Serious: Race In America

[Annie]

None of this is funny, our country has been torn assunder by this for nearly 400 years.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/

BY JAMES TARANTO
Friday, September 16, 2005 2:38 p.m. EDT

A Moment for Persuasion?
All this week we've been musing on the problem of race in America--specifically, the phenomenon of black public opinion that is far from the political mainstream. But could it be that Hurricane Katrina provides an opportunity to change this? The evidence in the affirmative is all anecdotal, but it's intriguing nonetheless.

Blogress Lorie Byrd notes that when ABC News interviewed evacuees at the Houston Astrodome about President Bush's speech last night, they were surprisingly positive. NewsBusters.org has a transcript, along with video of one interview, conducted by correspondent Dean Reynolds:

Reynolds: I'd like to get the reaction of Connie London, who spent several horrible hours at the Superdome. You heard the president say retpeaedly that you are not alone, that the country stands beside you. Do you believe him?

London: Yeah, I believe him, because here in Texas, they have truly been good to us. I mean--

Reynolds: Did you get a sense of hope that you could return to your home one day in New Orleans?

London: Yes, I did. I did.

Reynolds: Did you harbor any anger toward the President because of the slow federal response?

London: No, none whatsoever, because I feel like our city and our state government should have been there before the federal government was called in. They should have been on their jobs.

Reynolds: And they weren't?

London: No, no, no, no. Lord, they wasn't. I mean, they had RTA buses, Greyhound buses, school buses, that was just sitting there going under water when they could have been evacuating people.

Katherine Kersten, a columnist for the left-wing Minneapolis Star Tribune, reports on the experience of Jim Lodoen, a local lawyer who went to Houston to visit his sick mom and ended up spending a week volunteering at the Astrodome, and who has a similar story to tell:

Lodoen circulated among residents' cots, striking up conversations. "Everyone has lost their possessions, their jobs, many friends and perhaps some family. No one knows what tomorrow holds."

But to his surprise, he saw no resentment. People were eager to talk, he says--not about grievance, but about hope and gratitude.

He met a family that had slept in stadium seats for four nights. "I said, 'That must have been terrible.' 'Oh, no,' the woman said. Instead of focusing on what they lacked, they were deeply thankful for what they had: food, lights, a roof, each other." . . .

Back at his mother's hospital room, Lodoen saw television reporters interviewing victims who appeared angry and indignant. "I thought, 'Where are they coming up with these people? I'm not seeing them.' " He was also shocked at the shrill finger-pointing on the news. "All around us, politicians are focused on the blame game. Yet the victims themselves are blaming no one. I didn't hear one complaint. In fact, I was overwhelmed by the love, faith, determination and compassion that everyone shared."

Running somewhat counter to this is another public opinion poll, this one of evacuees in Houston, conducted by the Washington Post. (Results are here, in PDF.) The sample is overwhelmingly black (93%), and 92% come from the city of New Orleans. Many of the results are similar to those from polls of blacks nationwide: 70% disapprove of President Bush's handling of Katrina, while only 15% approve. Doing somewhat better but still poorly are Gov. Kathleen Blanco (58% disapprove, 27% approve) and Mayor Ray Nagin (53% disapprove, 33% approve).

Asked whether the government would have rescued people more quickly "if more of them had been wealthier and white rather than poorer and black," 68% said yes and 23% no. And only 28% said their experience made them feel that "the government cares about people like you," vs. 61% who feel it doesn't care.

This poll was conducted several days before the president's speech, and the reaction to that speech reported by ABC suggests that the disaster relief effort may offer an opportunity to change some minds.