Remember Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in September 2005, I was reading I Wonder as I Wander by Langston Hughes.

http://www.amazon.com/I-Wonder-As-Wander/dp/0374940312

I was at the point when Mr. Hughes describes the aftermath of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 when horrific scenes from New Orleans were televised.

Listening and watching the nation’s reaction in the days following caused me to wonder if I were seeing a repetition of history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mississippi_Flood_of_1927

The 1927 event profoundly affected Black people across the nation. So much so that my Grandfather made mention of the dastardly treatment of our people at the hands of their white brethren and elected officials. Many left Mississippi and never looked back. Many black voters derided President Hoover and left the Republican Party they had staunchly supported since Reconstruction.

So mean-spirited were the reactions of some in Boston to the unfolding Katrina tragedy that when I began organizing a charitable response many Black associates stopped speaking to me for fear of incurring white wrath.

I was undeterred and gained necessary insights into pathologies of contemporary urban Uncle Tomism.