NAACP Leader Compares Katrina Aftermath to a "Lynching"
To be completely honest, this comment does not surprise me at all. Certain segments of African-American leadership use race to further their agenda and/or increase their political power (examples include Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and John Lewis). Story from the AP.
NAACP National Board Chair Julian Bond said Sunday that the civil rights organization is needed now more than ever because the Bush Administration has done little to support blacks.
From the administration's slow response to Hurricane Katrina to the war in Iraq and immigration issues, Bush has seen his presidency questioned, Bond told an estimated 3,000 people during a public meeting in Detroit.
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Bond's speech was the opening address of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's 98th Annual Convention, which ends Thursday.
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"Many Americans maintain — from corporate and government sponsored pulpits, newspaper op-ed pages and television and radio talk shows — that racial discrimination has become an ancient artifact," he said. "At the NAACP, we know none of this is true, and that's why we are dedicated to an aggressive campaign of social justice, fighting racial discrimination. We've done this in the past and will continue to do it in the future."
For example, he said the Supreme Court, which includes two justices nominated by Bush, upheld cases in which two school systems could not voluntarily use race in assigning students to schools.
"The Bush Court removed black children from the law's protection," Bond said.
I'm sorry, but that decision did not remove black children from the "law's protection." The decision said that race could not be a major factor in admissions for magnet schools. That hardly seems like a defeat for equal protection under the law. For more, see my post on the decision.
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"It can be said that Katrina, like lynching, not only destroyed the work of generations in a single day, but is resulting in a deliberate effort to dispossess black landholders."
The mostly black 9th Ward was one of the city's most heavily damaged areas. Bond said that nearly 60 percent of its residents owned their homes compared to 47 percent of all of New Orleans.
"Katrina served to underscore how the war in Iraq has weakened, rather than strengthened, our defenses, including our levees," Bond said. "The problem isn't that we can't prosecute a war in the Persian Gulf and protect our citizens on the Gulf Coast at home. The problem is that we cannot do either one."
This analogy is absolutely appalling. With numerous examples of government incompetence outside of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, assuming that the slow reaction was a deliberate land grab is a conspiracy theory stretch. Throwing out conjectures without facts or evidence is simple propaganda. Secondly, a lynching was a deliberate and terroristic act of murder. Mr. Bond, could you please show me where residents of the ninth Ward were deliberately murdered by hanging. I didn't think so.
To compare the aftermath of hurricane Katrina to a lynching is to trivialize the brutal and terroristic practice of lynchings. It is an affront to all the victims of this terrible crime, and essentially equates government incompetence with a horrendous murder. Julian Bond and the NAACP should be ashamed of themselves. But of course, there will be no apology forthcoming.
Just another example of race baiting by certain segments of the African-American leadership. It's absolutely disgusting.
(Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)
3 comments:
Although Mr. Bond’s assertion about lynching and Katrina are a bit far fetched, it is hard to argue vigorously against the comparison. Yes lynching was a deliberate documented act against Black Americans but we can’t say that the government’s reaction to Katrina was not. It’s true that Katrina was a natural event but the powers that be that held the knowledge of its destructive power did not act on the behalf of all the citizens of Louisiana. There was little talk of how powerful the storm was and how to protect the weak before and during the storm nor was there much urgency on the behalf of the government to help those in need. The facts are that Katrina future illuminated the on going issues plaguing America; race and The Haves Vs. The Haves Nots. Although observation is the fist level of ignorance, at this point, typical Americans (Black, White or Brown) only have the observational reactions of the Government to the people of Louisiana before, during and years after the storm.
E. King
Unless you have proof, it's baseless to claim that the government purposely delayed helping people in the hurricane Katrina aftermath. Conjecture without evidence is absolutely useless.
The federal government should be held accountable for its incompetence. But also, the state government of Louisiana and the municipal government of New Orleans were incompetent. New Orleans had hundreds of buses that could have been used to evacuate those who had no transportation out of the city. But guess what, the genius of Ray Nagin didn't use them. And apparently, many survivors of the hurricane who stayed in New Orleans had no problem with it. That was evidenced in the reelection of Nagin, despite his utter ineptitude in the lead up to the hurricane.
Finally, to compare the aftermath of Katrina to a lynching is way beyond a bit of a stretch. It's simple propaganda designed to stir up racial tensions. To make excuses for such a thing does not make sense to me.
I think the comparison is a stretch as well. But the black leadership thrives on the victimology, and particularly, the "blood of martyrs" strategy (appealing to the bloody legacy of the slain civil rights leadership).
Nice posting!
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