Starhawk in New Orleans


I break one of my own rules and come down on the Pagan activist
I have a problem with Starhawk. She's a Pagan activist and I don't necessarily agree with her politics. It's really a pity too, because the lady has some great ideas. "Power with versus power over" is a truism no matter what your faith or your politics. Unfortunately, most of Starhawk's activism seems to be dedicated to replacing one form of power over (the much maligned Patriarchal Capitalist Culture) with another.

What good does it do to protest if you are just going to play the same game for the same stakes?

And that brings us to Starhawk's latest report.

Yes, she has been to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit and I have not. That doesn't make her views accurate. And no, that doesn't mean that my views are totally accurate either.

Racism is like the black mold eating away at the long-submerged houses.  It permeates everything, and it spreads, corrupting everything in its path.  The police, the slow and neglectful response of officials, the differing values placed on human life according to color and class.  So often, it’s below the surface, lurking as spores of privilege, a deeply unconscious sense of entitlement, or lack.  But the floods have wet everything down, and now it is visible, and growing.  Unchecked, it destroys strong foundations and sturdy structures—and that what we’ve seen happen here, some of the basic structures of government, of simple human decency, collapsing.  

I wish people would think about New Orleans before Katrina hit. These "terribly oppressed" that were constantly trotted out like show dogs every time some politico wanted a photo op to show how America doesn't care enough. The billions of dollars that were poured into Louisiana and New Orleans in the name of eradicating poverty and despair. The openly corrupt state and local governments that required bribes just to talk to you.

Racism existed in New Orleans and still exists there today. It is perpetuated by every pronouncement that "these people" just can't make it on their own. It is celebrated by every activist demanding government intervention based on the color of someone's skin. It is shielded like some secret sin, brought out only when the money flows drop.

Liberal compassion helped feed the disaster in the wake of Katrina. Compassionate conservatism threatens to prolong the disaster. And the only cost is billions of dollars and telling people that no matter how hard they try, they are not good enough to succeed without help. Lives wasted because people are told that they are not human enough.

Yes racism is there. And this is what it feeds on.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - October 17, 2005 at 04:46 AM  Tag


 ◊  ◊   ◊  ◊ 

Random selections from NeoWayland's library


Pagan Vigil "Because LIBERTY demands more than just black or white"
© 2005 - 2009 All Rights Reserved