Black leaders blast government relief efforts

Via Marsha Joyner.

By Deb Price / Detroit News Washington Bureau (Source)

WASHINGTON -- Blasting inadequate relief efforts to Hurricane Katrina victims, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick said she was "ashamed of America and ... of our government."

"I am outraged by the lack of response by the federal government," the Detroit Democrat said at a news conference held today by African American members of Congress and other black leaders.

The most prominent groups in the black civil rights community participated, including the Congressional Black Caucus, the Black Leadership Forum, the National Urban League, the National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP. Their leaders called on airlines, hotels, restaurants and other U.S. businesses to pitch in to save lives in the next critical hours, weeks and months.

Kilpatrick urged other cities to follow the example of Detroit, where 500 local families have offered housing for Katrina victims, and efforts are under way to send clothing and food to the devastated areas. The NAACP asked people to send donations through their web site -- www.naacp.org -- and Black Entertainment Television will hold a telethon on Sept. 9 to raise money.

While speakers focused on the need to get aid to victims quickly and getting them out of life-threatening conditions, the issue of race and poverty repeatedly broke through the news conference. Many of the hurricane victims are black and poor, and were not able to evacuate before the hurricane the struck. One audience member demanded to know whether the slow federal response was "black genocide," while another woman cried out, "African Americans built this nation. Descendants of slaves are being allowed to die."

Similarly concerned that race may be affecting relief efforts, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings said "poverty, age and skin color" are determining who lives and dies.

"God cannot be pleased with our response," the Maryland Democrat said before admonishing President George Bush with a quotation from the Bible about the need to help the "least of these."

Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau, blasted "disparate treatment" of Katrina victims, referring to reports of whites, not blacks, being able to flee in boats, as well as black mayors not hearing from federal relief officials.

The news media were also chastised for referring to victims as "refugees" rather than "American citizens," and for reporting isolated looting without emphasizing the context of the difficult conditions people are living in.

"Desperate people do desperate things," said U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., called on Americans not to harshly judge wrongdoers: "Who are we to say what law and order should be in this unspeakable environment?"

(Emphasis added.)