I have so much to write about I’m busting at the seams. I know I’m bound to forget some of it. Oh well, such is life I guess.
I was a good boy and went to the gym today. Nice back/bicep workout. There is a new guy working out the Gold’s on Brannan. Obviously straight but a total hottie. I drop an egg every time I see him basically. Today he said hi to me and I almost yelped. I’m not so silly as to read anything into it. He often sees me and was just being friendly. Moving on…
I was reading brett cajun today and was dismayed by his article on the problems facing New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. I say dismayed as exactly what I thought would happen did. Or is happening. (I’m not sure of the grammar here but you get the point.)
We think we are so civilized as a society and yet we aren’t even close. You only need to look at a disaster like Katrina to realize that. We quickly revert back to “fend for ourselves” mentality and screw everyone else. Even worse, the government that we elect to protect and serve, failed it’s citizens in the most fundamental way. The ball was dropped at the local level which created a cascading failure all the way to the top. A failure compounded by our lack of support in the aftermath. I think I’ve beat that point to death so I’ll get back on focus.
Half of my family is from Cajunville so I am no stranger to New Orleans or it’s class issues. New Orleans has always had issues w/racism and poverty. A tiny percentage of the city lives in wealth and prosperity. A tiny percentage of “white folks” mind you. There is a decent size “middle-class community but it is completely overshadowed by the large percentage of people living at or below poverty level. Most of which are black. After Katrina, the government tried a ‘quick fix’ to the problem by throwing money at it and hoping “they’ll take what they can get” and go somewhere else. Well friends, that is not the answer as is becoming obviously clear. The crime rate in New Orleans has sky-rocketed. As often happens, people overlook the subtleties for the more obvious differences. By this I mean race. Considering over half of the population is black and most of those live in the afore mentioned poor conditions, it isn’t a big leap in logic to figure you will have a higher percentage of blacks committing crimes.
When every crime against you is perpetrated by someone who is black, it becomes easy to make assumptions about race. I’m fortunate enough to be far enough removed now to see the issue more clearly. If I still lived in New Orleans, I might think the same thing. But, if we are to truly become civilized then we must move beyond ‘easy answers’ and work on the bigger problems. Hoping “they” will go away hasn’t worked before and won’t work now.
Sadly, I don’t think that will happen in New Orleans but one can still hope right? (And some might think this a pot-shot at Brett. It isn’t. He took some heat for his post and kudos to him for foregoing politeness for honesty. I adore Brett. I just felt the need to sound off my own opinion w/o monopolizing his blog.)
Oh, and one more thing… Saying you “are not a racist” only makes you look like an ass. Everyone is a racist to one degree or another. It is how you act on it that defines you.
Your comments on Bretts site led me here. Yes I’m the Joe who ripped him a new one. It wasn’t so much his rant on the blog that got me so much as his defense of his rant. Wow! I was pretty offended and let him know. Funny thing was i kept telling him about his use of “them” much the way you did. I’ll have to hang out here and check out more of your posts.
Cheers!
Joe
Moby…
I think you nailed it guy, right down to the last paragraph!!!!
Unfortunately poverty breeds so much. We are all to blame in some respect. And yes there is unfortunately that human element of some racism behind us all. I agree with the individual making the choice ultimately on how he reacts to it, how he handles it. Good post.
Like I said, I understand his comments all too well having been a victim of such incidents. Instead of “ripping” him, try to share a different perspective. I find while a bit hard-headed (as most southerners tend to be) Brett does actually listen.
I am glad I touched a mini-firestorm. It’s about time people started talking about this subject! Just yesterday, a black man killed four church goers in Baton Rouge, and then killed his wife that same day. That was the lead story for two nights in a row. When are the civil rights leaders going to stand up and speak out against this? Why are we speaking out against it? Because we have HAD ENOUGH!!! Jesse Jackson should be in Baton Rouge right now jumping on asses for the senseless violence!
I just think we as a country have become so skilled at throwing blame around. Those who are first to point out another person as a ‘racist’ are usually just as guilty.
Opportunist are around every corner ready to scream ‘I’M THE VICTIM!! I’M THE VICTIM!!’
Black, white, yellow, red, whatever… We all develop opinions thru our experiences and expressing opinions is a good way to foster conversation and personal development.
Moby and Brett, Thanks for sharing.
“I have so much to write about Im busting at the seams. I know Im bound to forget some of it. Oh well, such is life I guess.”
— That is why I carry around a notebook.
One important I learned is how much more effective it is to realise the problem and fix it rather than to assign blame.
Moby…I think you have done a great job responding to things…as usual. Most of us just react from the gut without thinking first and that’s how the firestorms get started…and fueled. If we took more time to be thoughtful like you have, there would be fewer misunderstandings.
Tony:
What I wrote about is a very explosive issue from New Orleans to Houston, Tx. If you talk to anyone from this area, it is a very big issue on their minds. I wasn’t just writing to pick a fight or start a controversy. I was writing what most people feel is a huge problem. The life of New Orleans is at stake here. It was already a declining city. Nobody felt safe in the city anymore. Businesses were moving away. Crime was shooting up. I am not making this up. Just about every friend of mine has been robbed in the French Quarter. (Even Joe that has been posting on my blog) I brought this issue up because it literally boiling over in SE Texas and Louisiana. What I am doing is creating a dialogue. That is a START. People are getting to air their views on both sides of the issue. I think ultimately I have achieved the start of a long needed talk about race in New Orleans and Texas.
Thank you Tony. I just wish I knew how to fix it. Very dynamic problem requiring a variety of patches before we could call it “fixed”.
Moby, I will say one thing- I don’t consider myself racist. I look at an individual’s actions, I don’t care what group they belong to. I hope that doesn’t make me an ass.