"I think there is another, equally important aspect of what is unfolding. This is a 'teachable moment' for Americans about the nature and severity of poverty. The assumptions that poverty and attention to it is a relic of the '60s have been shattered. For those of us that serve working poor, of whom farmworkers are among the poorest, this is a moment of opportunity to try to move agendas that have been stuck for decades. How exactly to do that I do not know. For example, whatever disaster relief we can get for migrant and seasonal farmworkers will be a major and difficult achievement. But it will do nothing to help their long term needs, which begin with a living wage and some job security, neither of which exist right now in that sector. Then, on to housing and health care (and I'm not talking Medicaid here, but some kind of national health program).
Shouldn't we be able to bring these things to the forefront sometime in the next few weeks before Katrina fades from public view and people and political leaders return to their comforting and incorrect views of the poor?"
David A. Strauss
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
Washington, DC
"As I saw the pathetic response to Katrina from the federal government and other levels of government as well, I was reminded that, from an information perspective, this was the consequence of policies that hoard information and keep it from the public to protect us against 'terrorists.' I think the results of this debacle clearly show that there was little planning and what little planning existed certainly was not disseminated to the public in any useful way.
Not having to publicize these kinds of evacuation plans (such as worst-case scenarios at hazardous waste facilities) leads not to any real sense of security, but allows those responsible, be they business or government, to duck the issue completely and do nothing or next to nothing. There have already been plenty of stories that indicate that private facilities have done no security upgrading, etc., but Katrina kind of helps peel the skin back a bit more."
Harry Hammitt
Access Reports
Lynchburg, VA
"There is so much political hand-wringing going on around the country right now, and I wonder if anything will actually come out of it.
Those of us living and working in Louisiana have understood for a very long time that our state is consistently at the bottom of the 'good lists' and the top of the 'bad lists.' More of our children live in poverty; we have huge numbers of children born to single and young mothers; we have a 45 percent high school dropout rate, etc.
In addition, we have had some of the most corrupt public officials anywhere in the U.S. One of our recent governors is in federal prison; four of our last five insurance commissions have been in state prison, etc. Corrupt politics is a sport in our state. You can also see how inept our current administration is at dealing with an unimaginable horror like Katrina.
What so many don't understand is what is at the root of so many of our social ills, not only in Louisiana, but in the nation. An undereducated populace allows anything that can happen to happen. If people don't have an education, their life choices are limited.
Because Louisiana was an agrarian state for so long, and then the oil companies moved in, folks were able to get good paying jobs with little or no education for a long time. However, in today's world, that is no longer true. We must now spend huge amounts of money to make sure every child reads before they leave the third grade. However, we cannot leave their parents behind, or it will be another lost generation. The greatest indicator of how well a child reads and does in school is how well his or her mother reads and how much schooling she has completed.
It is my hope that, before this nation goes off half-cocked into a multi-billion dollar spending frenzy, we take stock and realize that we must educate those persons who we want to help. We must teach them to read (yes, read, many of them can't) and help them move towards getting their GED and further training in order to make a better life for themselves and their children."
Pam Creighton
Adult Literacy Advocates
Baton Rouge, LA
"The only thing I saw missing was anything mentioning the animals. You talked about the tax cuts, the inequalities among people, misuse of funds, accountability, etc., but said absolutely nothing about the animals that people were forced to illegally and cruelly leave behind or the fact that so many people stayed because they couldn't bring their animals with them. More lives could have been saved and more trauma avoided if the policy had allowed people to evacuate with their animals... it can be done, and it is no doubt making evacuees lives easier and happier, to say nothing of the poor animals.
I, for one, would never leave behind my animal family members any more than I would my child. A good many people feel this way. It should be being addressed."
Virgil Butler
Pine Ridge, AR
"The intrinsic, historical racism that exists in this country has left African Americans at the bottom of the economic ladder, making it almost impossible for many to rise above that level. A consequence of that played a very prominent role in the human suffering and loss of life from Hurricane Katrina. Another important component was the same incompetence and indifference on the part of the government, local as well as federal, that we see in mishandling environmental issues. An example: the evacuation of residents to the Superdome, which anyone should have known was a disaster in the making. Did they really expect the electricity to stay on throughout the hurricane? What would have happened if a 'worst case scenario' such as a tornado hitting the Superdome? Why didn't the buses take the people to Baton Rouge, or at least to higher ground? Why? Because this takes money that the government does not want to spend on poor people, white or black."
Florence T. Robinson
Baton Rouge, LA
"The courageous and expedient help the average citizen has demonstrated needs to be acknowledged! Our legislative body is grandstanding, twiddling their thumbs (once again) and federal funds are still not getting to the people of New Orleans...
I have never been as saddened and scared as an American than I was watching day by day the fear and powerless of our citizens, that we can not demand and expect honesty."
Denise Aiello
Community Advocacy Training Services
Philadelphia, PA
"Besides the need for a decent amount of federal revenue so that our government is properly equipped to handle not just disasters and wars, but the basic necessities for all even in times of peace -- education, housing, job security and unemployment insurance -- the other things that need to be emphasized are the importance of 1) regulation, of food production, of environmental standards -- the most basic necessities, the life support for our species, not just for Americans; and 2) accountability from those in public office."
Etelka de Laczay
Sociologist
"In short, as we do at specific holidays and disasters, we all respond with kindness to the need of the moment. Then, the interest fades away until the next occasion.
It isn't just the fault of government or the people we elect to oversee it. It is our fault individually and collectively.
It has been said many ways before, but it does take a society with common cause to build a nation where we are all equal... not just in slogans, but in reality. Perhaps this will be the last time it takes an initiative such as this to rebuild our country. Maybe this will turn out to be the foundation we need to change things once and for all."
Debbie Kelly
South Carolina
"While you focus on the past 30 years of bashing of the federal government, which leads to an inability of the federal government to respond adequately during times of major catastrophes and needs, there has also been an outright assault on anything that is public -- whether that is public education, public environment, public health, public media, public emergency relief, public security, and public defense. There are many of us who work in each of these issue areas who define ourselves by the important mission and function each serves. But the real essence of each of these is that they are public.
We all need to coalesce, not only around our special issue areas, but around the special nature of these as public functions critical to the success of a democracy. And for the most part, in each of these areas, our citizens who are poor and of color are the least served and the most vulnerable. If Katrina means anything, it means that all of us who believe in public space, public service and response all need to come together, understand our relationships, and restore the commons that are threatened. The government is a function of the public, and once the belief in the public is diminished, then it is a small step to dismantle the federal government, and give the pieces that are left to corporate and special interests."
Arnold F. Fege
Public Education Network
Washington, DC