THE EDITOR, Sir:
It is a well-known fact that there are two Americas: one filled with stark ostentation, extravagance and glamour; the other loaded with abject poverty and utter despair.
The catastrophe brought about by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas has certainly revealed the ignorance of the entire Washington administration to this situation.
obsessed with terrorism and militarism
This is an administration obsessed with the issue of terrorism and militarism. In the wake of 9/11, millions of dollars were diverted from the pressing levee project in New Orleans and given to Homeland Security. Thus, the poor citizens of New Orleans were left virtually unprotected.
This is indeed a blighted section of the U.S. where educational opportunities and performance are far below the national standard; average income is way below the poverty line; unemployment is astronomical; and living conditions are deplorable and a national disgrace.
While New Orleans rotted socially and economically, President Bush and his cohorts spent billions on their futile war in Iraq, and on sometimes dubious terrorist threats. Over US$450 billion dollars have been allocated to defence and the fight against terrorism, and only US$56 billion to education for the entire nation. Thus, it is small wonder that the impoverished people of New Orleans lack the basic skills to secure decent jobs.
It is not surprising that recent census figures in the United States have revealed that about 37 million Americans are living in abject poverty. Last year's figures show the poverty rate for the black population is triple that of Whites. New Orleans, a city where blacks make up 70 per cent of the population is an excellent example of how race and class have coalesced.
There is no doubt that massive tax cuts for the rich and powerful, and punitive cutbacks for the poor and vulnerable have given credence to the American notion that extols the survival of the fittest.
The catastrophe in New Orleans, Mississippi and other Gulf Coast areas is lamentable, but sometimes nature has a strange way of tearing away the scales that becloud the human eye.
We all pray that the disaster in the Southern United States will open the eyes of President Bush along with his élite group of administrators and affluent colleagues to the plight of the poor, underprivileged, and downtrodden in New Orleans and the rest of America.
I am, etc.,
RUPERT JOHNSON
r.b.johnson@sympatico.ca
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
