls than most men I know SFG... but you are also spot on!! I get tired of seemingly every damned thing becoming a racist issue when really it's about "moral poverty" (THAT was eloquent, succinct and summed it up nicely)... so KUDOs to you!
at 10:30 PM Anonymous said...: That Farrakhan dude gets on my nerves. Every time he deems it fit for him to come and speak up in Houston I pack my bags and reside at the Boyfriend's for a little bit.
at 4:38 PM Kami said...: There are lots of homes in Dallas. Just sayin'.
at 9:11 PM Erin said...: Good article! Guess who else said something that was basically the same thing? Bill Cosby. I wish I had a link for you. A while ago he gave a speech in which he basically told the black community to get up off of their asses and do something to help themselves, and if they weren't willing to put for a little effort into bettering their own lives than they were the ones perpetuating the black stereotypes existent today, not the white guys.
at 5:59 PM *ERIN* said...: Know what is worse than those terrible awful lazy black people? Judgemental, tacky, narrow-minded white trash. It comes in all colors and races, sweetheart. A good suggestion would be.... oh I don't know...move? Have a tubal ligation? Ear plugs? Empathy? A college education?
at 6:02 PM Elizabeth said...: I love when people leave comments and no way to find their own webpage. Love that.

Get some balls.
at 6:19 PM *ERIN* said...: Sorry 'bout that, sugar. Not lack of balls...just can't take the chance of one of my patients coming across my blog. You have the right to hate black people, though. No one can take that from you.
at 6:23 PM Elizabeth said...: Sadly, Erin, you are still missing the point. I only started having issues with some black people after moving here. If someone had told me 15 years ago, I'd feel this way, I'd have been appalled and called them a big fat liar. I wish I felt differently. I wish I did not rush to judgment which is what happens now all too often. I wish I COULD move from here. This is a very frustrating place to live. If you have read any more of my blog, you will see that me not liking black people is not the case.
at 9:42 PM *ERIN* said...: OK....I read more. I get your point, but can you at least see how it can come across? I went to N. Orleans and did rescue after Katrina. It was horrible, and after what I saw and who I talked to.....I think you would retract your support for that article. I REALLY think you would.