On September 2nd 2005 one of the most amazing and wonderful bits of live television I have ever seen came during a Red Cross benefit to raise money to help those hit by Hurricane Katrina. It came when Kanye West said this:
I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, “They’re looting.” You see a white family, it says, “They’re looking for food.” And, you know, it’s been five days because most of the people are black. … just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. … We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way – and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us!
And then this about the president:
George Bush doesn’t care about black people.
After he said that they cut him off.
To me he was just saying what everyone was already thinking. Only, as I later found out, it was not what everyone was thinking. While most black people thought race had something to do with the delay, only 12% of white people did!
A week later Bush’s wife said:
I think all of those remarks were disgusting.
No: what was disgusting is that it took the National Guard five days to arrive. As if the black people of New Orleans lived in some other country. That was disgusting. When four big hurricanes hit Florida a year before – Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan – the National Guard and supplies where in position before the first one even hit land. Before!
Five years later in an interview with Matt Lauer, Bush said:
He called me a racist. And I didn’t appreciate it then. I don’t appreciate it now. It’s one thing to say, “I don’t appreciate the way he’s handled his business.” It’s another thing to say, “This man’s a racist.” I resent it, it’s not true and it’s one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency.
He said it was his worst moment in office. That is hard to believe and yet while he could talk calmly about 9/11, he could not talk calmly about this, not even five years later.
Bush was not angry at himself for being slow to act while Americans were dying, he was angry at being called a racist!!
Later Matt Lauer interviewed Kanye West. Lauer made it not about Bush’s actions during Katrina. He did not even make it about his words – he made it about his feelings! He showed Bush with the sound cut off so that you just saw the look on his face.
Since when does the anger of a president matter more than the lives of Americans? When those Americans are black, apparently.
But then it got even worse: Kanye West said he was sorry for all those beautiful words of his, that it was a mistake! It was like the boy in “The Emperor’s New Clothes” taking back his words.
– Abagond, 2010.
See also:
“Bush was not angry at himself for being slow to act while Americans were dying, he was angry at being called a racist!!”
I was fuming about this all last week. Way to make it all about you W.
“Since when does the anger of a president matter more than the lives of Americans? When those Americans are black, apparently.”
I’m not with you here though. Just as many WP died in the aftermath of the hurricane as did blacks.
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*sigh*
Honestly I felt that Kanye shouldn’t have apologized. What he said, word for word, was extremely accurate.
What Kanye said was, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black People.”
But everyone who was offended about those words interpreted in their minds as, “George Bush HATES black people!”
Those are entirely two different things.
While I honestly don’t think that Bush hates black people, I do feel that he’s very indifferent to them and their concerns.
In other words,”Doesn’t CARE about them”.
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Well written Solution5050.
It was trite for Georgie to declare Kanye’s statement as the worst of his career as president, with all else that happened around him.
Very few politicians care about Black people and this will not change. Perception is everything and this was Georgie’s way of deception: rather than own up to his choice’s, he picked a scapegoat to change direction regarding his career. Being responsible is difficult already and we all know Georgie wasn’t a very capable president: It was pure nepotism that got him in the door.
Kayne apologizing was brutal and show’s how far he’s willing to go for fame.
Really, will the real Kanye please stand up?
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Hate to appear like a tin-foil hat wearer, but the ruling elite seems to have had their hands in this stuff (among other things). From the BP’s chairmen talking about “the little people” of the Gulf Coast to this episode, folks should wonder little to none as to why things have remained the same. Same goes for the current deficit issues (not cutting the obvious “pork”).
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Well what Kanye said was right. Given our quick response to the tsunami a year and a half before why would it take five days, a work week, to get down to New Orleans? He can’t even say the magnitude of the storm was underestimated. It’s already come to light he was warned about how hard the storm was going to hit.
I really feel for the residents of New Orleans. I went to the screening of Spike Lee’s newest post-Katrina/Oil Spill documentary yesterday. The media(unsurprisingly) has been lying. Most of the hardest hit areas still look as if the hurricane hit yesterday. Add to that oil in the Gulf and you have a huge mess
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Abagond, since we are on the subject of BP, will you do a post on BP and Jim Henson?
I think Jim was trying to let us in on a “secret” in the hit series “Dinosaurs”. The Sinclair Family (Earl, Fran, Robbie, Charlene, Baby and Grandma Ethyl) were the stars of the show and Earl’s boss was name “B.P.” Richfield (oil spill?). They knocked down trees for a living and the final 2 part episode of season one is titled “Nuts to War I and II”.
I just think there’s something in that and I’m not able to piece it together by myself.
What do you think?
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in truth, growing up wealthy & privileged, gb probably has no idea about the lives of the majority of his fellow americans. this is why he seemed to be more detached than uncaring, to me. he just couldn’t relate to those peoples situations.
maybe we should elect more presidents who have worked their way to wealth & privilege. someone who’s still paying down their law school loans while running for office.
also, it seems that many people see being called racist a slur equal to that of being called nigger.
@jas0nburns–
“I’m not with you here though. Just as many WP died in the aftermath of the hurricane as did blacks.”
this is something i wasn’t aware of. if this is true than the media wasn’t very balanced in it’s coverage. most of the coverage that i recall was about black people.
what really disturbed me was the bodies found floating in the streets & inside homes, once they were finally able to get help there.
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@ Solution 50/50
“What he said, word for word, was extremely accurate.”
I beg to differ. Bush provided more aid for the African continent than any President in US history including the current. He had two African-American Heads of State, one of which also served as the National Security Advisor prior to being Secretary of State.
I don’t think he cares nothing for Black people and I can understand him being resentful at the assertion. The fact is though Kanye didn’t calling him a racist. He said he doesn’t care about Black People, which is not the same. Matt Lauer should I have called Bush on this more than he did. People can say that I don’t care much about lots of things (mostly because I have lots of things that are already on my plate) but that doesn’t make me a racist, sexist or anything else.
But to say what Kanye said was “extremely accurate” is in no way true, sorry. I think Kanye would have been better off (and more factual) saying “The plight of Black Americans are not Bush’s priorities as seen by his Administration’s response to New Orleans. If he can give so much effort to African’s in need, why can’t he put the same effort into African-Americans here at home and more specifically in New Orleans?” This to me is much much more accurate. I think Kanye realized this because he made comments like “not having all the facts” and misstating things in the heat of emotion or something like that to Matt. By the way, I suspect Kanye is also Bi-polar.
Now, can it be said that Bush appointed some clueless people to important roles and was generally lead around by the Cheney types. Absolutely. I think his main problem was that he mostly picked people to be around him that manipulated him for their own ends or were just incompetent. I think Kanye did himself a favor by apologizing. Being called out by two presidents back-to-back (one white and the first black) will not look good in the history books for Kanye!
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“The plight of Black Americans are not Bush’s priorities as seen by his Administration’s response to New Orleans. If he can give so much effort to African’s in need, why can’t he put the same effort into African-Americans here at home and more specifically in New Orleans?”
and
“George Bush doesn’t care about Black People.”
have the exact same meaning: your statement just has more words.
Black, in regards to race, is only used for Americans. Africans are not called Black in Africa. They are called whatever tribe they belong to.
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Furthermore, if you think Kanye is Bipolar, why would you expect him to make a loaded statement like that?
Kanye is a “man-child” so he’ll express himself the best way he know’s how.
I like his statement as, unlike yours, it gets right to the point.
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@Sheree
I agree that the term “Blacks” is mostly an American tag and not used in Africa but the thing is Whites in this country view both Africans and African-Americans as “Blacks” and Kanye was speaking mostly to a White American audience. This is why I thought it would have been helpful for him to distinguish but to be honest I don’t think Kanye even made that distinction at the time. I believe he genuinely did not know about Bush’s record in Africa and if he did at the time I suspect he may have not said what he said. This is how I interpreted him saying that he didn’t have all the facts to Matt.
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@Sheree,
Well, I’m no doctor but I do have a couch and I think he is bi-polar because of his behavior with this and other things (i.e. Taylor Swift). He expresses remorse for many of the things he does after the fact (unlike say 50 cents) plus he seems manic and then at other times very sad. One extreme to the next.
I do agree though that his statement is short and gets right to the point, which usually gets the most attention. I just think the point is inaccurate and hence less effective other than for the purpose of venting.
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@Lookingforanswers
The “aid” for Africa you are referring to was granted under the primary condition to build infrastructure for mining, deforestation, extraction etc and the logistics chain of natural resources, so that the USA, along with other Western resource wasters, can get their sought after raw materials. And then a good part of the “aid” was used to bribe officials in high positions to keep “a close eye on it”. In other words, to reinforce police and armed forces to secure the installations and to keep the small change (millions of $) as “pocket money” so at the next UN meeting they’ll have only good things to report about the western investors.
And don’t think the “aid” was a gift. It was a loan camouflaged as a “humanitarian effort”. The resource rich African countries can barely repay the interest in cash, not to mention the loan itself. The West always knew that up front, so most of the payback is done in the form of a “rebate in kind” in resources itself or resources for a “special” price.
The vast majority of the average people in those countries have virtually no benefit whatsoever unless they are lucky enough to find a job in the primary industries. Most secondary and tertiary sectors are impoverished and neglected. Only those sectors which are more or less directly linked to the resource market, which is usually the only really lucrative one, are somewhat able to thrive.
My source: two of my cousins work in the export business in Douala, Cameroon. Apart from that, it’s in fact an open secret.
Sorry about veering off topic but I just couldn’t leave that statement unaddressed. I hereby give myself a warning 😉
Back to Bush. Well, not really much to say except that he is definitely a trigger-happy dimwit. I hope Kanye had some really sarcastic thoughts in mind when he “apologised”.
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@Lookingforanswers
First conflating “blacks” and African continent,
secondly, bringing up the assumption that when the u.s.a dedicate a portion of its vast resources for the aid of foreign countries, it is based on the philanthropic whims of the POTUS and finally suggesting that helping African nations is the same as helping your own citizens, provided they are of African descent.
If i didn’t know better , i’d think you were trolling.
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@ Olufemi
Well, I can’t speak to the details of how the aid was provided and how it was spent in Africa, Israel, Pakistan or anywhere else so I won’t try.
But I do remember a lot of press around millions of medically treated bed nets fighting malaria from mosquitoes. Although simple, I thought very practical, effective and helpful. Are you saying these reports were untrue or not as helpful to the average African who got one?
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@JGreyden
Not sure exactly what you mean but I’ll try respond.
I believe if Kanye should have made an attempt to say yes you try help people who you think look like me abroad but try helping people who look like me here at home would have done a couple of things:
1. It would have taken away the argument that is made now that he does help black people (even though, yes they are Africans and not African Americans/Blacks). This is how many think so the distinction I still believe would have been helpful for many in America.
2. It would have shed light on his priorities. In fact, if Kanye would have said that someone in the media should ask Bush XYZ, like a dog whistle, the media would have asked if not simply to keep the controversy going but the media would never ask a sitting President “Kanye West said that you don’t care about Blacks. What say you?” They would think it’s beneath the office.
Yes, it’s true that America generally doesn’t care about the Black community but I think it was targeted at the wrong person, that’s all.
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Look Kanye obviously was right. Because that’s the only thing Bush said was his lowest point as president at that time. Look like that affected him more then Katrina & 9/11. and that’s sad. Bush know Kanye was right because I don’t think Bush family EVER had a black person come to their house and sit down for dinner or spin the night. Bush senior & his wife Barb know good and well they grew up in a racist family. The days when segregation exist. For all I know, they probably had some one in the family standing there under those choke cherry tree pictures. Ya feel me? Who could forget those pictures.
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@Lookingforanswers
I suppose you are talking about those initiatives that give heads of states and their little humanitarian staff warm and fuzzy feelings. That’s peanuts. It’s like tossing a coin into a homeless person’s hat while rushing by on a Friday evening on their way home.
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Wow, the comments on this seem so one-sided. Listen, I’m no Bush fan and I know it sounds like I’m defendning him but did he not have 2 African-American Secretary of States, have 1 African-American National Security Advisor, try to get immigration reform done and yes provided millions of bed-nets to Africans to prevent milaria?
If I did those things, I would resent being called a racist too (although he wasn’t but that’s how he heard it).
I think he felt it was the lowest point in his administration because for some Whites being called a racist speaks to the faith/religion and is like being called Un-Christian so it stabs them to the heart. Blacks today I believe inherently understand this which is why its flung around so much.
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@ Olufemi,
But did they work? Were the bed nets provided and did they help prevent malaria? If so, I think this is a good thing and credit should be given. Sorry you don’t agree.
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Kanye’s apologizing … WTF?!?! He needs to put down the bottle-pacifier, change his oral fixation completely, and pick up that Gil Scott-Heron classic.
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JGreyden said:
“helping African nations is the same as helping your own citizens”
I think that is just how Bush saw it in regard to black citizens. I find it telling that his defender on this thread thinks in just that way.
It makes sense of both Bush’s slowness in getting help to New Orleans AND why he is much more upset by what Kanye said than by his own actions.
Even NOW Bush does not understand what he did wrong. If he did, if he saw how he screwed up big time, he would not be getting upset at those who found fault with him.
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@ abagond,
If you are referring to me, I want to state for the record that I don’t believe helping Africans is the same as helping African Americans. It’s clearly not the same. What I am saying is that Whites view Africans and African Americans as “Blacks” so when they hear Bush doesn’t care about “Black people” they say to themselves what about all that help to Africa? They conflate the two, which is why making the distinction I think would have been helpful for them.
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Bush was -and is- an idiot. I’m sure he didn’t care about 95% of his fellow americans. The fact that he thinks that the worst moment in his presidency was being called a racist (his interpretation) speaks volumes. His actions, or the lack of, speak loudest: he definitely didn’t care about blacks or anybody other than his own kind (rich wasps). It also seems obvious that he still feels that the current catastrophes in Afghanistan an Iran are a-ok. He doesn’t give a crap about people who died there either.
Scumbag.
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Very very good post. Thank you for this.
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@olufemi. I agree with you wholeheartedly!
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Africa is being exploited not just by the westerners, but also arabs and chinese these days: they’re buying all the arable land they possibly can to ensure the food production for their citizens. They don’t care much about blacks about either. But that’s the way world works. Those who have never care about those who haven’t.
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I think Bush is the least diplomatic of recent presidents and honestly says what he thinks which is why I am interested in reading his book. It is rare to hear someone White who is that powerful speak so candidly about their thought process and how they feel about things. It will provide real insight into their world view. This is honestly where I believe Blacks and Whites fall short. Both think their world views are absolute. The consequences are worse for Blacks because Whites have the power to enforce their world view but Blacks do not.
I think it is helpful to understand how others think, if not simply to understand how to speak to them.
This Kanye thing is a perfect example of this. Just about all Blacks understood instantly what he meant, even if he didn’t. But that is not good enough at 12.5% of a population. You have to understand the value of knowing how other people see the world too.
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@abagond
You’re probably right but I can’t bring myself to believe that Bush as a human being, could be that bad.
I mean .. come on
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The focus on race with respect to Katrina deflects the conversation from the true political and tactical failure that are the legacy of Bush43. Bush could not mobilize National Guard or other resources to respond to Katrina because he had committed virtually all of our military resources, both troops and materiel, to his fiasco in Mesopotamia, where they were flailing about ineffectually, costing taxpayers $1 trillion that we did not have to spend.
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@lookingforanswers:
Bush isn’t capable of forward thinking, probably not capable of thinking at all. That’s why he says what’s currently in his mind.
His memoirs aren’t written by him, so you’re not able to deduce his thinking process. There are people behind him who take care of that.
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@abogond & Jgreyden
Now thinking about it, this is what I mean of understanding other people’s world view.
It sounds like you are saying that it would be a mistake to conflate help to Africans with help to African-Americans. While I believe as you both do that it is not the same, I think it should be noted that’s how other cultures do it. For example, help/support of Israel absolutely affects the Jewish vote here in the US. It is the same for a lot of other nationalities. So it’s not far fetch that Whites would expect a connection to be made by other Whites and Blacks that Bush’s help to Africa is a reflection on how he feel about Black here. They don’t realize that most African-Americans feel very little connection to Africa.
This is why understanding other world views are important. It provides a framework to assess actions from viewpoints other than your own.
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@Hannu,
And you know this how?
From the excerpts I’ve heard it seems to be very “bush-like” in style. I won’t discredit it out-of-hand before reading it.
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It is rare to hear someone White who is that powerful speak so candidly about their thought process and how they feel about things. It will provide real insight into their world view.
I got swamp land in Florida for sale if you believe that he or any of these other politicians speak ‘candidly’ in their autobiographies. What he, and others of his ilk are doing however, is preserving their ‘legacy’ for posterity. If this guy in particular was to write truthfully, it would read like something out of MAD magazine or some other such satirical publication.
Did they ever find those weapons of mass destruction, the sixteen foot slingshots? And lookingforanswers wants to know what he was, is, actually thinking? Read a satirical publication such as MAD magazine and you will!
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@Lookingforanswers
Because it’s a common fact that most autobiographies are written by ghost writers. Also, most books are heavily edited by editors anyway. Very, VERY, few people are capable of writing readable works of fact OR fiction. Bush was deemed as one of the least intelligent of american president based on his published writings alone, ie he wasn’t much of a WRITER to begin with.
And if you think about GB jr’s exploits, you’d be hard pressed to believe that anybody would let him speak his own mind. He was surrounded by people who he trusted and controlled him, why would that change?
I personally don’t think that he’s capable of producing ONE original and intelligent phrase of his own.
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@Hannu and Herneith,
While I agree ghost writers and creating a “legacy” play a large part in these types of memoirs, unless he hired a black ghost writer, I think it would provide insight for Blacks into how White men of that ilk think about the world, that’s all.
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Kanye is a blowhard and an ego-maniac who says and does whatever he can to be a constant walking controversy. He just happens to have some good songs. I don’t take him seriously outside of the context of music. I’m not interested in anything he has to say, really. I’m no more interested in the political critique of most music artists than I am in those of my car mechanic. I don’t know why some artists think that because they are musically creative, that somehow their political punditry must be equally gifted.
As for Katrina, I’m not fan of Bush at all, but I don’t think the man is racist. Given all Bush’s failures throughout his career, I see Katrina as just another one in a long line of fumbles. It was a failure of logistics, not some willful desire to make blacks suffer for shits and giggles. Many people got stuck there without transportation and many in New Orleans simply refused to evacuate. Do we forget that MOST black evacuated the city without incident? Ray Nagin also is partly to blame for not getting people out and utilizing all the resources to do so. I think the situation was more complex than just boiling it down to W’s alleged racism.
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That’s the point though, you won’t.
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Kanye got more balls then alot of other rappers, especially to go on TV and state that…but he got sh*tted on for stating the obvious…which says alot more about our nation and media than it does about him…
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@Hannu
“I personally don’t think that he’s capable of producing ONE original and intelligent phrase of his own.”
BLASPHEMY!!!
This one struck a chord with me:
“They hate you for your freedom.”
dog gonnit
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temple wrote:
“also, it seems that many people see being called racist a slur equal to that of being called nigger.”
You know… I think you hit it right on the head. “Racist” is the new “nigger”.
Clearly explains why they rigorously avoid and defend themselves from being branded that label…… regardless of the overt evidence that exists.
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@Herneith: naturally, I agree.
Then again, you could -and maybe should- read biographies of any/all western leaders. But like Herneith said, they’re all written for posterity and have very little to do with truth.
The truths of this world are hidden by mysterious veils…
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@ Herneith,
I have to respectfully disagree. I’ve read enough of these books to know that even from subtle phrases that a ghost writer may find irrelevant and slip in will say a lot because the ghost writer feels the same and assume everyone else feels the same way too. So while the details and facts may be skewed to put the person in the best light possible, many phrases will slip through the Blacks and other not like them should and often do catch.
For example when Bush said “We’re fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here”, many people in this country did not argue with that rationale of WHERE to fight (note: they argued over IF but not WHERE) because they didn’t want a fight here on mainland. Others around the world particularly in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan said “WHAT?” “How is that fair?” “Why are you fighting your enemy in our neighborhoods just not to fight them in yours?” See… that world view rang loud and clear to others even though most here didn’t pick up on that. I suspect there will be lots of gems like that in his memoir, ghost writer and all. You just got to know how to read it.
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@Kid w/Golden Arms
LOL! But he shuure loves his “freedom fries”!
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I don’t think blacks are in any way present in Bush’s memoirs. Unless he starts bitchin’ about Kanye, LOL!
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Apologizing is his way of getting his career back on track. I belive either abagond or another poster said West put his career on life support after his confrontation with Taylor Swift and afew other issues. I dont know if he will ever be as cool as he once was, but listening to him and Lauer made it seem as if he was trying to get back to business.
I wish him the best of luck.
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@ Kid w/Golden Arms,
I think “They hate you for your freedom” really meant “They hate the capitalistic democracy you practice” and they did and still do because its exploitative and breeds greed, corruption, very few haves and plenty have nots.
One thing Bush knew how to do very very well was speak to his constituency. A whole lot of coded language to non-whites that sounded stupid on its surface but many in his world understood him perfectly.
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Tulio said:
“It was a failure of logistics, not some willful desire to make blacks suffer for shits and giggles. “
I do not think anyone here is arguing that Bush hated blacks. As Solution5050 pointed out, “doesn’t care” is not the same thing as hatred, though it gets misread that way sometimes when race is brought up.
Personally I do not care if he “cares” about blacks. But as president he has a duty to protect all Americans, not just the ones he likes for whatever reason.
I do agree that Nagin should get some of the blame.
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@ sheree:
I do not know enough about the Jim Henson stuff to say, but a post on the BP oil spill would be good on its own.
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Sounds like Bush is suffering from a bad case of moral blindness. he is an extreme colorblind racist. Sound familiar to you Abagond?
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Yes.
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I’m pretty sure Bush had all the logistics and resources he could’ve thought of, but HE JUST DIDN’T THINK!
Gasp! Breathe…breathe…´wheez´…breathe…breathe…
LOL
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I do not buy the logistics argument. Bush moved whole army divisions halfway round the world to Iraq. When Florida was hit by FOUR big hurricanes in 2004 he had little trouble with logistics.
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@Abogond
“Personally I do not care if he “cares” about blacks. But as president he has a duty to protect all Americans, not just the ones he likes for whatever reason.”
And therein lays the “secret sauce” of the American white conservative world view by which all their language is coded.
Phrases like “My country”, “Country First” and “Real Americans” only refer to their constituency and people who think like them and not to all American citizens. They know this when they hear these words.
This is at the heart of what happened in New Orleans. There was no sense of urgency because it wasn’t really part of the “Country” or affecting “Real Americans” but it’s not because people there were Black it was because they were not American White Conservatives and Bush had no constituency or close friends living in New Orleans calling him saying hey, what’s the plan?
Understanding this I think is critical to understanding the conservative world view and the language they use.
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This was definitely not a logistics thing. They knew way ahead of time that this was going to be catastrophic. I had to research why the levees failed, and there is absolutely no way they didn’t see this coming. The levees had been an incomplete and improperly done job since the 1930’s if I remember correctly. The US Army Corp of Engineers was in charge of that. The lowest walls of the levees were in the Lower 9th Ward which, to this day, has not been even a quarter of the way re-inhabited by its original residents. It’s not just Bush who doesn’t care about black people – it’s a lot of other white guys in charge of protecting them since the levees went up.
Under Bush’s watch though, they tried to move everyone to the Superdome for safety beforehand so they could look like they did all they could, yet I saw a parking lot full of school buses flooded to their roofs in New Orleans aftermath photos. This was absolutely a calculated effort to wipe New Orleans clean of its most poverty stricken areas and people. New Orleans will have the opportunity to be gentrified by America’s wealthiest and turned into a haven for making money.
I live in Florida and was affected by all hurricanes mentioned. Even when a hurricane is small, the government is all over it. We have food banks waiting to open for us afterward. Not only that, but a lot of people don’t know that being a peninsula makes it harder to get to us because the storm cuts off safe access by automobile, plane, and boat from all angles until the storm passes. There are no land masses to go around and get to us. We must wait for days sometimes after all gasoline has run out and all shelves are depleted for the storm to pass before we can be replenished. There was no excuse for this. Willful mishandling.
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Well, obviously, there are stuff you are not allowed to say on (American) TV.
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National identities are a construct of the higher echelons of societies to further their own agenda. Freedom means more freedom for the more privileged to control the less privileged.
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kanye west was only speaking the truth…i always wondered why people made such a deal out of his saying that…i mean it was kinda true
and Laura Bush didn’t need to be criticizing kanye west…after what she said about the hurricane katrina survivors
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forgive me, it was BARBARA Bush who made this comment
“What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.”- Barbara Bush
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2005/09/05/PM200509051.html
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here’s the video on youtube…lol
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oh man Chris Tucker and Mike Myers looks on their faces…
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Peanut, thanks for including mama bush’s statement. Let’s face it, it’s clear as day to see what the roots of Georgie is.
There’s no way that he could have those type of parents and NOT have a significant amount if racism instilled in him.
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@peanut:
I know! It was priceless.
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HEH! Mike Myers keeps reading the teleprompter, while Kanye recites his true feelings. KUDOS for that!
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Kanye West is a juvenile, over-compensating, egomaniacal, selfish, whiny twathead who has several things to apologize for.
Calling Bush out for Katrina isn’t one of them.
For once that annoying mouth of his was on point. George Bush doesn’t care about black people, and to reiterate what someone else already said on here, this was more about his indifference than his racism. And I think we can all agree on the fact that Bush was indifferent about…gee, I dunno…almost everything?
Also Bush’s whining about being called a racist – when he wasn’t, where Kanye was concerned – is typical white person bitching about being called a racist, rather than stopping to fully examine the action (or, in this case, lack of action) which would bring about such a statement in the first place.
Then again, this is George I-ain’t-admitting/apologizing-for-a-damn-thing Dubya Bush. He’s not exactly brimming with credibility here.
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The word “Racism” is used so broadly on this blog, it’s almost impossible to come up with a working definition. This is troublesome because if it can’t be defined and identified properly, how can one ever learn how to deal with it? How could racism be the only cause for all these things?
And why is there no responsibility placed on other officials that were not White? For example was Mayor Nagin racist or just incompetent? Did he not know the storm was coming also? He didn’t come off looking too great either but no one is calling him a racist or saying he didn’t care about Black people.
People outside the Black community can sense hypocrisy just as much as those in the Black community and when they do they just tune out. If the goal is just to “preach to the choir” by venting to other Blacks then fine. Not sure what it actually accomplishes…
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Thanks for the quote peanut…I almost forgot about that ish…
Unbelievable
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Just for clarity (and I am in NO WAY defending dubya) Kathleen Blanco could have and and SHOULD have had the National Guard in New Orleans before Katrina ever made landfall. She was the governor, the governor can call out the Guard wayyyy before the Feds can. Ray Nagin could have and SHOULD have had New Orleans better prepared for what was coming.
The whole process failed everyone. As I’ve said in here before – rely on the government for your well being and you are screwed.
George Bush doesn’t care about black people? Of course not. We’ve never had a president that genuinely cares about black people. Unless they’re casting votes. Yeah, I said it.
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“Ray Nagin could have and SHOULD have had New Orleans better prepared for what was coming.”
Ray Nagin doesn’t care about Black people?
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@ Clear
Finally a balanced/reasonable comment! Geez…
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@ King
“Ray Nagin doesn’t care about Black people?”
Did I say that? No.
I said he should have had New Orleans prepared for what was coming. What part of inbound category 4 hurricane eluded him?
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Lookingforanswers said:
“The word “Racism” is used so broadly on this blog, it’s almost impossible to come up with a working definition. This is troublesome because if it can’t be defined and identified properly, how can one ever learn how to deal with it.”
I wrote a post on it:
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@ abagond
Thanks for the link. I will check it out.
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@ abagond
Just read post. Seems very reasonable.
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To Abagond:
No: what was disgusting is that it took the National Guard five days to arrive. As if the black people of New Orleans lived in some other country. That was disgusting. When four big hurricanes hit Florida a year before – Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan – the National Guard and supplies where in position before the first one even hit land. Before!
The National Guard is basically directed at the state level. There’s plenty of blame to go around on this one. (although I was never impressed with GWB..)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_government_response_to_Hurricane_Katrina#National_Guard
FWIW, Fema plans are also supposed to be drawn up at the local and state level.
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C’mon now ya’ll. Let’s not gang-up on GWB. I mean, surely he’s not a racist. And it’s not like he said it was the worst moment in his presidency.
He only meant that it was… y’know. Up there. With 9/11. Afghanistan. Iraq. The recession. The NSA’s warrantless surveillance of American citizens. The torture of civilians and prisoner’s of war. The failed War on Terror.
I mean, damn guys! He’s only saying being called a racist was AS bad as all that. Not worse. Just equal to.
Besides, we all know Bush loves Black people! Remember how he read with those Black kids and stayed THE WHOLE SEVEN MINUTES EVEN THOUGH THE COUNTRY WAS UNDER ATTACK because he just didn’t want to upset or disappoint their cute little heads! So ya see? He totally cares about Black people.
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“Ray Nagin doesn’t care about Black people?”
Did I say that? No.”
Admit it, Clear! You know it to be true!
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well kanye may be a lot of things but what he said was the truth and bush is mad because someone was ballsy enough to call him out on his bullshit. i’ve always like kanye, whether he’s talented or too fool of himself, but he spoke the truth and people should’ve moved on like they should’ve moved with the taylor swift situation. if bush had cared about the people in katrina, then kanye wouldn’t have said that.
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@Peanut,
Chris Tucker’s face, oh my god, priceless! He didn’t even know whether to start reading or not. Mike looked like he wanted to say something but was just too caught of guard. I’m crying laughing right now.
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Vagrant X,
That’s another thing. The video is beyond hilarious. It really does bring tears to yours eyes. As does Cedric the Entertainer’s take on it. You gotta watch for a while….
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I thought Kanye sounded like an incoherent stuttering idiot at that moment. I felt embarrassed for him. It was just so random–“uh–George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
It seems obvious that Bush (and many Republicans with him) don’t care about POOR people. And many of the poor people were black in that situation. Republicans often see the non wealthy as parasites, not as human beings. If they were trailer trash I think Bush would have been equally reticent to arrive and send help–but I could be wrong.
I can see how you were relieved that Kanye tried to stick up for the victims. I really don’t like him–from getting on stage and hooting during Taylor Swift’s award acceptence to replacing his bottom teeth with diamonds, I’m disgusted. If he had any class and cared about black people himself, Kanye would have spent that money on others..maybe dental care for black children who can’t afford it-instead of throwing his wealth around.
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Ames,
from getting on stage and hooting during Taylor Swift’s award acceptence
Wow, granted what he did was definitely wrong and he’s a jackass for it, but it wasn’t that serious. It was the Mtv Music Awards, not The Grammys or something, and, while rude, nothing he said served to actually insult Taylor Swift’s talent (or lack thereof as the case may be). He didn’t like her video, so what? Apparently other people did.
Ankhesen,
It’s funny because it’s so true. Cedric is crazy, lol.
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Eat a third and drink a third and leave the remaining third of your stomach empty. Then, when you get angry, there will be sufficient room for your rage. –Babylonian Talmud, tractate Gittin
Concerning Kanye West:
He’s a HUMAN BEING and like the rest of us is prone to make mistakes, fail, and GET SICK. He needs to get professional help because he is damaging himself and others. Evidently he has no one around him who cares about him. His family needs to drag him to the nearest Psychiatrists office as soon as possible.
What you give all you will get back in return: both your good and bad! No exceptions for anyone at anytime. He lacks etiquette and decorum. He’s in a profession that requires it and he’s not using it to his advantage.
There limits and boundaries. Not establishing any for ones self or respecting those of others will ALWAYS render negative consequences. Again, no exceptions for anyone at anytime.
Concerning President George Bush:
Our constitution respects freedom of speech: so should he. Kanye West isn’t the first American, African American, or person of color to critique President Bush or his republican party.
This incident brings up the question: who defines what racism is or isn’t? The academy? Who?
President Bush is entitled to his own feelings, and responses. The fact that he chose to zero in on a young, immature, inexperienced, uneducated, and mentally trouble entertainer actually shows more about HIS character and HIS mind then it does the ENTIRE incident. The fact that he is giving Kanye more attention than the attacks of 9-11 are outrageous.
Concerning the public reaction:
Call me a conspiracy theorist but I believe the manner in which Kanye is being targeted not only by the media but by conservative organization is a tell tale sign of trying to get some one to KILL THEMSELVES. They know how mentally unstable, isolated, immature, and inexperienced he is. I’m NOT defending him but I’d like to add another component to the discussion.
Truthfully, I believe that SOME are intimidated by his work because it influences their children, and grandchildren. Not that I think it’s great but that protest is found in music, many don’t understand Kanye Work.
Just one opinion… maybe…
Student of Clinical Ministry
(SOCM)
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If I were Kanye I would have said, “I’m sorry Mr. Bush feels I called him a racist. But that’s not what I said.” And then left it at that.
Neither George Bush, nor his party, give a damn about black people. And when it comes to having the power to shape policy that affects their lives, that indifference is tantamount to hatred, imho.
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Kanye did call Bush a racist IMO.
Certainly Kanye was strongly suggesting that Bush was prejudice as in he made the decision not to help a certain group because of their race. Obviously as the president he has the power to do so. So there’s your prejudice plus power.
Not defending Bush here I just don’t understand why people are saying Kanye didn’t call him racist. He did.
It drives me crazy that we still have to have this dynamic where someone does something racist and than we just focus on the name calling and the individual who did/said the racist thing. In this case Bush being hurt and Kanye apologizing. Or Dr. Laura or whichever random WP most recently decided that they found the one situation where thay could say ni**er and get away with it only to end up apologizing 2 days later. It’s like we have all these issues just beneath the surface and instead of focusing on them we just point a finger at whoever most recently let their tongue slip and treat them like a leaper. Like their some alien who has nothing to do with the rest of us.
How many POC felt just like Kanye? Like their country had abandoned them and just didn’t care. Like we just wanted them gone anyway.
How many WP feel just like Dr. Laura? like POC are just oversensitive whiners that need to buckle down and stop blaming whites for everything?
This is what’s always under the surface but as soon as someones words or actions reflect that we pretend they’re some wacko and we just go on ignoring it.
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How many POC felt just like Kanye? Like their country had abandoned them and just didn’t care. Like we just wanted them gone anyway.
How many WP feel just like Dr. Laura? like POC are just oversensitive whiners that need to buckle down and stop blaming whites for everything?
WP like Erica Winchester, I guess.
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“George Bush, nor his party, give a damn about black people. ”
Are you sure? What about Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican Party? Or Condoleeza Rice, Bush’s former Secretary of State? And Colin Powell?
–Abraham Lincoln was a Republican!
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Let’s not forget: Lincoln freed black people as a tactical decision. Not because he was so in love with black people.
(1) Lincoln wanted to deprive Southerners of their property. Slaves were a HUGE benefit to the Confederacy’s war effort. While many enslaved people of African-descent made the decision to run for freedom when Union troops were close, many were back on plantations and in urban households keeping white businesses running. That is part of the reason why Lincoln did not make the Emancipation Proclamation immediately effective. He wanted to give Confederates time to reverse their decision to leave the United States and form their own nation. In effect Lincoln was saying, “Hey guys … If you change your minds I will let you keep all your slaves!”
(2) Lincoln was running short on troops. Frederick Douglass was able to convince Lincoln that allowing African Americans, enslaved and free, to fight for their own freedom would greatly aid the Union. Plently of white Northerners could not see the benefits in fighting a war that would free the enslaved because they saw them as labor competition. Some were dedicated to abolition and preserving the union, but plently of others were not willing to do anything that might end in people of African descent in the U.S. being free.
(3) Lincoln wanted to ship black people back to Africa once they got their freedom.
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Moreover, there is a big difference between the Radical Republicans during Reconstruction and the Republican party as it stands now.
Following Reconstruction the Republican party essentially abandoned black people. With the Compromise of 1877, Republicans got their elected presidential candidate while the South got to get rid of federal troops. These federal troops were one of the few stop-gaps between freedom and virtual re-enslavement following the Civil War. After federal troops left you slowly started to see the repeal of the freedoms African Americans had won as citizens. By 1890, we had Jim Crow.
So let’s not conflate Abraham Lincoln, Radical Republicans, and the Republican Party as it currently stands.
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Personally, I agree with Kanye. But I think it would have been more accurate to say, “George Bush doesn’t care about poor black people.” Because that is how many understand the population of New Orleans.
This explains why Bush can be chummy with Rice and Powell. I think is where race and class meet for Bush and for many others. Not to mention, plently of Republicans wanted Powell for president. Powell was supposed to be the first lol …
In addition, I am not completely sure why, but I remember in the wake of the Bush’s election feeling like Bush also just picked Powell and Rice to placate black people who felt like they got jipped.
I am also not fooled by the Republicans choosing Steele as head of the RNC. I think that in the wake of the first U.S. president of African-descent being elected, the Republicans said, “Hey! We need a counter-weight to this black guy. Steele has street-cred. He can be all hippity-hop!”
I feel like this was similar to McCain picking Sarah Palin. I think McCain’s people and select Republicans said, “Hey! All these women and feminists are so sad because Hiliary didn’t win the nomination. Let’s pick any other white woman! It doesn’t matter whether she is as good as Hiliary.”
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Well…that shut down the thread.
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Bush doesn’t care about black people and, frankly, neither do white people (save the 12% who saw the truth for what it really was) if you think that race was not a factor in the piss poor response of Hurricane Katrina. The fact that years later, many parts of NO is still in shambles, and the fact that people are focusing on George W.’s feelings instead of the fact that his administration grossly mishandled Hurricane Katrina is appalling.
US was extremely quick to send aid to the 2004 Asian tsunami victims but it took 5+ days for American citizens to receive aid in America. And then they wanna get mad when black folk like Kanye speak out. Real recognize real and I don’t know the Bush administration
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Pointing out that George Bush said something foolish, that’s so 2001-2009 of you! Kanye West, in terms of his character, is rather poor. He a megalomaniac, and has convinced himself that he is black Jesus. I don’t know if taking back his comments makes him some kind of Uncle Tom or whatever, but with the way information moves these days we’ll find him contradicting himself in no time if that is how he really feels.
When it comes to Bush though, I think rather he has some issues empathizing with Americans at all. If you could explain Bush’s incompetence during Katrina as racism, how do you explain the entire Iraq War, or really anything he’s done during his presidency to hurt middle class whites? Maybe he doesn’t care for brown people either, but he is certainly proud of using American troops (mostly white) as pawns in his plot to avenge his papa! Despite the epic failure of Iraq in establishing any objectives (besides pillaging Iraq), he’s proud of what he’s done. The Iraq War is far more gruesome than anything of Katrina but he just doesn’t seem to empathize. That certainly doesn’t make him any better of a person, just not particularly motivated by racism.
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Comparing whites response to the tsunami and Katrina is always neat because it exposes something I despise about white culture. It’s very cool to be passionate about things happening to POC in other countries, just not any POC or white people for that matter in our own country. Compassion for those unfortunate to not be able to taste American Capitalism is very critical to whites self esteem. It’s not quite racist, but it shows that anything worth doing in white culture, must be trendy, and nothing is trendier than believing in European superiority, and/or sympathizing with Tibet, because being a progressive whitey means caring about the world, just not those gross smelly people living on the street. I guess as I type this i’m seeing the trend of whites sympathizing with Asians a lot more than the entire continent of Africa, but even caring about Aids was a trend! Aids is wicked old news though, and now it is cool to wear pink for cancer, because pink to breast cancer is like garlic to a vampire!
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All this hatred towards white people makes me really think ALL of you guys really envy white people and want to be like them. You are what you hate.
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I totally agree with abagond. Kanye spoke the truth…sort of. George Bush doesn’t care about black people….Not because he’s a racist…but because they don’t have any money, power, or vote for him. The Saudsi are non-whites but he loves them, and the Chinise, because they have money and power. Who do you think is holding the bank notes for the cost for going to war?
It’s amazing how the “American people” (aka, white people who happen to live in America) turn on anyone who tells the truth. Forget people of color who say things they don’t agree with….Look at Jane Fonda, Dan Rather, Phil Donahue, Michael Moore, and lets not forget the poor Dixie Chicks. They really did a number on them. They were/are all ostracized because they used their celebrity to tell the truth. Even when you tell the truth a little….in a very quite voice…trying not to offend anyone….you know….like President Obama….You still get slapped down.
So if you want to be a celebrity, and make money, the choices are to lie (Rush Limbaugh/Glen Beck/ Fox News) or try to be interesting and neutral at the same time (Ophra/Anderson Cooper) or an airhead/fool (the Kardasans/Jersey Shore/ESPN sportscasters) or accept the world as it is and roll with the punches (JayZ, MnM, Keith Oberman).
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Blk folk,need 2 stop apologizing about stating what is tru.
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Abagond, don’t know what to say about this post…
I didn’t care for Bush but to me, Kanye bringing up his name took responsible away from where it truly lies and that is with the State…when the governor declares a “State of Emergency” that’s when the local governments should start making arrangements for deciding how to help the people who choose to stay…
It’s amazing how the media didn’t highlite how many of the people in New Orleans tried to walk out by themselves after the storm and were greeted by shotguns by the white citizens of the bordering counties…
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I live in south Florida…we got Katrina and that was a bad-ass storm at a Cat 1…blew out my doors/part roof and killed a few people (which probably didn’t make national news)…anyone who lives in Hurricane territory knows that when a Cat 4-5 is coming, it’s time to leave…
if you choose to stay, then it’s already established that there will be no one (local government) to help you for at least the first couple of days…so you better have your gun ready and your own supplies to take care of business…it’s like the living in the stone ages after a bad hurricane…every man for himself.
As for received “aide” after a hurricane from FEMA, don’t believe the hype…FEMA has always been inept (and that’s on dry land with downed houses and trees)…took them a week to help after Hurricane Andrew…nothing changed during Katrina..it was the flooding that slowed FEMA down even more than usual, they weren’t ready for the water….
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@Jasonburns
I agree. People focus on the wrong point. It’s the thinking behind these incidents. Not what is said itself.
I feel Kanye was stating the truth. There’s nothing that could change my mind about that.
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I loved Kanye’s statement. Even if it wasn’t the nicest thing to say, it got the job done. That was the only Kanye comment I appreciated. He shouldn’t have apologized.
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Although I agreed with the words the whole thing came off so funny to me. I felt a little bad for Mike, but he kept it cool and collected.
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I completely understand what Kanye was trying to say, but I really think that vid was ridiculous.
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It was plainly obvious to me, even before Kanye opened his mouth, that Dubya didn’t/doesn’t care about Black people. When your own mother says that “being in the New Orleans Superdome is the best place for ‘those people’ “, then one can only guess what his upbringing was like!
Whenever people say, “I don’t know why my (insert family member here) is racist – they weren’t raised that way!” I tend to ask them, “Were they helped/raised to NOT be racist?” Puzzled looks always follow that question, LOL
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I remember thinking to myself,after K. West made his statement, “You idiot! You only got it half right, Bush doesn’t care about poor people!” Just like the majority of politicians here in washington,dc. the politicians do not care about the poor or the middle class. it does not matter about your race, it matters about your wallet. only thing that gets washington to move is money. I think that Baby Bush never cared for poor people and never will.
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@kim
It’s true. Why would GWB care about poor people? He and his Halliburton-friends are already rich, why would they care about anybody else? God, how I hate those neo-liberal, newborn christian SOB’s.
They’re not just gonna suck America dry, but the rest of the world as well.
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“It’s true. Why would GWB care about poor people? He and his Halliburton-friends are already rich, why would they care about anybody else?
True, but the Democratic Party leaders don’t care about poor people either. They care about looking like they are serving a certain constituency… but in the end, they are all just as rich as the Republicans. Sure, they are following a certain script and playing out their compassionate characters with all the skill of seasoned thespians, but only because it keeps them in power.
Nobody cares about poor people or even rich people. They care about votes and money. People are cared about only as a means to those two ends.
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Well i have long lost respect for Kanye West but that Kanye from that time i wanted to give a high five to because he was telling the truth.
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It made me so angry during the anniversary of Katrina that George Bush had the nerve to return to NOLA and be jubilant knowing full well it was under his administration and the other dirty bureaucrats that govern that city are responsible for much of the suffering of the poor black people who were vulnerable in that catastrophe.
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Reblogged this on Patriot News II.
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