Racism and rescue

Much has been made of late of the fact that the faces of those left stranded by Katrina were uniformly black.

Charges of racism have been followed by the inevitable BushCorp™ denials.

Now I'm not suggesting a thought anything like: "Oh just black people are at risk, why bother?" ever passed through the mind of anyone involved in rescue operations.

But is it any wonder that a poor black district failed to win sufficient federal funding to shore up levees well-known to be vulnerable?

Is it any wonder that upperclass politicians didn't immediately realize that just warning that it's time to get out of a threatened area isn't sufficient? That some people don't have the means to just pick up and leave?

Is it any wonder that the plight of impoverished (pre-dominately minority) groups registers little, if at all with self-satisfied, well-fed politicians?

Is it any wonder?

If you still doubt that race and poverty played their parts in this tragedy consider this: Had thousands of wealthy white people been at such risk, would it have taken the president 2 days to even hear about it?