« previous post | Main | next post »
September 06, 2005
A BBC Rescue Boat in New Orleans
Stephen Darwall: September 6, 2005
Yesterday I saw the most amazing BBC video coverage from New Orleans, which spoke volumes about the character and focus of even our belated relief efforts there. You can find it at the BBC News site (Thanks to Ciaran.) What you will see is footage from a small boat that a BBC reporter and crew took into one of the poor African-American neighborhoods in New Orleans. Winding their way past floating dead bodies, they find their way to a house with five children and their dead mother, whom they rescue. "It seems quite incredible to me," says the BBC reporter, "that we are the only boat in this neighborhood. And in every neighborhood we have gone into there are so many people with so many needs." After taking the family to an evacuation point, they return to the neighborhoods and find two middle-aged African-American brothers still holding on in their house because they don't want to leave their deceased mother, whose body hangs above the water level in a sling. Presently, the report turns to the relief effort itself and to the high proportion of military/police to medical support. "When the authorities do come to these streets, it's more often in pickup trucks with guns, more guns than medical workers." Dr. Greg Anderson is interviewed and says, "There are a lot more cops ... and guns than doctors. For a long time, I'm sorry to say, I was the only doctor down here in central New Orleans." An equally distressing proportion is the ratio of human needs met by that small BBC crew to those met by the enormous US news and "news" operations, not to mention, the national guard and other national support, considered in relation to their relative size.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834536ae669e200d8342464d253ef
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference A BBC Rescue Boat in New Orleans:
» Comments for: "A BBC Rescue Boat in New Orleans" from Left2Right Comments
This post is provided as a forum for comments for the Left2Right post: "A BBC Rescue Boat in New Orleans" posted on 09/06/2005 [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 6, 2005 9:22:56 AM
» Nine meals away from murder from Back To The Woom
Second, over at Left2Right, Prof. Stephen Darwall, describes a BBC report regarding the horrific proportion of rescue workers to police and other armed security personnel in New Orleans' poorer neighborhoods. Again, supposing this kind of "muscle" wa... [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 18, 2005 2:23:19 PM
» Nine meals away from murder from Back To The Woom
Second, over at Left2Right, Prof. Stephen Darwall, describes a BBC report regarding the horrific proportion of rescue workers to police and other armed security personnel in New Orleans' poorer neighborhoods. Again, supposing this kind of "muscle" wa... [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 18, 2005 2:23:57 PM
Comments
The comments to this entry are closed.