The Fallout For the GOP May Be Devastating

REMEMBERING: The Fallout For the GOP May Be Devastating

guest post by Michael
Fauntroy (originally posted in 2005)

“Requiem” for New Orleans, by Spike Lee begins tomorrow.

Republicans have long been unpopular among African Americans. Too often, the
GOP purposely played on racial fears and hatred among many White conservatives
to win elections. From the Southern Strategy, to “Welfare Queens,”
to opposing a Federal holiday to commemorate the life and work of Rev. Martin
Luther King, Jr., to “constructive engagement” in South Africa,
and “mandatory minimums” that warehouse Black men in the prison-industrial
complex, the GOP has rarely missed an opportunity to turn away from Black America.
Add New Orleans to the long bill of particulars that African Americans have
for the GOP and it’s no wonder why Republicans get almost no support in
Black America. The pathetic, disgusting response of the Republican-controlled
Federal government will long be remembered in the Black community and will explain
why recent Republican outreach efforts to the Black community are now shot to
hell, perhaps never to return.

Now I know some will say it’s too early to think about the political
implications of New Orleans. I say politics explains everything and ignoring
it is naive. You better believe that Karl Rove and the political arm of the
White House as well as the Republican National Committee are surveying the political
damage that is now following the physical and emotional pain caused by Hurricane
Katrina. The Rove gang is building strategies to minimize the damage to President
Bush and congressional Republicans while silently heaping as much blame as possible
on New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, both
Democrats. I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to blame Bill and Hilary
Clinton too–the former first family is the GOP’s default source
of criticism.

Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives for the last ten years
and the Senate nearly as long. They’ve held the White House for 16 of
the last 24 years. Their budget cuts are partly responsible for the flooding
that has submerged New Orleans. Republicans reduced or stripped altogether money
from Federal budgets intended to strengthen the levee system. The penny wise
and pound foolish Congress thought the $14 billion dollar price tag presented
years ago by the Army Corps of Engineers and other state and Federal agencies
was too high. That figure looks like a bargain now given what it will cost to
rebuild New Orleans. Republicans, no doubt, will point out that the Democrats
didn’t do anything about the levees when they were in charge. That is
true, but irrelevant. The GOP is in charge now and they failed. They have to
take the weight for their failure to act efficiently and compassionately for
New Orleans.

Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee and leader of recent
GOP/Black outreach efforts, may not know it yet, but his job just became impossible.
That’s because what is going on in New Orleans elicits angry and negative
responses throughout the Black community. Some shake their heads in pain after
watching for television for hours seeing American citizens stranded for days
waiting for their government to help them deal with the greatest, widest, most
expensive natural disaster in American history. Some note the concern they have
for friends and family who are trapped and possibly dead. Others note how a
Black mayor wasn’t properly supported when he called for the evacuation
of his city.

The most common response, though, is one of anger and disgust about how the
Federal government has handled this and is voiced in two questions. First, how
is it that the U.S. government can be so efficient in dealing with crises in
other parts of the country (e.g. Florida hurricanes) or the world (e.g. Tsunami
response) and leave so many Americans in the lurch, struggling to live? The
second question is more pointed: would the Federal response be the same if New
Orleans were two-thirds White and middle-class instead of two-thirds Black and
poor? Conservative protestations aside, the only correct answer is: of course
not. Who among us believes that it would have taken President Bush five days
to get to Austin, Texas, San Diego, California, Orlando, Florida, or Phoenix,
Arizona? Who among us believes that White bodies would be allowed to rot in
the streets of New Orleans?

Black people are rightly livid with President Bush and the Republicans; only
an apologist would argue otherwise. Bush’s performance through all this
has been abysmal, callous, and inept and only feeds the growing belief in some
segments of America that he has been a catastrophic failure as president who
doesn’t care about the well-being of America’s poor. A few minutes
of Black talk radio, Black Internet sites, and conversations in Black barber
shops and hair salons reveals a rage in the Black community that far exceeds
what was heard during the Rodney King fiasco, for example. Indeed, this kind
of anger hasn’t been seen since the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr.

Inflaming matters was the disgusting site of President Bush holding a press
conference with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Alabama Governor Bob Riley,
both Republicans, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown.
It was a mutual admiration society as they heaped accolades upon one another.
Bush praised the work of Brown, who has incompetently presided over the worst
ever Federal response to a natural disaster. He also lauded Barbour and Riley
for being “leaders.” Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican
National Committee who can never be expected to express criticism of the President
or the party, and Riley, have fallen all over themselves to praise and defend
the Federal response. All this while dead Black people are floating in filthy
water throughout New Orleans.

The Republicans failure will be duly noted in the Black community.

TM NOTE: This article by Michael was done in 2005, after Katrina hit. I felt it was particularly important as we reach the one year point of the tragedy.