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September 8, 2005

Tribes

It is remarkably rare for someone to pen an essay, making a deliberate point, only to have clear cut evidence in favor of their point arrive within days. Here is Bill Whittle on September 5:

Only a few minutes ago, I had the delightful opportunity to read the comment of a fellow who said he wished that white, middle-class, racist, conservative cocksuckers like myself could have been herded into the Superdome Concentration Camp to see how much we like it. Absent, of course, was the fundamental truth of what he plainly does not have the eyes or the imagination to see, namely, that if the Superdome had been filled with white, middle-class, racist, conservative cocksuckers like myself, it would not have been a refinery of horror, but rather a citadel of hope and order and restraint and compassion.

That has nothing to do with me being white. If the blacks and Hispanics and Jews and gays that I work with and associate with were there with me, it would have been that much better. That’s because the people I associate with – my Tribe – consists not of blacks and whites and gays and Hispanics and Asians, but of individuals who do not rape, murder, or steal. My Tribe consists of people who know that sometimes bad things happen, and that these are an opportunity to show ourselves what we are made of. My people go into burning buildings. My Tribe consists of organizers and self-starters, proud and self-reliant people who do not need to be told what to do in a crisis. My Tribe is not fearless; they are something better. They are courageous. My Tribe is honorable, and decent, and kind, and inventive. My Tribe knows how to give orders, and how to follow them. My Tribe knows enough about how the world works to figure out ways to boil water, ration food, repair structures, build and maintain makeshift latrines, and care for the wounded and the dead with respect and compassion.

And here, courtesy of InstaPundit, is The Baltimore Sun on September 7:

When their homes began to sink in Katrina's floodwaters, elders in the quarter here known as Uptown gathered their neighbors to seek refuge at the Samuel J. Green Charter School, the local toughs included.

But when the thugs started vandalizing the place - wielding guns and breaking into vending machines - Vance Anthion put them out, literally tossing them into the fetid waters. Anthion stayed awake at night after that, protecting the inhabitants of the school from looters or worse.

"They know me," he said. "If a man come up in here, we take care of him."

In the week after Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast, Anthion and others created a society that defied the local gangs, the National Guard and even the flood.

Inside the school, it was quiet, cool and clean. They converted a classroom into a dining room and, when a reporter arrived Monday, were serving a lunch of spicy red beans and rice. A table nearby overflowed with supplies: canned spaghetti, paper towels, water and Gatorade, salt, hot sauce, pepper.

At its peak last Wednesday, 40 people called the second and third floors home. The bottom floor was under water. Most of those taking up residence at the school were family, friends and neighbors of the poor, forgotten niches of this community.

As the days passed, most chose to be evacuated by the Coast Guard who, they said, came every day to help ferry out the elderly and sick, and to leave water, food and clean clothes for whose who preferred to stay.

[snip]

In the week after Katrina devoured the Gulf Coast they ate, slept and bathed here, aided by the Coast Guard supplies. Men slept on the third floor, women on the second, using blankets and cots they brought from home.

It all worked out according to the plan of Allen Smith, 55, a Persian Gulf war veteran known to the group as "Sarge." Before Katrina pummeled the area, he advised neighbors to seek shelter in the school.

Sarge said he knew the school he had once attended would be safe and at least the third floor would remain dry. That's what happened when Hurricane Betsy devastated New Orleans in 1965. Sarge, who was 15 at the time, joined his family and about 200 other people who used the school for shelter.

"I just took the idea from them," said Sarge. "And it worked."

So as Katrina made its approach on New Orleans, they gathered blankets and canned food, bleach and cleaning supplies, a radio and a good supply of batteries, and began moving their stash to the school. They decided to rely on the building's supply of paper towels and toilet paper.

In the days after the storm, the Samuel J. Green school also served as their base for helping others in the neighborhood.

They waded through filthy water to bring elderly homebound neighbors bowls of soup, bread and drinks. They helped the old and the sick to the school rooftop, so the Coast Guard could pluck them to safety by helicopter - 18 people in all.

It's not about race or money or education. It's not about politics or religion or luck. The difference between mere survival - or not even that - and thriving in a place of chaos is about character and civilization and ideas. Those who have them thrive. Those who don't wait on the government, and cry at its absence and its faults, even while they are being carried on the backs of those stronger and better than themselves.

Do not get me wrong: there are a lot of innocent victims for whom I feel. I am not speaking of them. What I am speaking of is the deliberate victims, those whose only idea of help is from the outside, rather than from themselves, who dream of rescue instead of helping others even though they are not in the worst straits of those around them. There is a type of person that really wants to be ruled, and they will always be in great danger whenever they are required to govern themselves.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people who, in the face of chaos and danger and loss, simply decide that they will be human today, and will help themselves today, and will help others today. And those people we must cherish, because it is they who provide the strength of will that sustains all of us.

Posted by jeff at September 8, 2005 5:29 PM

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» 25,000 body bags! Where are the bodies Mr. Nagin? from Oblogatory Anecdotes
I am getting this sinking feeling we are all being scammed. We have heard of 20,000 up to 40,000 deaths, Rapes, Murders, Mayhem, widespread looting and shooting. Now the death toll is expected around 200-400. During the week after the hurricane we we... [Read More]

Tracked on September 14, 2005 6:12 PM

Comments

Posted by: Bat One at September 9, 2005 11:05 AM