Guest Commentary: We, as Blacks, Must Help Our Southern Brothers and Sisters in Need
Date: Thursday, September 01, 2005
By: Judge Greg Mathis, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com
It’s playing out like a Hollywood blockbuster: a major hurricane strikes, violent winds erase entire city blocks, rising waters force evacuations and chaos ensues. Unfortunately, this scenario wasn’t pulled from a movie script.
It’s a frightening reality for residents in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. When Hurricane Katrina tore into Louisiana Monday, she left nearly 80 percent of New Orleans under water and ravaged other Gulf Coast communities. Watch the evening news, and you’ll see who has been the hardest hit by this disaster: poor African-Americans. These three states are among the poorest in the country, ranking at the bottom in overall poverty and residents who live below the poverty line. Additionally, these southern states have large concentrations of African-Americans -- over 60 percent of New Orleans’ residents are black.
While our hearts should go out to all of those affected by this tragedy, we as African-Americans are obligated to offer support to our brothers and sisters in need.
Even before the hurricane, many blacks in these southern locations were economically disadvantaged. According to a report recently released by the Census Bureau, the South has the lowest median household income in the country. When you consider that blacks, on average, earn less than whites, it’s not hard to imagine that some blacks in the region were already struggling to make ends meet. If it was difficult to put food on the table before, it will be almost impossible for many families to rebuild once it’s safe to return to their communities. Many will have no homes or jobs to go back to -- the storm wiped away much of what they’ve worked so hard for.
Before rebuilding talks even begin, these people -- many with families -- must first survive the next several months as displaced citizens or “refugees,” as the news media has labeled them. The economies of the communities these victims have evacuated to are being pushed to their limits. Houston, for example, does not have the resources to feed and shelter the thousands of New Orleans-area residents that have fled to the area. While many will be housed in the Astrodome, others must seek shelter with local charitable organizations, churches or good Samaritans.
Experts predict that this transient lifestyle will continue for the next several months. It will take at least that long before New Orleans is habitable again.
The havoc brought by Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the greatest natural disasters this country has ever seen.
In December 2004, an earthquake, followed by a tsunami, hit Asia and Africa, destroying communities and killing thousands. President Bush pledged $950 million in long-term U.S. support to help the tsunami victims rebuild. The American people donated money in record numbers, showing their compassion by providing the funds necessary to help those affected nations recover from such a tragedy. Now that the catastrophe is on our soil, we must dig even deeper. African-Americans especially must contribute, to ensure that the blacks affected by this disaster are able to bounce back and once again become active participants in society.
When one of us is flourishing, it is our duty to help another who is suffering. No matter your income level, you are able to give -- after all, you are doing much better than those in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Judge Greg Mathis is chairman of the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board and a national board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
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Saturday, September 3rd 2005 at 6:37PM
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