View From the 9th Ward

My December column about misleading news coverage of Hurricane Katrina-related rumors keeps producing an interesting trickle of e-mails from people who had boots on the ground. Here's one:

My name is Dwayne Felty. I just finished reading your article "They shoot helicopters don't they?" I thought this was a really good article. I am a union electrician from Herrin Illinois. About 1 week after hurricane Katrina several partners and myself traveled to Gulfport Mississippi to help in the reconstruction effort. We spent several weeks in Gulfport when we started getting word that they were needing electricians in New Orleans. But as your article talked about, we were kind of scared to go because of all the unbelievable rumors that were coming out of the city.

We heard stories that there was some kind of research laboratory in the city in which some kind virus had gotten loose and was infecting people, and the medical community was trying to keep it quiet. To another story that I really don't know if was a rumor or not. It involved the private security firm [name omitted]. We were told by several residents that [name omitted] was one of the law enforcement groups responsible for doing evacuation of 9th ward residents who had refused to leave their homes after the storm. We were told that they had been given orders to bring out no wounded, if these residents absolutely refused to leave they were given permission to use whatever force they felt necessary, and that they were drowning people that refused to leave their homes.

Despite these stories we decided to travel to New Orleans anyway. We went to work under contract of the city of New Orleans Sewage and Water Board. Our job was to completely rewire pump station #5 which was directly across the street from the London Ave. Canal levee breach in the lower 9th ward. For the next two months I spent 12-15 hours a day, 7 days a week in that ravaged neighborhood. Besides military and rescue personnel, we were one of the first crews allowed in that neighborhood.

Unlike the rumors that we had been hearing which we had no idea if they were true or not, I witnessed horrors in that neighborhood with my own eyes that I know for fact are not rumors, and this is kinda the reason that I decided to write you, to share with you some of my experiences. […]

[A]fter witnessing some of the things I saw, I feel like I have a responsibility to tell my story to everyone I can.

The one thing that haunts me the most is that when they finally started door to door search and rescue they would spray paint the front of the building, and it would contain the date of the search, who performed the search, how many were found dead, and how many were found living. As you probably know the flood waters came in on August 29-30. I can't even begin to count how many homes that we saw that were not checked for survivors for the first time until the 24-26 of September. I would just like to know why it took almost a month to check these homes for survivors? There were people who starved to death because they could not escape their attics, and the resources were there to help them. THEY LET PEOPLE DIE!

Up until the day that I left to return home, they were finding bodies on a daily basis. One day in particular they found a family of 10 dead in the attic of their home. On another occasion I ran into a camera crew from NBC. They were being escorted by two New Orleans police officers. As I talked to them I told them that they needed to come down to [the] 9th ward because no one was showing the things that we were seeing on TV. They told me that they had been trying to get into that neighborhood but were not allowed past the military checkpoints. As I talked to these people one of the police officers rudely interrupted me and as he chuckled he asked me "So, how many niggers you seen floating down there? Those people got exactly what they deserved! That place should have been leveled years ago!" I couldn't believe what I had just heard, I just turned around and walked away. […]

Like I said, I just want to tell my stories -- and I have plenty more -- to as many people that will listen. […]

Sincerely,
Dwayne Felty

I've done some light copy editing to the letter.

Comments

[Dave W.]

"To make it clear to the world how disgusting your attitudes are.

You are pre-occupied with looting and two injuries to police.

Meanwhile, thousands are dead and this is barely a blip on your mental radar.

I don't doubt that there are law enforcement problems in NO and that there may be an actual police or paramedic death at some point. That is very important to know and to handle optimally for the people involved locally. The wounding and near-wounding incidents are as scary as the wounding and ner-wounding incidents that go on in every American city everyday.

However, for you [readers], sitting there in the comfort of your offices, well away from the guns and floods, those thousands of bloated, blue corpses should be categorically blocking your thoughts of stolen tvs and small handful of wounded police/guard/medics. Obviously they aren't. What a sick, sad bunch.

Comment by: Phil Collins at September 1, 2005 11:53 AM"

[Dave W.]

and we still need a decent bodycount. FOIAs at the ready, journos!

[[e-mail]]

I was down there in early October to do animal rescue work, and I was also shocked at the spray painted dates on the houses. I was surprised to see quite a few dead bodies, though most of the ones out in the open had been carted away.

The amount of dysfunction was comical. I remember calling 911 because of a live wire that had fallen, only to be told to call the utility company. Of course they put me in voice menu hell, so I waited until the wire had started a small fire before calling 911 again.

[David Rollins]

I should add that I wasn't *really* surprised at the dysfunction, since I grew up down there. I was glad I had a gun.

[David]

You surpise me, Dave. I would have expected you to post something about how, since no proof of rumored horrors(helicopter shootings, gang rapes, etc.) exists, we can't say they didn't occur. Instead, you choose to quote finger-wagging from your alter-ego about how disgusting our priorities are.

[Dave W.]

What can I say, Phil called it.

Well, if you told me you were drowning; I would not lend a hand; I?ve seen your face before my friend; But I don?t know if you know who I am; Well, I was there and I saw what you did; I saw it with my own two eyes; So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you?ve been; It?s all been a pack of lies

[MP]

BTW...here's a debunking the urban legend of In the Air Tonight.

[Dave W.]

David:

Oh and by te way, Phil did express skepticism that helicopters were, in fact, being shot at. That didn't go over real big either, IIRC.

[Matt]

Tough to believe the cop said that to him with an NBC camera crew right there.

[Mapes]

"they were drowning people that refused to leave their homes"

here we go again!

[thoreau]

Tough to believe the cop said that to him with an NBC camera crew right there.

Yeah, that sounds a little fishy. Then again, I never underestimate stupidity. So I'm putting this one in the "maybe" column.

[Mapes]

"I just want to tell my stories -- and I have plenty more"

now THAT, I believe.

[gaijin]

"THEY LET PEOPLE DIE"

but I guess we'll beleive Mister D' Wayne's report...it must be true...it's on the interweb. And besides my friend whose sister's a nurse said the whole hamster thing was true too.

[Mapes]

My bad..I misread..Dwayne only heard rumors of people being purposely drowned.

[Matt Welch]

I didn't say it was true (I didn't say the Major Burns' shpiel from the Superdome was true, either); but the guy is a real human (best I can tell) who was really down there, and I thought people might like to read his account.

[Isaac Bartram]

And besides my friend whose sister's a nurse said the whole hamster thing was true too.

Yeah I think I know that guy's cousin.

In all fairness, though, the guy is pretty clear about distiguishing between rumours and what he actually saw.

[thoreau]

In all fairness, though, the guy is pretty clear about distiguishing between rumours and what he actually saw.

That is fair.

I knew a guy in college who swore up and down that his friend's mother paid $200 for a cookie recipe.

[joe]

Actually, the stories of abuse by the police and deprivation/slow response that came out in that terrible week have held up pretty well. People really did die of thirst in the Convention Center. The Sherriff's deptartment in an abutting county really did block an escape route, and fire into the air to stop New Orleanians from fleeing.

It's the stories of gangrapes, mass murder, and attacks on resucers that have been mugged by reality.

[Dar]

As I have said before in a post here about the rumors.

While sitting in the dark listening to the radio and hurricane Katrina howling outside I recall the very first rumor I heard. Several people had called from different areas and said the levees had been breached. For what I would imagine was a good 4 hours public officials denied that any levees had broken and everything was fine. So glad it was just a rumor. From there you try to figure out what is rumor and what is the truth when you listen to the officials that blow smoke up your ass every other day of the year. Add to that the unfortunate fact that even if untrue rumors were spread the history of the area would not make it that hard or far fetched for all those familiar with the place to think it very well could be true. If the people the supposed rumors were started about didn't normally do most of the things they normally would do day in and day out I do not think the rumors would have had such a far reach.

You must also understand that at a time of disaster people go into a self preservation mode. The difference being that one part of society pulls together to get through the tough times and the other has never had to concern itself with self preservation because someone else has taken care of that for them all their lives. Knowing this as a fact its not that hard to see why such rumors could be so easily spread. If this had happened to Amish country and the same rumors were spread I don't think many would believe it. But when you leave yourself open for such claims by your everyday normal actions you have to expect others to believe it before not. Add to this the situation of a disaster and people will be even more inclined to believe the hysteria that spreads.

Another note that I think others from the fairer skinned states fail to realize is that the police and politicians here claimed everything was a rumor because they were afraid of some sort of race war. I am not quite sure I guess they figured white people would just start shooting blacks on sight or some other stupid shit. When all the white people were worried about was staying alive and trying to maintain their belongings. No one was going to just start shooting regardless of your skin color. If you were stealing someones things or threatening someone you would be likely to get shot no matter what color you are. All the rumors were not just rumors unless you still think the levees are just fine too 😉

I was born in New Orleans and love the city but don't for a second think that prevented me from taking my gun with me when I would go visit over the years. Even the black people I know were packing their guns and for only one reason. They knew what they were hearing could just as well be true as not when you look only at the facts of the past. So please someone call Jessie and Al and let them know blacks were scared of the rumors too. Lets see them play the race card with that fact!

[Rimfax]

My understanding (from over 1000 miles away) is that folks in Louisiana and Mississippi aren't bashful at all about using the n-word when the cameras aren't rolling, no matter who is listening.

Is there someone from Louisiana who can shed some first-hand light on the plausability of this scenario?

[Jennifer]

I recall the very first rumor I heard. Several people had called from different areas and said the levees had been breached. For what I would imagine was a good 4 hours public officials denied that any levees had broken and everything was fine.

This is a good point. Remember the fable of the boy who cried wolf? After making many false claims that wolves were attacking his flock of sheep, the other shepherds refused to believe the boy when he finally was telling the truth. But does the blame lie with the shepherds, or with the boy? I'd say the latter.

[pigwiggle]

?There were people who starved to death because they could not escape their attics,?

This tore it; either he?s full of shit or isn?t too bright. Anyone interested can go to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospital?s website and look at how many folks died, where, and from what (as they are identified by family), their ethnicity, and so forth. It?s reasonably interesting; for example, white folks died at a greater rate, that is in relation to their representation in the NO population. Overwhelmingly the dead drowned; I couldn?t find a single starvation death.

Anyway, I would be very surprised if a single person starved in NO after the levee breach. It takes several weeks for a person with a healthy weight to die of starvation. An overweight or obese person may only be at their BMI after a month without food; and that?s with regular daily movement.

I think it more likely what he saw was part of the protracted body recovery, not folks checking for survivors.

[Jennifer]

I don't think anybody had time to starve to death, but dying of thirst sounds plausible.

[Johnny]

All I can think about the "surprise" about the cop "possibly" saying something like that without shame, is, A. You don't know many cops. B. You've been in Europe for the past 200 years. C. You don't read the papers.

Here in Chicago, cops used to get upset when the newspapers would listen in on the police band and then report things like that (my fav was years ago when Mike Royko reported on the police term "mexercise" meaning to go and beat some "mexicans", and that was the mildest, I believe it was only a year ago that someone was broadcasting interesting racial comments across the fire and police bands-I don't think they ever caught who did it, but they were going to the expense of self identifying radios to prevent it because it continued happening even after it made the front pages here in Chi)

[That Paranoid Guy]

If the report says that someone died of drowning, can we trust that? You can see why officials might have reason to lie about cause of death if they think they can get away with that lie. Could they get away with that kind of lie?

[Dar]

Rimfax- I am in Louisiana and people do use the N word I will not pretend racism is dead and gone because its not (same goes for reverse racism discrimination) but to be honest I hear the N word 100 times more when around blacks coming from blacks than I ever do in an all white setting. Most of us all have to live together and came to grips with the color thing a long time ago. I am not racist but I am predudice. I can't stand stupid people who have their hand out no matter what color their skin happens to be.

It is true that by populace more whites died than blacks in New Orleans. But lets not allow the facts to cloud the race baiting. I have lived in 2 major cities where I was the minority yet still considered the majority at the same time. Talk about identity issues lol. How a city that is majority black and run by black pols for over 20 years can still say its whities fault and have anyone even listen is beyond me.

[Frank_A]

My understanding (from over 1000 miles away) is that folks in Louisiana and Mississippi aren't bashful at all about using the n-word when the cameras aren't rolling, no matter who is listening.

Is there someone from Louisiana who can shed some first-hand light on the plausability of this scenario?

Comment by: Rimfax at January 5, 2006 11:43 AM

In most cases, I would say no. But at that time when racial strife was very high, and the people involved were the NOPD, it wouldn't suprise me in the least.
If you want to find a place where people would say something like that, Kenner would be a good start (they did hold the campaign HQ for the David Duke governor run), and maybe several other cracker-fied towns. In my home town, Baton Rouge, it was pretty common knowledge that the KKK still had active support in many of the suburbs of Baton Rouge. I even had a classmate at my high school, Catholic High, whose family was widely known to be in the Klan in Walker!
I'd say Louisiana is getting better from the low point of the Race from Hell of Duke vs. Edwin "Crook" Edwards, where our last govenor's election had a woman Democrat, Mary Blanco, facing a dark, Indian Republican, Bobby Jindal!
Of course, Jindal lost supposedly because all the crackers wised up to him being darker than many black people and just didn't vote...
As for the end-result of Katrina and racial strife...?

[David Rollins]

mad props to BR from someone who couldn't get into Catholic High because he was an episcopalian (instead I went to BRHS with Bobby Jindal).

The N-word is heard commonly in Baton Rouge, by folks of all racial composition. It's something I warn visitors about.

[joe]

You think it's annoying to walk down the street behind two black people and hear the call each other, and the people around them, "niggas" every third word?

Try listening to two Cambodians do it. Now that's just messed up.

But still, let's not pretend not to understand the difference between knucklehead teenages using it as a term of affection, and white people using it as their preferred term for "African American."

Not the same thing at all.

[Dar]

What exactly does it say about someone who on one hand uses the term as you say affectionetly yet at the same time shows mortal contempt if they hear if come from anyone other than their own color. Are you implying that white people are unable to show affection using the same word as a black person I sure hope not because that would be racist. Just like Frank A above calling everyone crackers and calling cities crackerfied. Do black people actually think that calling white people something is going to endear them to you when at the same time if you say nigga it means your in the klan, unless your black than its just all peace and love. WTF WTF WTF I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this train of logic considering the music that is so prevailant these days which is pretty much a endless loop of niggas, bitches and ho's mixed in with some UH HUH UH HUH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH know what i'm sayin, know what i'm sayin. Actually no you fucking moron I don't know what your saying because if you took out the words "know what i'm saying," from what you said all thats left if the YEAH YEAH and the bitches and ho's.

Ever see one of these geniuses on TV being interviewed. Rapper or Jock usually going on and on non-stop but not saying a damn thing of any relavance to anything, but ya know what he is sayin? Don't ya? How in the hell can anyone know what ya sayin when you yourself use the same word to mean completely different things. Seems to me that you don't even know what ya sayin. So please for all of us 2nd hand rap sufferers of the world shut up already until you figure out exactly what it is your saying and can do it without asking me every other word if i know what your sayin..

Know what I'm sayin?

As for racist I guess the Million More march was all just a bunch of color blind do gooders who only want to bring peace and harmony to the world right? I listened for as long as I could stomach it and without question had any white person said even a shread of what was said by supposed black leaders on that day there would have been outrage and cries of racism. If these are the best people the black community can come up with to champion their causes and advance themselves they are gonna be shit outta luck for a long time as far as the majority of whites in this country are concerned. The more I see Sharpton, Jessie and Farahkan on TV standing there with black politicians spouting this shit the easier it is to see why the black community feels its being kept down. To bad they are blind to the fact its their own people doing the keeping down this time around. Really how is someone supposed to respect a black politician when they are high fiving the 3 race baiters above and seemingly in agreement with everything they have to say. Sure the black people might approve after all they are letting these idiots lead them to begin with. However, the white people see this and then listen to what the black pol says after. All the while remembering what they just heard them agree with Al and Jessie about. So when they have to appeal to everyone not just blacks the whites remember the close connection and have to wonder if this guy really believes those people.

[joe]

"What exactly does it say about someone who on one hand uses the term as you say affectionetly yet at the same time shows mortal contempt if they hear if come from anyone other than their own color."

That words gain their meaning through context?

In my experience, white people who get upset about being discouraged from referring to black people as niggers aren't usually approaching the issue from a theoretical perspective.

Know what I mean?

[Jennifer]

Chris Rock once did a very funny routine about white people who think their lives would be complete if only they, like black people, could call black folks "nigger" with impunity.

So they get to say it and we don't. Big deal. Overall, I'd still say white people in America have it better than black people. (I've never been pulled over for Driving While White.)

[Thomas Paine's Goiter]

(I've never been pulled over for Driving While White.)

I was often pulled over for driving while young and white.

[Jennifer]

TPG--

Driving While Teenaged is different from Driving While Black--eventually you outgrow the former.

[pigwiggle]

It seems more than reasonable not to call folks names they don?t want to be called. What burns me though is all this moronic n-word bull shit. Why can?t a bunch of reasonable folks sit down and discuss racism and racial epithets without resorting to some juvenile code. I work in a very multiethnic multinational lab and often lunch discussion turns to politics and race. It?s the n-word all around, even the black folks. Why can?t a few decidedly non-racist folks sit down and have an intelligent conversation, nigger and all. It?s beyond me.

Of all the horror suffered on past generations of black folks you might think we would be more sensitive about words like slavery, lynching, segregation; you know, the L-word and the S-words.

[Dar]

I could care less if the blacks want to call each other that just please stop bitching about the word not going away in its other "context." If blacks persist to use it themselves as if it was the chorus to a song in every sentence spoken the negative context will never leave. Don't keep sewing what you don't want to keep reaping. Hell even Farahkan knew not to call it the Million Nigga March..

Anyone here ever here of a group called the Black Poets from the 70's? They had a african style but mixed it with beatnik peotry style. They had several songs where they called black people nigga's talking about their races problems. Very good music if you can find it somewhere check out the songs Wake Up Nigga and Nigga's Are Scared of Revolution. If they played it today you would think they were talking about 2006.

[slightlybad]

I actually have been pulled over for "Driving While White". Try rolling around around the 'hood at 2 a.m. and I can bet you will be too. The cops assume that you're there buying drugs.

[Jennifer]

I actually have been pulled over for "Driving While White". Try rolling around around the 'hood at 2 a.m. and I can bet you will be too. The cops assume that you're there buying drugs.

Point taken. On the other hand, whites gets pulled over when they drive in a slum; blacks get pulled over when they drive outside a slum. So I still think they're getting the short end of the stick.

[Dar]

Slightybad- In most police states you are always assumed to be guilty of something.

If your white in a black hood your buying drugs. If your black in a white hood your casing houses and stealing cars.

In places like New Orleans with nearly 70% black it is impossible to not be driving in the hood every few blocks. There is no real right and wrong side of the tracks as people usually say, its all over the place. For those who have never been to New Orleans you can drive from expensive uptown homes to the projects in less than 60 seconds in one spot of town and from old city middle class hoods to other projects all over the city.

Thats why I hate it when people in states that have less blacks in total statewide than New Orleans has in one block of projects starts jaw jacking about what we need to do. They know how to fix all the racial problems between whites and blacks. After all they have experience in dealing with the 1.3% of the population thats black where they live and everything is fine.

I saw the faces of the people in other cities when they flew all the evacuees out. They had this OMG they are all black look as they came off the plane. I think the black populations of some cities went up thousands of percent or more in hours over those few days.

Whats really funny is most of the true white society yuks that claim to know whats needed for racial harmony would shit bricks if they woke up and suddenly the black population in their city went from 14 to 14,000.

How many of you think that as soon at they started planning to ship all those people out someone was calculating the best places to put them based only on their habitual tendency to vote for one party over another? I can just imagine in the cities they were sent the libs had voter registration cards waiting along with all the other paperwork. Preset plans prior to their arrival of the best district opps I mean area for them to reside now. All those political districts with only a few votes keeping them from swinging to the dems will be getting some new residents.

[Cryptic Ned]

How many of you think that as soon at they started planning to ship all those people out someone was calculating the best places to put them based only on their habitual tendency to vote for one party over another? I can just imagine in the cities they were sent the libs had voter registration cards waiting along with all the other paperwork. Preset plans prior to their arrival of the best district opps I mean area for them to reside now. All those political districts with only a few votes keeping them from swinging to the dems will be getting some new residents.

What?

[wayne]

Just an amusing FYI bit of news. Today in Santa Ana (Orange county, CA, near LA) two Hurricane Katrina refugees from NO were arrested for dealing drugs. They were living in the Comfort Inn on FEMA's dime. It was a radio news account, hence I don't know the race of either of the accused. I normally don't concern myself with race, but on this thread it seems "important". Maybe I should have said two people were "arrested for dealing drugs while black."

It is also quite amusing to see some of you regular posters apologetically say something like, "this is from 1000 miles away"... And yet the same ones will pitch a hissy fit when I point out that you are two thousand miles away from the front line in the illegal alien invasion; that strikes me as pretty comical.

[wayne]

I would also like to generally commend you guys on H&R, both posters and Reasonoids. I signed up for an account on the Democratic Undergroung web site because I thought it might be interesting to swap opinions with a bunch of liberals.

Two points about DU:
1. The posters are fucking dumb. Much dumber than any of the nitwits here :-).
2. They are rude SOBs, and narrow-minded too. They don't want to have a debate (or an argument), they just want to all prattle on with one post much like every other.

[Gibbon1]

""Point taken. On the other hand, whites gets pulled over when they drive in a slum; blacks get pulled over when they drive outside a slum. So I still think they're getting the short end of the stick.""

Thatz almost right. Except that Blacks get pulled over in the hood too. Me I'm a 40 year old white guy with long hair, a nice shirt, and a decent if non-descript car. I don't get pulled over no where.

The problem for the party in power is that NO is kinda like that stain on the carpet that won't come out. The one the dog made when it was bad.

It's not that the people who died could have been saved, or that things could have been handled better. It's that they've been exposed as incompetent and untrustworthy.

[Geotech]

It is cracking me up that the New Orleans 9th Ward is now so well-known. I was born and raised in the 9th Ward. Not the section you see on tv, but rather New Orleans East, specifically way out on US 90, past the levee protection system, which received more destruction than any other part of the city. A number of houses, including my parents' house, which my father built by himself in 1975 and I grew up in, weren't even left standing. My folks are now staying in a travel trailer, and last night my mom told me that they just got power there yesterday.

[eb]

I don't buy this story at all. As somebody already pointed out, death by starvation is not something that happens in a few days. And I don't buy the cop story either. There's no way such a comment wouldn't have hit the news immediately whether the camera was rolling or not.

My understanding (from over 1000 miles away) is that folks in Louisiana and Mississippi aren't bashful at all about using the n-word when the cameras aren't rolling, no matter who is listening.

While I am posting from several thousands of miles away, I'm originally from this region, a small town in Mississippi just across the state line, and while "nigger" is used by some people, and I cringe when I hear it, especially from a friend, people do understand how offensive it is to most people and so I find it hard to believe a white NO cop would so carelessly use it so loosely around people he doesn't know. In fact, I would be more prone to believe it if the writer said the cop was black. I wonder if this isn't a story that the writer heard from a friend, who heard it from a friend, and he's simply making it first person to sound more convincing.

I will say this, as much as I cringe when a friend or family member uses "nigger" when I am visiting, they are probably living in a much more integrated workplace and community than most people from the north or large cities who pontificate at length about racial issues. And they have a much more honest and genuine relationship with their black co-workers and friends as well. They argue, they cuss each other, they drink beer together and they spend time together.

After living 15 years in LA I realize how ridiculous some people can be about racial issues when they never venture east of the 405 and the only mexicans they have a relationship with happens to be the woman cleaning their toilets and the guys cutting their grass.

[Nike Dunk High]

thanks