Rep John Lewis: 'This Is a National Disgrace' (in Newsweek)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9190576/

I was headed to New Orleans as a Freedom Rider in May of 1961. It would've been my first visit, but we were arrested in Jackson, Miss., and never made it. In happier times, though, I have been able to visit New Orleans over the years. It's one of my favorite cities, one of the great Southern cities. The people are friendly, warm, helpful. In the old part of the city, there's so much history when you walk down Canal Street or Royal. One of my favorite places is a shop on Royal, where they have lots of art posters by African-American artists. After Katrina, there's a loss of the music, the restaurants and the character in addition to the unbelievable loss of lives. Maybe we will never know the number of people who have been lost.

It's very painful for me to watch and read about what is happening. I have a sense of righteous indignation. I think all Americans should rise up and speak out. It's not like 9/11 that just happened. We saw this in the making. The media told us for days this storm was coming, and for years people have been telling us we need to do something to prepare. It took us so many days to make the full force of the government available afterward.

In 1957, during the crisis in Little Rock, President Dwight Eisenhower—maybe he was reluctant, maybe he had some reservations, but he put the full force of the government behind the decision to desegregate Central High. During the Freedom Rides, President John Kennedy didn't hesitate to federalize the National Guard and put the whole city of Montgomery under martial law. It's baffling to me that we didn't have the ability or the will to do something much earlier. We still haven't had the passionate statement that should be made by officials in this administration.

<snip>

We've got to do more than the $10 billion that Congress appropriated. We need a massive Marshall-type plan to rebuild New Orleans. But in rebuilding we should see this as an opportunity to rebuild urban America. New Orleans could be a model. There must be a commitment of billions and billions of dollars—maybe $50 billion to $100 billion. I think even in other urban centers, there are people who are just barely existing. We sing the song "Hope is on the way," but it's taking a long time before hope arrives. It becomes very discouraging where you see people dying—children, the elderly, the sick—the lack of food and water. I've cried a lot of tears the past few days as I watched television—to see somebody lying dead outside the convention center. I went to Somalia in 1992 and I saw little babies dying before my eyes. This reminded me of Somalia. But this is America. We're not a Third World country. This is an embarrassment. It's a shame. It's a national disgrace.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. We could do such things if we weren't so jacked up about securing

the energy reserves in Eurasia.

[stilpist]

5. But * isn't doing that very well, either.

In any event, the real problem isn't that the Iraq insanity is sapping resources, it's that the rich and the corporations aren't paying enough taxes and that Americans have been seduced into believing that community is not valuable.

[opihimoimoi]

2. As long as Pubs have a say, we are doomed to the status quo

with l;ittle hope of major improvement.

[1democracy]

3. We could hire the poor to rebuild...

[ailsagirl]

4. "a national disgrace" like none other

DO WE HAVE ENOUGH ON THEM YET??????

:rant: :grr: :mad: :sarcasm:

[Cha]

6. My thanks to John Lewis

for this article.

It is a National Disgrace that bush brought on us again.

It's like the DUer said.."Why am I in this handbasket and where am I going?"