Florida Last Week; New Orleans So Many Months Ago

Am I the only one who noticed that within hours – hours! – survivors of that string of tornadoes that brought death and destruction in their wake in Central Florida saw the US government swing into action? People may be receiving relief checks as soon as Tuesday.

And back in New Orleans…..

On television and in newspapers the faces of Central Florida have been White, except for some of the prisoners (we used to call them “chain gang”) out there working on debris clearance. The faces of New Orleans have been Black. Even now, Black people are asking for help in rebuilding their lives and their New Orleans, as they did last week when US senators toured the Lower 9th Ward to see for themselves how destructive Hurricane Katrina was and how inadequate government response has been. Duh! What’s taken so long?

“Whatever response is needed, we will make it quick and sure,” President Bush said in a speech over the weekend, even as relief was already on the ground in Florida, where his brother Jeb, the most recent former governor, is still a wielder of clout.

Granted, New Orleanians may be too much dependent upon government to jump start their hearts while the attitude expressed after the tornadoes in Central Florida was, according to CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, “We don’t need FEMA; we have Floridians.”

But if one can say that the response to the tornadoes reflects lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, then those lessons should be applied forthwith to -- and within -- New Orleans.