Comments on Wet Bank Guide: The Myth of Mississippi's Recovery

An open letter to all New Orleans residents: If an...

2006-09-06T01:43:43.586-05:00

An open letter to all New Orleans residents:

If anyone finds my posting herein duplicitous, please accept my apologies - I've been quite distracted by Katrina recovery issues in Mississippi, and have only recently started monitoring the many NOLA blogs related to the killer storm - Of course, there's much I agree with, and some I don't - But have no doubt, my friends, that Mississippians are squarely behind your efforts to get back to some sense of normalcy.

I'm a freelance photojournalist based in Central Mississippi - I couldn't grasp the shortage of Katrina info regarding Mississippi being reported by the National mainstream media, while our local media were doing "fly-overs" along the Mississippi coastline....showing an incredible picture of destruction and despair - New Orleans, or so it seems, got the majority of the press - Of course, it was a riveting story that was still unfolding for too many days after the storm, and Mississippi was simply debris piles - I "get" why the media was there, but I could not reconcile the scale of human suffering also taking place in my own state...but being largely ignored - So I took the initiative to report the story first-hand, in my own humble way - Any interested parties may check out my efforts to report what I personally documented on my non-commercial website at http://www.jackneal.net.

Let me be very clear: What happened to the good people of New Orleans as a result of Katrina was horrific. I love the city of New Orleans, and its people. I have been there many many times in my life, and look forward to return visits. New Orleans will be "back", better than ever. I have great affection for its people, as I do all my good neighbors in Louisiana. And, let us not forget the remainder of Southern Louisiana. Those poor people were devastated by Katrina.

But this is NOT the time for race-baiting, or conspiracy zealots.

It was, after all, New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin who once proudly proclaimed that New Orleans would ALWAYS be a "chocolate city". So, before casting blame, pointing fingers, and calling names, perhaps you should look at the leadership of New Orleans. Only then will you be able to understand that there apparently is, sadly enough, blatant racism that is being used ( in some cases) to somehow explain an act of God. If you believe, as many have stated publicly, that there was some grand conspiracy that led to the levees being sabotaged as part of some act of "ethnic cleansing" to change the demographics of New Orleans, and further "whiten" the "chocolate city", then I suspect further reason will be lost on you.

But just as I've been frustrated by the lack of media attention in post-Katrina Mississippi, I've grown weary of the non-stop negative depictions of New Orleanians - New Orleans, despite any shortcomings, is a National treasure that must be preserved.

At this point, all becomes cliché...but no less important.

This is a time for healing...for hope, recovery, and re-building...for everyone.

But I don't think the people of New Orleans will find any healing by blaming others, while there is doubtless plenty of blame to go around. Just please remember NO single elected official was/is responsible for decades of mismanagement of levee construction, levee mismanagement and maintenance, or a general lack of disaster preparedness. Katrina, in all her fury and destruction, was not wrought by man. And her fury was unprecedented. My good friends of Louisiana, we in Mississippi share your pain. Like you, we were "sucker-punched". It's simply that most people don't know about our plight.

Be assured that I, like so many other Mississippians, look forward to a greater New Orleans than ever before.

And frankly, I don't care what "color" or "flavor" it is.

Best of luck to you all - You all remain in our thoughts and prayers.

1. Thanks because the Cochran/MS plan is what got ...

2006-09-02T11:40:58.783-05:00

1. Thanks because the Cochran/MS plan is what got LA the funds for the Road Home grants.
2. It's not just that Baker's plan was LA-only, he led the opposition and personally blocked committee action on Gene Taylor's bill that would have helped all property owners without flood insurance in Katrina and Rita disaster areas. If the Taylor bill had passed, a few hundred thousand people would have their money by now, including rental properties and businesses. We would not have wasted 8 months to design and implement new programs. Property owners could simply have filed flood insurance claims to be paid out of disaster appropriations.
3. I agree that Barbour and others are getting undeserved praise, but they are not responsible for any of the problems in LA.

The issue isn't whether Mississippi has a more eff...

2006-09-02T09:21:22.523-05:00

The issue isn't whether Mississippi has a more effective congressional delegation than La. I'd love to see media coverage of that, instead of media coverage that implies that La. has received more aid than Ms. It has, but not relative to the damage done. Hell, the pre-K population of Orleans Parish alone was 20-25% greater than the combined population of Mississippi's three coastal counties; the GNO pop. was about four times as great. Yeah I know, Katrina hurt more than the three coastal counties, but La suffered damage outside of the GNO area and a second hurricane devastated the western part of the state.

All La.'s asking for is as much aid (relative to the magnitude of the damage) for a disaster that the Corps of Engineers has admitted sme responsibility for, that other states have received for purely natural disasters. I can understand the people of Mississippi equating greater media attention to N.O. with disprortionate aid--if anything, N.O.'s aid is disproportionately small--but the governor certainly knows better. The newspaper editor I saw on Scarborough country should know better. I'd love to see Mississippi get real media attention, I don't know if its lobbyist governor would.

Why on earth should Louisiana's plan include Missi...

2006-09-02T07:48:17.180-05:00

Why on earth should Louisiana's plan include Mississippi? Mississippi: a massive hurricane with a temporary storm surge. Louisiana: a massive flood that remains for a month after a mild hurricane.

That the Baker bill addressed addressed only Louisiana's problems made it superior. Different circumstances require different solutions. Cochran's was accepted, Baker's was rejected. They could have accepted both, but they didn't. They accepted the plan designed for Mississippi.

We're supposed to be thankful for this?

I said MS-only assistance. MS efforts helped LA. ...

2006-09-01T16:46:34.203-05:00

I said MS-only assistance. MS efforts helped LA. The Baker bill would not have helped MS.
The 5-to-1 comparison is based on LA's much broader eligibility. The MS plan was targeted to homeowners who did not have flood insurance because the flood maps were wrong. LA did not have 5 times more of those. MS had to narrow eligibility to get the Administration & Congress to approve the plan. It would not have passed with all the money LA wanted in it. Blame Richard Baker, not Thad Cochran, for the delay. Because of Cochran, you eventually got your $10+ billion housing program. Say, "Thank you."

Follow the links to the stories from last Fall. I ...

2006-09-01T16:30:56.426-05:00

Follow the links to the stories from last Fall. I think getting five times per capita out of CDBG sure shoulds like Mississippi assistance.

I'm not attacking Mississippi. I have cousins (had) in Waveland. But to suggest MS is somehow "ahead" of Louisiana is in many ways a ridiculous comparison.

LA wasted 4 months pushing for the Baker bill to h...

2006-09-01T16:19:52.663-05:00

LA wasted 4 months pushing for the Baker bill to have the government buy up neighborhoods and let an appointed commission decide whether and how to redevelop them. Everything LA pushed was a new LA-only program run by LA appointees. The Baker bill had $0 for MS.
Meanwhile, the MS delegation worked to fit assistance into existing programs where only appropriations was needed, not new agencies. So, MS got the CDBG funding for housing assistance, including $6 billion for LA, without any help from LA. Unlike LA, MS has never pushed for MS-only assistance.

I can't bring myself to watch the evening cable he...

2006-09-01T15:08:50.836-05:00

I can't bring myself to watch the evening cable heads anymore. It just drives me crazy. I used to watch religiously because of my professional and personal involvement in politics, but my disillusionment in the U.S. political process is so complete right now I find it hard to pay attention to anything outside of NOLA. Its as if I were watching the affairs of another country.

Don't know if you saw Scarborough Country Tuesday,...

2006-09-01T13:07:56.496-05:00

Don't know if you saw Scarborough Country Tuesday, but I'm really getting furious. Only thing that me that made me truncate last night's post was a desire not to insult an entire state. Still can anyone from Ms. get any attention without using it to talk about how little attention they get? In Ms. they have a complaint about little press coverage they get; in La. we have a complaint that we get less aid (relative to the damage done) for a disaster that the federal government admits at least some responsibility for than other states have received for purely natural disasters. My question for anybody from a third state: who has the more legitimate complaint?