Public opinion polls reveal a substantial difference in perceptions between white and black American as to the role that race played in the government's slow response to the disaster. An overwhelming number of black respondents -- 70 percent and more -- told pollsters race was a factor. A comparable number of white respondents said that it was not.
A Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana says "Ghanaians want to know why it is mainly black faces they see" as Katrina victims
The dream is still alive
Sep 18, 2005 - Dayton Daily News
A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER IN GHANA SENT an e-mail home last week soliciting advice on how to
explain what happened in New Orleans, as "so many Ghanaians see America as the 'land where dreams come true.' "
He wrote:
"Now that Hurricane Katrina has taken its human toll, they see poor people of color (mainly African-American) on television crowded into shelters and hoping for help from their country to find a home, a job, a new life. "Ghanaians want to know why it is mainly black faces they see. ... "I ask you, my friends, my fellow countrymen and countrywomen, what do I tell them?"
Plenty. The question is where to begin. For starters, our Ghanaian friends should know they aren't the only ones who noticed who was able to get out of New Orleans, and who was left behind to endure days of nightmarish conditions. Not by a long shot.
Public opinion polls reveal a substantial difference in perceptions between white and black American as to the role that race played in the government's slow response to the disaster. An overwhelming number of black respondents -- 70 percent and more -- told pollsters race was a factor. A comparable number of white respondents said that it was not.
But that divide seems to dissolve when it comes to expressions of sympathy, charity, and financial support for those whose lives have been turned upside down.
Private fundraising efforts have topped $100 million. Congress has already appropriated more than $50 billion.
President George W. Bush's prime-time speech this week show the power of the images broadcast worldwide:
"As all of us saw on television, there's also some deep, persistent poverty in this region, as well. That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality."
The president said these things, and backed them with a commitment of tens of billions of dollars more, because he believed the political mood of the nation demanded that he do so.
Our Ghanaian friends, in other words, should know America saw what they saw, that it, too, was disturbed and moved.
They should be told that the dream, while obviously not fulfilled, is still alive.
A QUESTION FOR READERS
What would you tell our Ghanaian friends? Let us know.
- E-mail: edletter@ DaytonDailyNews.com
- Send note: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 1287, Dayton, OH 45401-1287
