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jebbypalSo V continued her incredibly naive rants and outrage today about the things she was hearing going on in the hurricane affected areas. Which, I guess it's good that she's sheltered, I just can't understand how she's managed it being in Philly all her life and being 21. It's really ridiculous.
That, or as usual, I just expect everyone to be decently read and informed about a wide varieties of social topics.
I mean, how hard is it to understand that the looting, the anger and violence among those still stranded, possibly even the gunfire (and sniper...though, granted, I haven't had time today to read the latest developments) are in all likelihood pretty much the expression of race and class tensions that have been simmering in this country for almost a decade. If nothing else, I've been surprised we haven't had riots on the scale of the LA riots a lot sooner the way the elections have gone lately.
Then again, I think my attitude might have a lot more to do with the fact that I grew up in OK and am now on the east coast. Yes, racism exists in the northeast, I've seen it. But at the same time, the South and Midwest have it on a whole different scale. I still remember how shocked B was when he went home with me, and later when he visited Birmingham, AL, for a grad school interview, at the levels of racism that was blatantly in your face as well as the huge disparities in income.
The large cities through the entire country face some similar problems, but I can say for a fact that those problems have a different feel entirely in the red states of this country. I'm out of touch with it now, so I don't know if it's better or worse than 10 years ago. My impression is that due to the economy, the way welfare/medicaid is run now, and the worsening meth problems, it's probably much worse.
So yeah, I hear about the alleged shootings around the NO hospital and Superdome, and it doesn't surprise. Especially after seeing the images of those left to fend for themselves entirely on the interstates with no supplies or transportation. People get fed up of being ignored eventually...and they start to make sure that you can't ignore them any more. Hopefully all the agencies will get their shit together and things will start to ease quickly so the violence doesn't boil over.
Hopefully.
I'm not going to hold my breath for it though.
That, or as usual, I just expect everyone to be decently read and informed about a wide varieties of social topics.
I mean, how hard is it to understand that the looting, the anger and violence among those still stranded, possibly even the gunfire (and sniper...though, granted, I haven't had time today to read the latest developments) are in all likelihood pretty much the expression of race and class tensions that have been simmering in this country for almost a decade. If nothing else, I've been surprised we haven't had riots on the scale of the LA riots a lot sooner the way the elections have gone lately.
Then again, I think my attitude might have a lot more to do with the fact that I grew up in OK and am now on the east coast. Yes, racism exists in the northeast, I've seen it. But at the same time, the South and Midwest have it on a whole different scale. I still remember how shocked B was when he went home with me, and later when he visited Birmingham, AL, for a grad school interview, at the levels of racism that was blatantly in your face as well as the huge disparities in income.
The large cities through the entire country face some similar problems, but I can say for a fact that those problems have a different feel entirely in the red states of this country. I'm out of touch with it now, so I don't know if it's better or worse than 10 years ago. My impression is that due to the economy, the way welfare/medicaid is run now, and the worsening meth problems, it's probably much worse.
So yeah, I hear about the alleged shootings around the NO hospital and Superdome, and it doesn't surprise. Especially after seeing the images of those left to fend for themselves entirely on the interstates with no supplies or transportation. People get fed up of being ignored eventually...and they start to make sure that you can't ignore them any more. Hopefully all the agencies will get their shit together and things will start to ease quickly so the violence doesn't boil over.
Hopefully.
I'm not going to hold my breath for it though.
