By Phillip Baley
I’m left to wonder if posterity will commiserate the anniversary of one American tragedy while slowly forgetting another.
If Americans have declared to the world that they will never forget the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, then we should declare to ourselves to never forget Aug. 29, 2006, the day Katrina wiped out New Orleans and devastated America’s Gulf Coast. These American tragedies are very different, but deserve equal public witness.
I say this because the dates Americans pause to recognize have more to do with maintaining our thin historical narrative than sewing together our diverse fabrics into the quilt of the American experience. If July 4, 1776, is the birth of what diplomat Ralph Bunche described as “the cradle of liberty,” it is rather disappointing, but not that surprising, that there is little national embrace of June 19th, 1865, better known as Juneteenth – the historic date when Union troops arrived to take repossession of Texas from the Confederacy and enforce slaves’ new freedoms. When American freedom stretched to include slaves, Emancipation Day became the fulfillment of Independence Day. America’s big enough and smart enough for both.
Alas, what is considered an American triumph or tragedy kneels to historical biases and modern prejudices. This is a shame considering that last year 9/11 and hurricane Katrina were Siamese twins at memorial services and prayer vigils across the country. Each produced unfathomable images of human suffering. Each caused massive destruction to grand metropolises. Each elicited an outpouring of volunteers, fundraising and quick-thinking rescue missions among the citizenry. And the repercussions of both tragedies have submitted hard questions and critical observations about government indifference.
From all indications, the first anniversary of Katrina will receive ample national attention. Ranging from the jocular Food Network’s “Emeril Live: Rebuilding New Orleans One Meal at a Time” to the more substantive Spike Lee documentary, “When the Levees Broke” on HBO, the coverage will certainly be more than the forgotten victims have had over the course of a year. Maybe in the middle we’ll pause to address the labyrinth of race and class, government red tape and the ongoing battle to rebuild and steal New Orleans. Lee’s film is a clear indictment of a philosophy that concentrates more on free-markets and global militarism than supplying basic public provisions at home. We see the consequences of abandoning those values in the chaotic unraveling of New Orleans’ civic society that inhumanely points guns when it should provide food, water and decent shelter.
What that will entail at the local level remains in the hands of the public. Maybe we will address race and poverty. Maybe we will celebrate the human spirit. Maybe we will advocate a government reform. Maybe we will call for all out revolution. Whatever it may be, Americans ought to dedicate their time, talents or organization to no less than remembering Aug. 29 from this day forward.
Phillip Bailey is a senior majoring in Pan-African Studies. E-mail him at opinion@louisvillecardinal.com.
