New Orleans Population has the Right of Return

[buzzsaw_23]

Text of Radio BC audio commentary

September 8 2005

New Orleans Population has the Right of Return

Listen Now

The people of New Orleans have a right to return. It is not too early to say so. In fact, it is imperative that we demand the Right of Return now, before the circumstances of the displacement of this population create facts on the ground that cannot be reversed. We have seen, elsewhere in the world, how those who have been displaced are effectively shut out from returning to their origins, and how quickly the public says, well, that’s just water under the bridge – or over the levee. Others, newcomers, will benefit from the tragedy of the previous population’s displacement. This cannot be allowed to occur in New Orleans.

Not only does the Black two-thirds of the city have the right to return, but the federal government has an obligation to direct every resource to making it possible and practical for them to return, and to live productive lives in the city from which they were driven.

<snip>

The people of New Orleans have the right to be made whole, again. They are citizens, wounded by their own government. The rights of citizens cannot be privatized, or churched-out, or Salvation-Armyed out. All help is appreciated, but we must also focus on rights – the right to not be permanently displaced by depraved government policies or the corporate greed that will certainly try to swallow New Orleans whole – just as whole as did the waters of Lake Pontchartrain.

Displacement based on race is a form of genocide, as recognized under the Geneva Conventions. Destruction of a people’s culture, by official action or depraved inaction, is an offense against humanity, under international law. New Orleans – the whole city, and its people – is an indispensable component of African American culture and history. It is clear that the displaced people of New Orleans are being outsourced – to everywhere, and nowhere. They are not nowhere people. They are citizens of the United States, which is obligated to right the wrongs of the Bush regime, and it’s unnatural disaster. Charity is fine. Rights are better. The people of New Orleans have the Right to Return – on Uncle Sam’s tab. For Radio BC, I’m Glen Ford.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/radio_bc/090805/090805_radio_bc_text.html

[Solly Mack]

1. I agree

[The Traveler]

2. Damn right

It is bizarre to me that we have become a country where this kind of statement must needs be made. Clearly, America is in danger of falling down.

[Patchuli]

3. Yep!

And the rest of America will scream for it to be so!!!!

Love,

patchuli from No. Cal

[kestrel91316]

4. Yay! This really needed to be said!!!!!

[CHIMO]

5. Power to the victims of New Orleans

Power to the victims of New Orleans

With the poor gone, developers are planning to gentrify the city

Naomi Klein
Friday September 9, 2005

On September 4, six days after Katrina hit, I saw the first glimmer of hope. "The people of New Orleans will not go quietly into the night, scattering across this country to become homeless in countless other cities while federal relief funds are funnelled into rebuilding casinos, hotels, chemical plants. We will not stand idly by while this disaster is used as an opportunity to replace our homes with newly built mansions and condos in a gentrified New Orleans."

The statement came from Community Labor United, a coalition of low-income groups in New Orleans. It went on to demand that a committee made up of evacuees "oversee Fema, the Red Cross and other organisations collecting resources on behalf of our people. We are calling for evacuees from our community to actively participate in the rebuilding of New Orleans."

It's a radical concept: the $10.5bn released by Congress and the $500m raised by private charities doesn't actually belong to the relief agencies or the government - it belongs to the victims. The agencies entrusted with the money should be accountable to them. Put another way, the people Barbara Bush tactfully described as "underprivileged anyway" just got very rich.

Except relief and reconstruction never seem to work like that. When I was in Sri Lanka six months after the tsunami, many survivors told me that the reconstruction was victimising them all over again. A council of the country's most prominent businesspeople had been put in charge of the process, and they were handing the coast over to tourist developers at a frantic pace. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of poor fishing people were still stuck in sweltering inland camps, patrolled by soldiers with machine guns and entirely dependent on relief agencies for food and water. They called reconstruction "the second tsunami".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1566199,00.html

[tom_paine]

6. Unfortunately, in Imperial Amerika, NO ONE has any rights

Nice to talk about it, though.

[OneBlueSky]

7. "Right of Return" should become a motto . . . n/t

.

[redstate1]

8. where is it?

please tell me where the "right of return" is enumerated, and if it can be found, why anyone would want the "right of return" to an area that is 15ft below sea level and could be inundated in a similar fashion again in the future.

i have always thought if one did not want to be flooded out, why live in a flood plain....? also, how many times should should one be allowed to receive funds to rebuild if they just rebuild in the same area at risk for a loss again.

since a major portion of the city is pretty well trashed, i say everyone that was there be required to move to higher ground and the low lying portion be razed and returned to river delta status. why spend the extra money repairing the leevee? just let the area return to a natural state.

[Demit]

9. Because it is their home.

And why have you disabled your profile?

[skeeterintexas]

11. Let me guess...you've never been to NOLA?

Why do people live in earthquake country (aka California)? Why do people live in tornado alley (aka the Midwest)? Why do people return to Florida storm after storm?

Because it's their home.

In the case of New Orleans (or Louisiana & Mississippi), many of those people were born there as were generations before them. Over 70% of New Orleanians are NATIVE to the area. Many live in houses that have been in the family for GENERATIONS. How many of us can say that: I live where I was born, my parents were born and their parents before them. Some of the evacuees have never been further than a bus pass could take them.

I love New Orleans. I love the people, the culture, the diversity and yes, the music and food. You, my friend, have obviously never experienced New Orleans.

[AndreaCG]

18. I live in NYC

Should the 8 million of us move because we tempt the terrorists?

[buzzsaw_23]

13. Go Here for more details

Restoring family ties

Principles 16 and 17 deal with the issue of missing persons and the reunification of dispersed family members. They refer to the right of internally displaced persons to be informed of the fate and whereabouts of relatives reported missing and to be reunited with them as quickly as possible. In both cases the Guiding Principles stipulate that the authorities concerned shall cooperate with the humanitarian organizations engaged in such tasks. Indeed, tracing missing persons, conveying messages between separated family members and arranging for family reunifications form part of the traditional activities conducted by the ICRC.

Assistance and protection

One entire section of the Guiding Principles (Principles 24-27) is based on the rules of humanitarian law providing for relief to be delivered to the civilian population in an impartial manner. The document further reaffirms that offers of services made by humanitarian organizations shall not be regarded as interference in a State’s internal affairs nor arbitrarily refused.

The Guiding Principles also contain provisions aimed at affording better protection to internally displaced persons. Principle 27, for example, stipulates that:

“International humanitarian organizations (...) when providing assistance should give due regard to the protection needs and human rights of internally displaced persons and take appropriate measures in this regard. (...)”

http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList128/2B7B10C17B8F1A07C1256B66005C4550

[Jimbo S]

15. They lived in the flood plain because

that was the only place many could afford.

I could have agreed with your point if you hadn't started blaming the victums.

Should they be allowed to return? Yes.
Should tax monies be used to rebiuld in a flood plain? Not so sure.

[Wind Dancer]

17. redstate1, a compassionate conservative.

Let's hope you never find yourself in a situation like the folks in NO.

Why spend money unless it benefits the large corporations and the greedy RW fundies? It's all about ME, ME, ME until a tragedy affects them.

Have you no shame?

WAKE UP!

[pitohui]

21. we live here to put food in yr damn belly & gas in yr car

when you don't use any petroleum products, when you don't wear clothes eat food or drink coffee shipped through the port of new orleans, then come back & tell me there is no reason for ppl to live here

this is one of the biggest & most important ports in the world

you may thank the port of new orleans & the port of gulfport for the damn coffee you drink, the damn banana you put on your cereal, & the shipping of the damn cereal yourself

& that's before you're even fully awake in the morning

every important agricultural area of the world is a damn flood plain

don't eat my food & then shit on my dining room table

i have half a mind to report yr post

but i'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you are ignorant instead of a hate-monger

educate yrself, you are letting yr ass hang out in public & it's not a pretty sight

[scarletlib]

10. kicked and nominated

[ananda]

12. Rights don't matter to Murder, Inc..

.. formerly known as Bushco.

Bush and his cronies assiduously ignore: polls, demands, protests, demonstrations, speak outs, and facts.

Sue

[dalloway]

14. This is CRITICAL to state right now.

I am thinking directly of those affected by the tsunami, those who were poor fisherman who lived on the edge of the water in shanties. I heard reporting months after the disaster that the big hotel/development companies were seizing their real estate and evicting them.

If we don't start this conversation right now, tomorrow is too late.

THANK GOODNESS Blanco didn't let them federalize the effort or, if I'm not mistaken, they may very well have gotten the rights to seize land. Given that oil is the fuel that makes this administration go, they'd be salivating at the development possibilities for the oil companies at this critical location.

[crispini]

16. kick

:kick:

[texpatriot2004]

19. I agree I watched CNN interview a black man in a part of the

city that wasn't flooded. It was a poor part. There is not much damage. There are several people, black people, still living there that don't want to leave. I am sorry I didn't get the name of the man they were interviewing. I thought the man had a very, very valid point. (As an aside, I do understand the seriousness of the health threat.)Still, this man had lived in his house there for 43 years or something. He said they had been coming around to "scare" them into leaving and that if they did leave they would have nothing to come back to. I think he is right. What guarantee does this black man have from this government, that just screwed his people in a time of need, that he would either a)receive monetary compensation for his loss; or b) be able to return to his home intact. What about property rights here? It is a valid question. Think about it. If the man leaves he becomes and "evacuee" with "evacuee status" and has no idea what life will hold for him. Maybe he gets a debit card, no, wait they canceled that program. Maybe FEMA will take his phone calls if he can find access to a phone once he leaves his home which now has a working phone or maybe FEMA won't - they might be "too busy" to take calls from evacuees. I can understand the health threat but what about the right to stay in your home and keep your property? This is even more pertinent since yesterday I read about some affluent white women of New Orleans talking about rebuilding a "new, better New Orleans" without the poor side of town, the "slums."

[pitohui]

20. agreed

& i think they will return

[troubleinwinter]

22. YES YES YES. Kick and nominated.

[Igel]

23. Those that own their land will either continue to own their land,

or they will be subject to some sort of flood plain remediation effort. This has usually consisted of offering to buy their property with simultaneous denial of federal flood plain insurance/flood benefits. In that case, NOLA's population will shrink; it's down 200k over the last few decades as it is.

Those that rented will be at the mercy of their landlords. If I owned land, and got money to rebuild, I'd be rather offended at people telling me what kind of building I'm allowed to put up, and the numbers of people/race of people I must rent to, just to preserve somebody else's ideas of community or diversity. Most leases have an escape clause if the building is destroyed.

Otherwise, I don't see anybody even hinting at banning people. They're free to return when there are places for them to go to and they have some way of supporting themselves, or being supported.

[alittlelark]

24. I was fascinated by this line in your post -

<snip>They're free to return when there are places for them to go to and they have some way of supporting themselves, or being supported.

The question is WHO makes those decisions?

[Igel]

26. Three sets of people: those offering jobs, those offering

apartments for rent, and those that would be working and living there.

We can't force people to move back, and forcing landlords to build low-rent buildings just because that's all they could get for 60-year-old apartments before Katrina sounds iffy to me. And the jobs will have to come back, as well, assuming that small business owners want to rebuild their businesses in the same location.

This creates a public policy nightmare of sorts, to be honest.

[north houston dem]

25. Damn right.

"Right to Return"

i like it

[Hekate]

27. Remember: "Drowning of New Orleans" and "Right of Return"

great article -- thanks for posting

:kick:

Hekate

#Why won't the Chickenhawk cross the road?#
#Why isn't the Chickenhawk waitin' on the levee?#

[Coastie for Truth]

28. This is nothing less then an "American Nakba" -N/T

[fortyfeetunder]

29. Can we reverse SCOTUS decision on "eminent domain"

I fear the SCOTUS decision on eminent domain will preclude populations of New Orleanians from returning because their property may be seized by the government.

Say it isn't so....I hope not!