It has been said before that Hurricane Katrina did not discriminate. When the thousands of people affected by the storm lost their homes, cars, personal possessions, and some their lives, the hurricane did not discriminate. That is, it say the hurricane destroyed everything in its path, regardless of wealth, race, religion, or any other human-made idea. On the surface, this is true. But, when studied more closely, it can be seen that this statement is not only false, but it is also very arrogant and pretentious. Racism and class structure are built into our society. You would be hard-pressed to find someone in America that has never heard of upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class citizens. Likewise, you’d also find it very difficult to find someone that had never heard of racism. We all know these things quite well, although some of us know it too well. These structures have been ingrained within American society since its inception. Although it seems almost like tradition in the old American spirit to honor these “traditions”, it does not make them right. Racism and class structure are not American-made, but they do find deep roots within our society. Although American didn’t invent them, we certainly didn’t refuse them into our society. But, just because they exist does not make them right. Racism is one of the most harmful ideas ever created. The very idea that one person is any better than the next just because their skin color, religious ideas, or money is different from their own is unjustified and detrimental to any civilization. This is no more evident than in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. After the hurricane was gone and the damage was done, people that could be considered the lower-class were hurt pretty hard. Likewise, if someone was considered the upper-class, they were moderately hurt by the hurricane. People were not hurt the same by the storm. It has always (and will continue to be this way) been easier for the wealthier citizens to recover after a disaster like Hurricane Katrina. So, Hurricane Katrina did discriminate. People are affected differently. You can say that rising gas prices do not discriminate, but yet they hurt the poorer factions of America more so than they hurt the wealthier people. Racism and class structure have been around for as long as we, as humans, have found ways to keep the one percent of the population very wealthy and the rest of the population “content”. It still does not make either of them right.

It has been said before that Hurricane Katrina did not discriminate. When the thousands of people affected by the storm lost their homes, cars, personal possessions, and some their lives, the hurricane did not discriminate. That is, it say the hurricane destroyed everything in its path, regardless of wealth, race, religion, or any other human-made idea. On the surface, this is true. But, when studied more closely, it can be seen that this statement is not only false, but it is also very arrogant and pretentious. Racism and class structure are built into our society. You would be hard-pressed to find someone in America that has never heard of upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class citizens. Likewise, you’d also find it very difficult to find someone that had never heard of racism. We all know these things quite well, although some of us know it too well. These structures have been ingrained within American society since its inception. Although it seems almost like tradition in the old American spirit to honor these “traditions”, it does not make them right. Racism and class structure are not American-made, but they do find deep roots within our society. Although American didn’t invent them, we certainly didn’t refuse them into our society. But, just because they exist does not make them right. Racism is one of the most harmful ideas ever created. The very idea that one person is any better than the next just because their skin color, religious ideas, or money is different from their own is unjustified and detrimental to any civilization. This is no more evident than in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. After the hurricane was gone and the damage was done, people that could be considered the lower-class were hurt pretty hard. Likewise, if someone was considered the upper-class, they were moderately hurt by the hurricane. People were not hurt the same by the storm. It has always (and will continue to be this way) been easier for the wealthier citizens to recover after a disaster like Hurricane Katrina. So, Hurricane Katrina did discriminate. People are affected differently. You can say that rising gas prices do not discriminate, but yet they hurt the poorer factions of America more so than they hurt the wealthier people. Racism and class structure have been around for as long as we, as humans, have found ways to keep the one percent of the population very wealthy and the rest of the population “content”. It still does not make either of them right.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 10:17 am and is filed under Andy Mitchell.