In San Diego at the Qualcomm Stadium and DelMar Fairgrounds and Racetrack, thousands seek refuge today from the wildfires that are or threatening to destroy their houses. So many terrified people are now worrying wheather they will have homes to go back to, and how long the instability of this nightmare will last.
It is good to see that people are being treated well at these shelters, and are given water, food, toiletries, even sunscreen and massage therapists, for Pete's sake. I also hear that they have plasma televisions set up all around so people can keep abreast of the situation. At Qualcomm Stadium, evacuees are allowed to bring their pets with them. And no question... that's a great thing for sure.
However, I cannot help to reflect how differently the shelter situation was handled during Hurricane Katrina.
There was not enough food, not enough water, there was human waste all over the place ... people had to leave their beloved dogs, cats and other pets, leaving people in a devastated and crazed state of mind. And you better believe there were no plasma TVs . Not a one.
Sorry... it's hard to explain the difference to someone who not only lost their home in New Orleans, but apparently their worth as a human being as well.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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1 comment:
Dear Squirrel,
I am in complete agreement re the huge difference regarding the care of these fire victims. Yep, having all those nice ammenities such as massages (!?!) suncreen and most likely state of the art TV monitors to keep them abreast of the situation is nice but how many Afro-American people are among them?
It is a harsh reality to face that we have still not totally purged racism and prejudice. That a person's skin, socio-economic status will determine how he is treated, that we're conditioned as a civiliation that 'having stuff' will sometimes take precedence over
a person of little or no means. How far or little we have come in keeping our prejudices alive and well is an item that is ripe for debatement. Just recently at an Ivy league university, a symbol of intolerance, hate and evil was discovered on an Afro-American professor's office door...have we really come a long way in progession to being united or we just like to think that illusion is real?
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