Rising to the Challenge, Sinking to the depths of evil

Brian Wagner

Disasters bring out the best and worst of society. Disasters come in all shapes and sizes, but are often defined and lumped by the human reaction they entail. Thus, Hurricane Katrina in some people's minds becomes a sequel to 9/11, to others it remains on par only with other natural disasters. But for all disasters, the human face is what ultimately sticks in the public consciousness. In 1977, Howard Cosell announced on national television, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning," as rioters and looters spanned the streets of New York in the midst of a prolonged blackout. In 2003, another blackout occurred in New York, but the prevailing images this time were of people wandering around town in an orderly fashion--panic did not become the norm. What were the differences between those two events, and how do they apply today, as New Orleans sends out warnings of devastation, both natural and human?

What it comes down to is the human face the disaster assumes. Do the people trust the government to save them--i.e. is there a light at the end of the tunnel. In 1977 New York, crime was high, optimism was nonexistent, and even the sports teams were stinking. In 2003 New York, the city had become the safest metropolitan area in the nation, and people did not doubt that order would soon be restored. When Katrina first hit New Orleans, the sighs of relief were audible, as authorities thought the worst had quickly passed. But then the waves continued to swamp the already sinking city, and two crucial levees broke, flooding the streets. What do we see today? Reports of dead bodies being dragged into corners of the Superdome and Astrodome; gangs roaming the streets to rape and harm; and now, reports that evacuation of one hospital has twice been thwarted by snipers. SNIPERS, in a major American city.

We can point fingers, as many are. FEMA is to blame. The Bush administration is to blame. Poor people are to blame. The governor of Louisiana is to blame. Or as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. harshly put it, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is to blame because he opposed Kyoto. But none of that can be addressed now. What matters is that the people of Louisiana and surrounding states are scared, and see no light at the end of the tunnel. They do not believe they will be helped while they sit back and wait. They see the dead bodies. They hear about police chasing rioters. And they believe they are alone. For some, crises bring out the best. The tales of men and women giving up their weeks to volunteer illustrate our basic decency. The announcers of the Oregon-Houston game on ESPN2 tonite referred to one absent colleague who was home in Louisiana helping his family and his neighborhood recover. CNN regional reporters spoke of how they spent their off-duty hours contacting old neighbors to assure their safety.

But we expect that. We take for granted that among Americans are many capable men and women who rise to challenges. What scares us, and confuses us, are the others. Those whose dark sides become readily apparent in crises. The greater the crisis, and the greater the ineffectiveness of law and order officials, the more visible this under-class becomes. We cannot blame any political group or single law for creating them; they represent those who are not assured of themselves, and are not willing to rely on others. So they steal from the needy, cause horror at hospitals, and send a message to the nation. "We are desperate."

In the short term, there is nothing we can do about this type of behavior, except respond to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina with an overwhelming show of support, monetary, spiritual, physical, anything that you can provide. I've given money, and I know that many people on Blue Oregon have followed Kari's noble lead. But go further. Call or write every friend you know in the region to make sure they are alright. Keep up to date not with what Bill O'Reilly or the NYTimes has to say in their op-ed sections, but what Mercy Corps and the American Red Cross are reporting. I hate to say this cliche, but this is no time for politics to trump human considerations.

We are seeing desperation in action. We need to meet it with as much support as we can. That's the least we can do to support the forces of law and order who are trying to turn a 1977 blackout that led to riots into a 2003 blackout that people accepted as a day off from work. People will suffer in Louisiana; the physical circumstances guarantee that. But any support we give contributes to the creation of a visible show of force, to convince Gulf Coast Americans that they are not being abandoned by those who have never feared a force of nature.

By Brian Wagner Sept. 01, 2005