Katrina and the Candidates

From: Sugar N Spice: Tavis Smiley Weighs in Obama's Absence From MLK Ceremon

 

...I've listed a number of instances here at Sugar N Spice in which Obama, when he should have been the one, if anybody, standing up for the issues of minorities, was tucking his tail and running. Back in 2005, in a statement on his U.S. Senate webpage, he states that the "ineptitude was colorblind" in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Obviously in an attempt to not seem too concerned with pointing out blatant racism--hoping to keep his white supporters happy. I'm sorry. I know that there were a lot of poor white folks left out there. Bless them, I know they were there, but the majority of the faces we saw festering in their own waste and stink were people of color, and as much as I'm glad I live in this country as opposed to someplace in the Third World, if the racial makeup of those stranded out there when the storm ended was different, they wouldn't have been left out there for so long. That's a tough pill to swallow for some, but it's the reality. Hillary even offered an apology stating:

 

I've said it publicly, and I say it privately: I apologize, and I am embarrassed that our government so mistreated our fellow citizens ... It was a national disgrace

 

But, Obama said the ineptitude was colorblind. He failed to show up to Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union event, but Hillary was there--despite the fact that so many of my people have turned their backs on her--and yet. And, yet...African-Americans keep on making excuses for him. I'm disappointed that Dr. Cornel West is supporting him, but I am glad that he was at least man enough to publicly scold him and not offer some hat in hand excuse for his failure to show up...

 

I've also said it before and I will say it again-- our response to Katrina has been pathetic, though on a personal level many people of all shapes, sizes, and colors responded admirably. I was outraged by the Federal response and I was further outraged and embarrassed by the actions of certain groups of whites who were quite obviously trying to keep black Americans out of their "territory." I really felt ashamed that day. But given all that, Sugar does have a point about Obama's less than stellar performance on civil rights issues.