2 years later
Posted on August 30, 2007 by Tariq Nelson
…and thousands are still without homes
Filed under: Children's Issues, Posts of no Benefit, Practical Solutions, Race
-
-
-
Recent Comments
Carnival of Brass- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
9 Responses to “2 years later”
Leave a Reply
Muslims DO Denounce Terror
No Denial and No Kool-Aid
- Brass Media
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Salam Alaykom,
I have no sympathy for these people. It’s been 2 years and they still don’t have a home. They live in the richest country on earth and where about anyone can get a job. Why can’t they get a job and find themselves a home. They expect the govt to provide everything to them.
Salaam alaikum Tariq
Thank you for placing in this on your blog. It’s interesting that after two years, people still don’t get what it means to rebuild it city. Subhan’Allah. You can rebuild house, that is if the insurance companies pay you what you are owed (and that’s a big if). But it is the job of GOVERNMENT to rebuild infrastructure. The New Orleans city government is actually tearing down homes in good shape in the name health hazards. I’m serious. They closed multiple housing projects even though they are in good condition. Some activists are referring to this as a right to return. I can’t believe big business is in cahoots with the government to reconfigure New Orleans into some rich, adult version of Disneyland. No, wait, I ain’t that naive. I DO believe it.
West African,
New Orleans is one of the most impoverished areas in the US. I’m surprised by your statement given the wretched state of Phildelphia. America has numerous pockets of poverty, just visit our nation’s capitol, as you tour the white house you’ll be greeted by our homeless brothers and ssiters. Be careful, during my younger days I spent a lot of time talking with homeless men and women, you’d be surprised to know most were “somebody,” before their demise - failed business venture, divorce, death of loved one, stress, fired (most folks live check to check and are one paycheck away from…the streets). yes small things.
As Muslim, I’m concerned about your lack of compassion. You may be in their shoes one day.
We have many homeless sisters and brothers in the Muslim Community.
West African,
Even if you have the money to rebuild your home how can you live in it with no city utilities to hook it to? The homes/apts with utilities have driven their costs UP because of the demand making the cost of living go up.
It is just not as simple as you make it
Well, perhaps more could be done in the way of financial resources for the people of NOLA…since the US does seem to have half-a-trillion-dollars to spend in the “war on terror”…
Tariq Nelson,
Well, if they can not live in a city with no utilities, then they should probably move out to a different city. The US is such a big country and there is no shortage of places to go and restart your life.
I am sorry but those folks should have been able to turn around their life within these 2 years. There is no excuse for their laziness. Why are they waiting for everything be handed to them on a sliver platter??? A lot of them were initially given some money by the US govt (I believe it was about $2,000). This money should have been enough to help them get back on their feet. But instead, a lot of them spent that money on booze and strip clubs.
I am sorry to say that I don’t feel sorry for these folks. It’s been 2 long years and they are still waiting for handouts in one of the countries with the lowest unemployment rate.
When I came in this country, I was 18 years old. I had no relative in the US. I only had a few dollars with me (around $3000 if I remember correctly).
I worked my butt off and al hamdolillah, with the help of Allah, I am able to live a confortable middle-class lifestyle.
So 2 years without a home??? That’s THEIR fault!
Hello I found your link from Muhammads page. you have some great blogs here! I wanted to comment on this post if I may?
I had a aunt, uncle and many cousins that lived in N.O. It was not their fault that they lost everything it was the governments fault that they did not find the means to rebuild.. many states have been hit with a lot of disasters, that does no mean it took this long to get it back up and running… My family moved to Texas and they were able to move on..even tho the insurance company did not give them money for what happened to their homesor cars. They are professionals, but that title means nothing when you have lost everything.. their whole life was down the drains in the matter of 2 days.. Shame on you for THINKING!!! ASSUMING!!!! and HAVING THE GUTS TO SAY IT IS THEIR FAULT.. I HOPE TRAGEDY NEVER STRIKES IN YOUR DIRECTIONS..
Shalom
Sorry Tariq. I was in such a hurry to reply to this..I was under my roommates mom ID.. I did not even sign into mine.. but this is all of my information right now.. I wrote earlier on Writing2write.. I will not get so worked up next time and I will be able to actually post from the right account..
Shalom
A.
Check it out, we’ve spent more money in NO on Katrina relief than the entire Marshall Plan in Europe. In fact, the money allocated comes out close to $100,000 for every man, woman and child in NO. This is from “The New York Sun” (Sep 4, 2007):
“So far, more than $114 billion has been allotted for the relief effort, which is almost $100,000 for every man, woman, and child in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The problem is not that we are not spending enough, but that we are engaged in low return spending on structures instead of high return investing in people.”
We need to examine how this money is being spent rather than throwing more and more money at the problems. Corruption, for example, is a huge issue in NO and the state of LA.
I don’t know if you had a chance to read this month’s “Commentary” magazine but there is an excellent article on Katrina:
New Orleans: An Autopsy
Ben Toledano
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/cm/main/viewArticle.html?id=10921
Reports of the death of New Orleans as a major American city have not been greatly exaggerated; they have only been greatly delayed. Although the funeral was not conducted until Katrina struck, the death took place several decades ago.
Since the disastrous storm, there has been much lamenting over the lost joys of the city’s cuisine, music, and architecture, and ringing proclamations of the need to “save” and “rebuild” New Orleans. For at least the prior 50 years, however, these undeniable charms and graces had masked problems of major proportions, unexposed until over half of the city’s residents were forced by the hurricane to leave town.