I'm Outraged by the Argument!

I'm tired of the rant. I'm tired of the card black leaders and black commentators use to make political hay every time they can make headlines and someone will listen. I can assure you that this disaster and the Nation’s response is color blind. This is not a story about Natalee Holloway vs. black missing women and the press that they get. This is a disaster affecting all. Do you really believe that the black AND white helicopter pilots flying around the city of New Orleans are giving preferential service to white people? How preposterous.

Since the commentary by Nancy Giles this morning on CBS News Sunday Morning brought up the issue of black and white, I didn't see any fingers pointed at the City Mayor and the Governor of Louisiana and their absolute anemic response days before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. The fact the Orleans Parish was one of the LAST parishes to issue a mandatory evacuation order AND the Mayor did not use the full resources of the city to get its citizens to safety is inexcusable. The Governor has a National Guard for a reason and their call up should have been anticipated and placed before the storm hit. FEMA was already putting its gears into motion because the President had declared a disaster BEFORE the storm hit.

From my perspective, as presented by the media, the only people providing relief are being led from federal agencies and the dutiful local police and rescue workers who took personal initiative within their local purview, while the local leaders were sitting around cursing and complaining. By the very nature of their job description, these local “leaders” are charged to lead. Lead, what a concept. Mayor Nagin has not projected any ownership or leadership of his city and the citizens of New Orleans, both black and white. It is disgraceful that he sits and points fingers at others. I believe it comes down to the very content of his character as an individual.

This is a human tragedy. The toll won’t be known for some time. It is amazing that, while people are still sitting on rooftops, we “already know” this is just a story about the poor and the blacks. I’m sure they won’t find a single white person dead within the cesspool. I am done, and have been for some time, feeling guilty that I am white.

The outpouring of relief that the cities of Houston, Dallas and others are providing is extraordinary and beyond the call. Let’s take a look at the demographic “percentages” of those providing volunteer relief. If I make an issue of that, Nancy Giles would call me a racist. Where is the call to arms of blacks taking care of blacks? Why does it always come down to race? I was born in a post 60’s America. I have not known nor lived during the “Jim Crow” laws. I was raised by my parents on the very words that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so passionately spoke, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” If I am ever guilty of something, it is being guilty of judging the content of one’s character.

Who is pushing America to take a look at “content” of character? Colin Powell and Dr. Condoleezza Rice are scorned by the black leadership on the left side of the aisle because they don’t portray themselves as victims. Content of Character is the issue, not color. The black leadership will continue to make race the center point of this tragedy. They will NOT, however, get any mileage with their rhetoric out of me. I am tired of the rant. I long for a new leader who will take up the where Dr. King left off and push America once again to make content of character the center point of our Nation’s issues.