THANK TEXAS!

[x-y-no]

As I was watching the news channels last night, especially the scenes from Houston, I thought I would start exactly this thread this morning. Glad someone else already thought of it.

I'm overwhelmed with the spirit of giving being demonstrated in Texas. You folks have a right to be proud of your communities.

[ncbird]

Thank you Texas... it is these kind of things that make me soooooo proud to be an American.

[vbhoutex]

First, Thank you! We are not however alone in what we are doing. Other states are stepping up also I am sure.

I will say though, as was stated earlier I think, TEXANS always come through in times of crisis. I've seen it demostrated over and over and over again, even when we were the ones in crisis. *vb puffs his chest out*

[themusk]

This isn't the Dallas police force - it's the smaller communities - and to futher illustrate the point - check out the cnn news on the bus that overturned on I-49 - they were trying to take over the bus and the driver lost control.

Yahoo news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_evacuee_wreck_hk1

OPELOUSAS, La. - A bus shuttling hurricane victims out of New Orleans crashed Friday after one of the passengers grew agitated and ended up in a struggle with the driver, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen, a police official said.

The bus was the last of five charter buses in a convoy from New Orleans. It was unclear where the storm victims were being taken.

One passenger, however, disputed accounts of a struggle causing the crash.

Steven Francis, 32, of New Orleans, told The Associated Press as he left a hospital for a shelter that he didn't see anyone threaten the driver or fight with him.

The driver was looking away from the road, looking down, and swerved at the last minute to avoid another vehicle, Francis said.

"I thought it was all over with for me," said Francis, who had 15 stitches in a cut on his head.

I think that's telling.

People, when they see something awful, want to figure out ways that it "couldn't happen to them". One of those ways is to stigmatize the victims. I think that the beginnings of stigmatization is one of the things that is happening now (and while I think class, not race, is an issue when it comes to who was able to evacuate, I think race is a factor in some of the media coverage that may be stirring the pot for this while with the other hand complaining about it. Oh how I love the American media -- NOT).

I hope that all of us resist the urge to turn "New Orleans" into a perjorative.

[Houstonia]

This isn't the Dallas police force - it's the smaller communities - and to futher illustrate the point - check out the cnn news on the bus that overturned on I-49 - they were trying to take over the bus and the driver lost control.

Yahoo news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_evacuee_wreck_hk1

OPELOUSAS, La. - A bus shuttling hurricane victims out of New Orleans crashed Friday after one of the passengers grew agitated and ended up in a struggle with the driver, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen, a police official said.

The bus was the last of five charter buses in a convoy from New Orleans. It was unclear where the storm victims were being taken.

One passenger, however, disputed accounts of a struggle causing the crash.

Steven Francis, 32, of New Orleans, told The Associated Press as he left a hospital for a shelter that he didn't see anyone threaten the driver or fight with him.

The driver was looking away from the road, looking down, and swerved at the last minute to avoid another vehicle, Francis said.

"I thought it was all over with for me," said Francis, who had 15 stitches in a cut on his head.

I think that's telling.

People, when they see something awful, want to figure out ways that it "couldn't happen to them". One of those ways is to stigmatize the victims. I think that the beginnings of stigmatization is one of the things that is happening now (and while I think class, not race, is an issue when it comes to who was able to evacuate, I think race is a factor in some of the media coverage that may be stirring the pot for this while with the other hand complaining about it. Oh how I love the American media -- NOT).

I hope that all of us resist the urge to turn "New Orleans" into a perjorative.

That is SO TRUE. I think we want to separate ourselves and I don't think we should. I was talking to my mother, who has always said that she and my dad would stay behind in the house even if it were a Cat 5 coming in (because they have a dog). I said, if you do that - you will be one of those people on the television. You won't be any better off. You'll be scrounging for food, and my sister and I will be shown on television screaming about the lack of aid, the lack of assistance and why aren't these people being fed? Because we will be in pain, and we will be separated from our parents.

Fortunately, after seeing the effects of Katrina, my parents have changed their minds and say they WILL leave if a storm is threatening. It was just too awful.

And I agree about the class/race issue. Unfortunately, in New Orleans, like many places in the U.S., the lines between class and race are vague. Who is typically the lowest class? minorities and immigrants. I don't think it's a race issue either. But I think New Orleans has been forever a place where classes are very distinct and separate.