In the middle of a disaster

San Diego is in the middle of one of the largest natural disasters that the United States has seen in modern times. You know what the worst part of it is?

http://halfricanrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/10/dont-be-black-and-lose-your-home-in.html

The worst part is that its turned into such a political/race/hate game. I mean really, I can understand that yes, SD is getting much better treatment than New Orleans did when Katrina happened. And yes, I understand that some of it really does deal with the fact that there are a bunch of rich white people who bitch a lot and thus bitching enough to get the right kind of treatment. At the same time, we should think about this:

1) If such a disaster was happening, would we really want the response of Katrina to happen again?
2) Yes the people of this situation were white, but are they the only people who got affected by the fire? Think of the demographic of the area that is the closest to the Mexican border. What populations are affected as well? I’m sure I’m not the ONLY one who sees this. Plus, don’t forget that Chula Vista got just as much attention as Del Mar.
3) Disasters aside, a FLOOD is much harder to deal with than fires. Yes, fires burn homes, but floods flood streets, homes, and important routes of traffic, usually with people still in said homes streets and buildings. A fire has time to spread and people can get warning. A flood, especially flash floods, are -not- as easily dealt with, and warnings are nearly impossible when the water level jumps from 0-12 inches in a few hours.
4) Who were those volunteering for helping out disasters? College students and relief organizations. A lot of people I know went to volunteer for Katrina are also leading the college spirit in helping those in the Southern California fires (mucho kudos to them!) Do those who have had experiences with large disasters WANT to do their best to make things BETTER than the last disaster or WORSE (hint: they wouldn’t want to do anything -worse-).

Now I am not saying that I don’t agree that the SD fire got so much more help than the New Orleans flood, and that yes, the quality of response is significantly better. I don’t think there isn’t a race issue here, that the “white” people got better treatment than non-whites (because I agree, there is a race issue, but should that be the main focus in blaming the help?) Also, I am in no way defending the republicans or President Bush (because to be honest, I hate Bush, but thats something else). But seriously folks, don’t take it personally. Its a different degree of natural disaster and a completely different situation. A fire is not a flood, and dealing with floods and hurricanes are a damn lot harder to deal with as a natural disaster.

I thought that it was important for me to write this because I think that it is insulting to those who are risking their lives to save an entire area from a natural disaster: write it off on race bias, blame the government, and move on. Really folks, I’m sure firefighters and policemen are intentionally trying to make sure a huge disaster doesn’t get larger to inconvenience us and tell us that we love white people more than non-white people. Yes, that is their total intention.

Don’t take things so personally people. We should be thankful that things are going better instead of worse, not compare different disasters and blame the results on a racial bias. Just as I would never minimalize the results of Katrina, the help that was brought in (however late or ill-responded), and the volunteer efforts, I wouldn’t want others to minimalize the results of the California fires, the help brought to help (however higher quality), and volunteer efforts.