I just knew it....

I'm taking an intro course to public management this semester and I just knew my professor was gonna talk about Hurricane Katrina and our government's response to it. He as it seems many Americans may agree that the governmental activity on this disaster has been terribly lacking. We could go from the local government all the way up to the feds, there is a whole lot of blame to go around.

Being a student at an historically black college, the issue was going to reverberate around race and class. That has been touted during the entire aftermath of this disaster. Even a rapper who wasn't necessarily saying anything just came out and blurted something outrageous. A lot of people who are very concerned about the people in New Orleans are taking a stand on this issue. While I may not necessarily agree with some of things my professor has said or even Kayne West everyone can all agree that the government that was supposed to protect us to have our back ultimately didn't.

An issue of gentrification has also come up. As soon as those levies are improved and fixed who is to say that New Orleans won't just become a brand new city with the poor moved out or unable to come back. Then again I could argue that even if they did or could come back what would they do then. As far as gentrification goes, I can understand the racial connotation, however I'd rather a run down area gets improved than for it to remain run down. A harsh point of view, definitely.

Of course also a lot of people will knock New Orleans of it's residents and officials lack of concern. There may not be much community there before this tragedy or even during it. It's safe to say the government has lost control. We're even hearing about criminal allowed to run the streets of an abandoned major city running around free and causing mayhem (by looting, shooting, sexually assaulting, etc.).

At this moment there are many ideas abound. Some want to relocate New Orleans. There have been worries and concerns over a serious hurricanes like Katrina. Katrina may not have been category 5 nor did it hit right on New Orleans, but it caused some serious damage. I hope that this will be a learning experience.

Oh yeah one more thing. My professor brought up another idea. Terrorism. If they see how our efforts to help survivors have failed this could be a green light for them to act up. When New Orleans is rebuilt who is to say the terrorists won't start something there. That's one of many possibilities.

That's it for my rant today. I have some other issues to attend to and on top of that I have some other material to share with you at somepoint. Labor Day weekend was great I'd like to discuss some of what I did back in Chicago over the weekend. I even got a little caught up on Katrina as well.