Essay 163

MultiCultClassics Minutes Presents Unfamiliar Quotations…

“Had this been a rich, lily-white suburban area that got hit, you think they would have had to wait five days to get food or water? When the hurricane hit in Florida, Bush made sure those people got help the next day. But now, when you are dealing with a majority poorer class of black people, it takes five days? Then you still don’t send help but instead send the National Guard to ‘maintain order’? Are you kidding me?”
>>Etan Thomas, forward-center for the Washington Wizards, commenting about President Bush and the response to Hurricane Katrina victims.

“The only thing we see about these people on the news is what happened in the Superdome…They’re rapists and thugs and murderers. I’m telling you, half of them have criminal records. I’ve worked all my life to have what I have. I can’t lose it, and I can’t stand guard 24 hours a day.”
>>Philip Devall, White resident of Greensburg, Louisiana, commenting about Black evacuees of the Hurricane Katrina disaster seeking shelter in his town.

“My understanding is that the KKK doesn’t even ban members by race.”
>>Rep. Stacey Campfield, White Tennessee lawmaker, commenting about being rejected from joining the state’s Black Legislative Caucus.

“Why he chose to focus on the Black Caucus, I have no idea other than he is crazy and a racist.”
>>Rep. Larry Miller, member of the Tennessee Black Legislative Caucus, commenting about Rep. Stacey Campfield.

“It is with tremendous pride and deep emotion that I am responding today to the call of destiny, which sometimes takes us in a direction you might never have imagined…I am turning a significant page in my own story as I set off on this new adventure with hope and determination.”
>>Michaelle Jean, the first Black person and only the third woman to be named the governor general of Canada, commenting at her inauguration ceremony.