NEW ORLEANS SURVIVORS
BECOME THE AMERICANS HAITIANS
New
Orleans evacuees must not be forced to join the ranks of the wretched of
the earth: the targeted
families of Darfur; the starving children of Niger; the civilians of Iraq;
the terrorized people of Haiti.
Close your eyes for a moment and you will hear the English replacing the
French and the Creole.
Then allow your re-opened eyes to educate you. Watch men, women and
children wading through
filthy water, waiting anxiously for action from their government; crying
out for food and water;
ignored, abandoned, and finally abused for photo-opportunities. Observe
the skin color and you will
realize that the contempt for the people of Haiti has spread to the
victims of New Orleans. Many
commentators now argue that at the root of both ongoing atrocities is the
contempt that powerful
forces in our nation harbor toward Black life.
In Haiti the Bush administration’s actions have thrown feces in to the
face of every citizen. After
crushing the legitimate government, new elections have been mandated
where, for President, the
prime candidate is Guy Phillipe, the murderous leader of the coup that
overthrew the duly elected
democratic government.
While pundits are choosing to forget that Haiti had a constitution and, in
his third year of a five year
term, a President in office when the CIA sponsored coupe massacred
citizens and the police. When
the media photos and videos show that the U.S. made misery is being
directed at Black people a
double standard kicks in and world outrage appears to be swallowed
quietly.
For the New Orleans Blacks the misery has just begun. As dislocated
evacuees of color they will be
forced to suffer through years of wandering in a hostile bureaucratic
wilderness. Today’s host
organizations and governments will viciously evict the pitiful interlopers
tomorrow. Much of this
predicted brutality could be avoided if the Federal FEMA legislation is
detailed to include the
following:
- Priority funding for temporary and permanent relocation and resettlement
- Funding to support the “Right of Resettlement” for survivors.
- A mandate to hire survivors who are able to work in the salvaging and
rebuilding
projects
- Compensation for communities and institutions that assist large numbers
of evacuees.
- The speedy re-establishment of the distribution of any income payments
such as social
security and military pensions.
To implement anything less than these basics will result in a situation
where neglect in America
spawns the same misery as racist hostility toward the Haitians.
BLIND WHITE HOUSE CAMERAS
Let the Haitians die like flies
For Black lives
White House cameras have no eyes.
Haitians refused to obey
Demanded too loud
That Aristide should stay;
Haitians let liberty
Get in the way.
Democracy
We ship around the earth
In Haiti
We smother it at birth.
Haiti is politically poor
Never a single communist
On their shore
Insurgents they lack,
Since Napoleon they never mounted
A freedom attack.
Black and peaceful
Condemned to die,
Cry sentimental tears
Sleep soundly
With no Haitian terrorist fears.
Let Haitians die like flies
For Black lives
White House Cameras have no eyes.
###
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