I can't help but feel that if the faces of the affected people where white, there would have been better organization and response from the get go.

This country had the money resources to do better by the people. They should not have to go hungry and unsheltered.

I don't know if the organization would have been any better if the areas to get hit the worst were inhabited by any other ethnicity. The whole mess stems from the fact that the city sits mostly below sea level. Transport of food, water, medical supplies, and so forth were hindered by the fact that once the storm hit the ways out of the city were closed off.

There is also the fact that the mayor was not able to issue the mandatory evacuation order until around 36 hours before the storm made landfall because a bunch of lawyers said he didn't have the power to do so. They seemed to think that the storm was too far away to determine that it was going to hit the city. The thing was twice as big as Camille was and the area of hurricane force winds was over 200 miles wide, how was it going to miss? At a minimum it would take 72 hours to evacuate the entire New Orleans metropolitan area IF there were enough vehicles, fuel, supplies and personnel available to drive or pilot the evacuation vehicles. The fact that about 80% of the population was able to evacuate in that 36 hours was a miracle.

However, the areas that were hardest hit were the poorest areas where most people don't have personal transportation, which frankly, are the areas where mostly Americans of African descent live. Considering that the airlines, rental car companies and so forth were hurrying to get their property out of the area before the storm arrived, there were no vehicles to get these people out of the city.

Property isn't the important thing, lives are and until the owners and stockholders of companies, government officials and those who are the "haves" stop worrying about the bottom line, re-election and their personal comfort, the "have-nots" are going to be the ones who suffer most in any disaster.

I am saddened by the blatant and utter disregard for human life, simply because of class or race. I think that while newscasters cannot bring this up, those politicians and others who are famous for pointing out inequality should stand up and shout from the roof tops. As an American I am ashamed at the amount of money that is given to space travel and the lack of funds for basic human needs.

I am saddened by the blatant and utter disregard for human life, simply because of class or race. I think that while newscasters cannot bring this up, those politicians and others who are famous for pointing out inequality should stand up and shout from the roof tops. As an American I am ashamed at the amount of money that is given to space travel and the lack of funds for basic human needs.

I am saddened by the blatant and utter disregard for human life, simply because of class or race. I think that while newscasters cannot bring this up, those politicians and others who are famous for pointing out inequality should stand up and shout from the roof tops. As an American I am ashamed at the amount of money that is given to space travel and the lack of funds for basic human needs.

I am saddened by the blatant and utter disregard for human life, simply because of class or race. I think that while newscasters cannot bring this up, those politicians and others who are famous for pointing out inequality should stand up and shout from the roof tops. As an American I am ashamed at the amount of money that is given to space travel and the lack of funds for basic human needs.

It certainly makes putting Brad, Jennifer, and Angelina on the covers of magazines look damned silly.

As a white american, I am enraged how slowly it seems any help is coming. I hope the black population bands together with this issue and really presses the government. This is where black leaders need to appear or new ones need to arise.

Secondly, all this talk of 'homeland security' - where is there any military force? If I were a betting man and a terrorist attack caused this mess - they would have been there Monday.