Yesterday, Nishant Bhajaria implied that the poor people of New Orleans are responsible for their own economic affliction - stating, "... some blacks have become addicted to a life where there is no ambition, no self-confidence and no progress."
Bhajaria continued, "Some poor blacks did not want to leave New Orleans even in the face of death. If the people of New Orleans were not so dependent upon the government machinery to provide for them, they would have had the confidence to hold failed officials and leaders to account."
Although there were those residents of New Orleans that refused to leave, thousands of the poor did not have the means to evacuate. It wasn't that they lacked the desire to leave.
Thousands have lost their lives, and millions have lost their homes due largely to slow government response. This is not a matter of affirmative action programs, nor an excuse to give minorities "incentives to try harder."
The poor were clearly not at fault when it comes to Katrina. On the contrary, this disaster should call attention to the fact that we have a moral responsibility to provide every American with a decent life.
--Erica Guttery
ASU senior
Generalizations about blacks unethical
I hope students were not persuaded by Nishant Bhajaria's disgraceful column, "Dismantling racial myths."
Hurricane Katrina's toll of death and destruction grows daily. Yet, Bhajaria feels the need to lecture victims about their poverty. Using the smug and simplistic "bootstraps" argument that so many have trotted out before, he chides New Orleans' poor blacks for accepting welfare and following "the norm of dropping the pen while picking up the gun."
If only "governments and corporations" would stop "coddling" blacks, they might have had enough "incentive" to leave before the storm hit. Not content to limit his stereotyping to residents of the Gulf Coast, Bhajaria further urges all U.S. blacks to get over slavery and stop "punishing" whites with "quotas."
It is important to reflect on the failures of our nation's response to Katrina, so that hopefully, they will not be repeated.
Certainly, many are culpable. However, Bhajaria's generalizations about New Orleans' black victims are as untenable as they are unethical.
--Jacqueline Wheeler
Senior lecturer
English department
'Dismantling racial myths' disappointing
After reading Nishant Bhajria's article, I must admit, I did not feel so much hurt as I did disappointed.
Whether it likes to be admitted or not, race (but more so poverty) was an issue in the Katrina disaster.
Do you honestly think that if Beverly Hills, Bellair or Malibu were under water, wealthy residents sitting on top of their million-dollar homes would have had to wait four or five days for help? I highly doubt that.
And statements like, all poor black New Orleans youths "dropping the pen while picking up the gun" only personifies Mr. Bhajaria's ignorance as it pertains to the experience of the African-American.
Are there black youths in urban areas who resort to violence as oppose to education? Yes. But there are also many black kids who choose academics and work for that, despite obstacles that face them.
I think I'd know more about that than Mr. Bhajaria, seeing as how I actually have family who live in the poverty of new Orleans - and go to school to work hard instead on sitting around being lazy, blaming the "White Man" for their problems.
Mr. Bhajaria should take into consideration that some of those African-Americans go to our very school. And he should not lump all blacks into some self pitying, "I blame the past for my failure" category the next time he decides to write an article on and race relations.
--Samantha Banks
ASU student
If you have an opinion you'd like to make heard, mail a letter to the editor too. Just type "Letters.Editor" in the subject line and send it to letters.editor@asu.edu.
