Sep
25
2006
The Re-opening of the Superdome and America
Posted by: Scott at 8:57 pm in Current Affairs, The SoapBoxI recorded part of the Monday Night Football game tonight as I wanted to see the U2 performance and the reopening of the Superdome in New Orleans. Now it’s not that I’m not glad the Superdome is back open (I’m thrilled New Orleans is getting back on its feet), but as I watched the coverage of the game, I noticed something very disturbing to me.
<– Take a look at this picture from New Orleans outside the Superdome shortly after Katrina struck a little over a year ago (click on the image for a larger view).
<– Now take a look at this picture of the crowd this evening outside the Superdome getting ready for the big football game (again, click the image for a larger view).
<– Take a look at this picture from New Orleans outside the Superdome shortly after Katrina struck a little over a year ago (click on the image for a larger view).
<– Now take a look at this picture of the crowd this evening outside the Superdome getting ready for the big football game (again, click the image for a larger view).
Notice anything? I do. If you don’t notice anything, that may be the problem right there. If you still have no idea what I’m talking about, click the link below to find out.
What I noticed in the two pictures is that in the first picture the victims of Katrina are almost exclusively of poor, black people. The second photo of the "triumphant" re-opening of the Superdome the people in the crowd are mainly white (and I would guess affluent to be able to afford the high-priced tickets) people.
What does this say about America, I wonder?
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I don’t want to come off as insensitive here, but to me it just comes across as saying that those white, affluent people had already left NO when Katrina hit, because they had the money to get out, and the money to have a place to go -to-.
If we’re basing this off an economic stand point, the (assumedly poor) black people in the top photo only went to the dome because it was a port in a storm. They didn’t, and I assume still don’t, have money to go to the dome when there’s a cost.
Yes, I noticed the difference immediately. And it says about America what most already know, but are too protective of what is theirs to worry about the outside world most of the time.
If the first thing that strikes you about the picture is the race of those pictured… shouldn’t *that* bother you? Personally, I’d rather it never occurred to me to correlate the races of the people in the picture, but, given the lead up, that’s exactly what I looked for first, myself.
I dunno. It seems like race is always the big elephant right there in the room that nobody wants to acknowledge.
Hmm. Does that explain something? It’s easy to identify folks of a different race … therefore it’s prohibited to discriminate against them. Now folks of a different sexual orientation… those queers can hang out in stealth, infiltrate the ranks and we might never know they’re among us. Scary, eh?
I live in Chandler, district 21. We have some of the most godawful representatives in the state legislature, but of course they just won the primary again - guess what their main issue is?
Hey Scott, yeah - I got it, too. Most everbody did, I think. I was caught up in the Big Thompson flood in 1976. By the end of that year every single one of my family’s friends and business contacts had either gone back into business or been helped to relocate.
The two horrible incidents are very much comparable in both their destruction and sudden occurance. The difference? Scope, of course…but in Colorado there were basically only white, republican voters affected.
Mario - no idea where you’re from, but, yes - until black people are treated as people then race does matter, quite a bit. If you are American, than I certainly understand your politically correct viewpoint - and reject it. Katrina showed us just how far away from racial justice we really are - it is time to stop pretending their are no differences when there are. Oh, the differences are not internal - do not misunderstand me - but in the way our culture and government deals with us. I’ll gladly be color blind when my skin color doesn’t automatically denote my status in life.
And what did all of those poor black people do to the interior of the Superdome that made the rich white people spend over $100,000,000 to clean and repair?
What does THAT say about America?
While I saw it after a moment of examination, that’s only because I had a hunch that would be the issue. And honestly, I don’t think it’s really fair. It would be different if they were both pictures of a game day, before and after. But who’s to say Saints fans/game attendees weren’t predominantly white before? Haven’t the tickets always been that pricey? I’d need to see the pictures.
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