August 29, 2006
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New Orleans
Some people in New Orleans actually believe that the government blew up the levees in New Orleans. They believe that the government did this to save the better communities.
I have not heard anyone suggest this that wasn’t black.
Do black people have a right to be paranoid about the government?
Comments (158)
um
no
No….we all have the right….not one race in general.
<3Rachel
Not anymore. Police, maybe in some areas…the big government? No more than anyone else.
Everybody has the right to be paranoid about the government.
NO not at all!!!!!!!!!
RYC: I do agree that most guys are visual beings….. Just like in my tagline….. <3Rachel
Y should we be paranoid about the gov anyway?
no.
No. Everybody does.
They shouldn’t.
~*RoXy*~
i guess they did 40 years ago… but not anymore. we all ought to feel safer…i guess.
XOXO,
cG.
We all have the right to be paranoid about our government…the scary thing is that as bad as their shit is, we don’t know the half of it.
not just black people!
most government IS corrupt, and everyone has the right to think that it is!
What happened to the other post? Did you chicken out on it Dan? I was replying and then it was gone.
As much as anybody else.
First and foremost, I think racism spreads a lot further than just black communities. I also think that black communities are unfairly judged, and mostly by forms of government.
This is none less than shitty behavior and should be stopped.
However, EVERYBODY has reasons to be paranoid about the government, racial reasons or not.
Everyone should be paranoid about the government, not just african americans.
They surely have a right, but no logical reason.
well yes. everybody [no matter what race] has that right.
No, like you said, it’s paranoia.
black ppl!?!? where? just kidding. I’m not racist. just stereotypical
everyone has the right to be paranoid about anything they want to be paranoid about
example: “the government is spying on me” ppl can be paranoid about that, but its not true. i would know
EVERYONE has that right.
Yes they do, at least here in America…
Black people are racially profiled against all the time and I think that it is absurd and that they have every right to fear it….
(BTW I am a white female)
The goverment is evil. They and anyone else have the right to think that.
No.
everyone does.
YEEESSS!!!
wow thats an outrageous thought.
Should blacks be paranoid? They seem to blame someone for every mishap they encounter, so yeaa… I think they would. But you ask if they had the right…
Not anymore…the government blew up the leeves? that’s ridiculous.
Why wouldn’t they have the right? Hmmmm?
Minorities do get treated like garbage by governmental authorities, so I can’t blame them for being paranoid. Heck, even I’m paranoid about the government. But there’s no need to make up silly theories that defy logic and common sense.
Everybody has the right to be paranoid about the governement. As much as I joke about it, sometime even I am paranoid about the government. But, too often it is, us, the people, versus them, the governement. Whatever happened to of the people, by the people, for the people? We need to find some common ground and once again join the people and the government. I’m not saying that we the people need to compromise everything and meet the government where they are, nor am I saying that the government needs to meet us where we are. But we should strive together to meet somewhere in the middle. Think about it…wouldn’t this lead to less paranoia on BOTH sides?
Here’s the thing… I’m from Mississippi… I knew people from the Gulf Coast… They had just as much damage as the people in N.Orleans, and where are their stories on the news? I think the people from N.O. are just trying to make a scene, which they’re doing rather well. It simply isn’t right. They have no more right than I do to hate the government (yes, I am white, yes I am a female) But that’s just my opinion…
; ) You said it yourself. “Only the paranoid survive.”
I think they do to some extent,- like everyone else- but most of the time they just use it as an excuse to either a) get attention or b) whimp out of something.
Well everyone has a right to be paranoid at the government.
A reason?
Not necessarily.
I thought we were past this whole race issue. Isn’t that what you said Dan? I guess we haven’t progressed that much at all. Sounds like racism to me, black people blaming white people for their problems…
PS.
I have nothing against black people. Only black (and any other race) people that play the race card.
No more so than anyone else.
-Guru on the Hill
Blacks and whites were affected equally by the storm. The only difference is that the majority of the black community expected the goverment to rescue them and give them handouts. I certainly would never expect the goverment to keep my family safe or rescue them in a disaster. Any paranoid thoughts are due to brainwashing and undereducating.
As much as everyone else.
perhaps half a century ago, the government legalized and supported segregation, and when something was done it was done in theory and principal only for many years more, and I think that we all must admit that there is still racism today, if only not as conspicuous. I recall that there was a streak of hate crimes a few years back in my area: in one instance, a black man was tied to the back of a car and dragged to his death.
yes, I think that there is sufficient right for that race to be suspect of the government.
hellz yeah my man dem crackers messin with us in da new orleans mr. bush sure did blow up the levees
buy them books send them to school but you cant make them learn, to blame the gov. is pure stupidity. it was a hurricane that breached the leevies not the gov. louisiana gov. did not react fast enough. because they just didnt care.
Depends on the area. Some areas of our country are still very rascist.
they have a right to. its rather stupid to consider it being true however.
No
Black people alone do not have that right. Everyone has that right. Now, it might be stupid and idiotic and downright moronic, but they have the right.
The government is not racist, they’re not out to kill black people, or hispanics, or people who don’t put on enough sunscreen. They are being just that – paranoid.
Well, thanks for that interesting and delightful thought.
Everyone has that right, not just black people.
[/sarcasm]
Woah
that I meant including everyone has that right.
i dont wanna blame the government, but look at watergate.
no since alot of my cousins lost everything and they are white, still waiting for relief.
Wow Dan…. good question. This post is definitely the peanut butter in the trap…. sure to lure the bigots out of hiding.
So far most responses have been pretty open minded and sympathetic. But I have seen a few people caught in the trap so far… and I am sure your traps will be full by the end of the night. 
Personally, I think that the blowing up the levees thing is a bit paranoid, but hey, never underestimate the sleaziness of the Bush administration. That alone strikes paranoia in the hearts of Blacks and Whites all across America!
paranoia about the government is just good plain common sense.
Does anyone have the right to be paranoid about anything?
Everyone should be parinoid about our government. But yeah, people of all races except white should be parinoid. We’re racist bitches.
it is ridiculous to think the government would do that. Sure, they may have perpetrated 9/11, because they gained something from that. What did they get, other than criticism, from the katrina?
And everyone has a right to be paranoid.
i could easily see this administration doing something like that
everyone has the right to be paranoid, but that’s just stupid. i mean, at least they could have a least a few facts before they get paranoid about something. that’s completely bogus – even if the government did want to save the better communities, there would have been an easier way to accomplish this. I mean, if that’s true the government ruined much more than just the bad neighborhoods!!
Blacks are generally stupid about these things. I mean, they want reparations for example for something none of our generation did to them. Oh, and they conveniently leave out the part that manyof their black ancestors chose to be slaves, because that was better than the life tehy had in Africa. idiots.
yeah i think everyone has the right to be paranoid
even white people
because other people are racisit to them too
i c it in my skool all the time
i hear things like stupid white boy …. and i think anyone can be paranoid about it
its just annoying when ppl blame everything for theur race ex: when people say somthing like its cuz im mexican isn’t it?
i think thats dumb especially when its not always that
They have an equal right to be paranoid about the government blowing up levees, and I have the right to laugh at them for being ridiculous.
A year ago I would have said no. After working in an inner city hospital for the past year, I have to say yes.
We should all be paranoid about it. It’s getting worse by the day.
A problem with that theory is that one of the rich areas of new orleans – the lake front – is where the levee gave way.
In New Orleans, maybe. I don’t think the government blew up the levees (destroying a lucrative tourist attraction wouldn’t be a very smart move), but they sure didn’t handle the hurricane situation or aftermath very well. And, as many have said, if it had been an affluent area full of white people, the outcome probably would have been different.
Everyone has that right.
No, I believe they are just using it to blame someone. Most of the destroyed areas where black communities, but mostly black people live in New Orleans, so yeah.
If I answer truthfully, will I be considered a racist?
I don’t know how I feel of that New Orleans thing.. but every race has a right to feel paranoid.
Just remember.. we shouldn’t be scared of the government.
They should be scared of us.
Last time, the government blew up the Twin Towers. Now, they blew up the levees.
Crazy bastards. Guess which: the government or the conspiracy nuts.
Not at this day in age, no. I get a very strong feeling that many blacks who suffer tend to use their race as a crutch. That isn’t a generalization by any means, and probably not even the norm, but I’ve noticed it’s happened, especially in the case of Katrina.
-Jared
You’d be paranoid, too if everyone was was trying to kill YOU.
No more than any other race. We should all fear the government.
Then again, maybe if their communities were better taken care of . . .
I heard one gent from Nawlins complain that no one was cleaning up HIS neighborhood. I wondered how much he had done to clean it up himself. I mean, if there was stuff in my yard, I’d want it gone bad enough to get rid of it myself. Even though Katrina put it there.
Everyone has the RIGHT to question the government…
Do blacks maybe have a tendency to do so more? Yes.. and, I couldn’t really blame them.
Don’t we all?
hahaha….hell yes.
If the government was all Black wouldn’t you be paranoid.
someone in new orleans is smoking some crazy shit.
By “right” I’m guessing you’re talking about a political right. If so, then yes, although if they used some common sense they would see that it is foolish to believe that the government blew up the levees.
Who knows. All I know is if there wasn’t a hurricane there a year ago, it really wouldn’t matter now would it?
the gov’t should be paranoid of us
the gov’t should be paranoid of us
yes… because I’m paranoid about our government.. ….in the nicest way possible of course…. (just in cause they’re listening)
I can certainly understand why they are paranoid. “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people”
well as Kanye says………”George Bush does not care about black people.”
but i dont think they should think that the government is out to get them.
no
Not about the levees!!!!
We ALL have the right to be paranoid of the gov’t, it isn’t just reserved to black people… but honestly, if anyone had the right to be paranoid first, it’s the native americans, and then the blacks. The rest of us are competing to be next in line.
It is time Blacks grew up and and quit acting like voodoo superstitious zombies and THINK RATIONALLY. Blacks have been kept ignorant by the Democrat Party which promises them every election that they are going to give them the moon and then forgets them until next election and the blacks are too ignorant to realize they are being taken to the cleaners by the political party of their choice. Thank goodness more and more middle class blacks have gotten “educated” and realize the Democrats have used their race for political gain for decades. Hopefully, as more blacks become financially independent of “government” they will get more self respect and not swallow the crap the Democrat Party feeds them every election. I mean look what they did in New Orleans re-elected that fruitloop mayor. Does that make any sense whatosever? No, they reward stupidity. They voted for him because he was black like they were. So I do not want to hear one peep out of them when the next hurricane hits NO and drowns it. I for one thinks it is stupid to rebuild NO. It is going to be hit again and again and again with hurricanes and it is still below and will always be below sea level. Well Duh! And they are shocked that it gets destroyed in a hurricane. Double DUH!
just as much as the white.
everyone gets screwed
Everybody has a right to be paranoid about the government.
Everyone has a right to be paranoid. Kenye (sp?) just gave the black people a bad name in the Katrina thing. I’d be paranoid too, but I haven’t seen any evidence that the government might’ve actually blown up the levees… Now the trade center towers on the other hand…
I think that new Chocolate LG phone is racist… don’t see them makin no vanilla phone now do you?
Certainly, as well as everyone else.
EVERYONE has the right…and the need…to be.
everyone has the right to be paranoid about the government, and they probably should be paranoid about the government.
No more than anyone else. But this idea…wow…sounds like the same people who think our space program is a giant hoax, and that Elvis is somewhere is Las Vegas…
No more than any other race… We can complain all we want, but it does not help unless you VOTE!! Of course, then all our votes cancel out each other’s, so what’s the use.
The New Orleans/Mississippi Coast tragedy was just that a tragedy, caused by a natural disaster. I’m surprised that the levee’s did not break before Katrina. They were OLD. Let’s just get them fixed and LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULE!!
Of course they have the right to be paranoid the government. I don’t think they have any real reason to think that the government is out to get them, though.
no.. i don’t think so.. but i’m probably not looking at the right perspective.
they just want the government to pull them up and its not going to happen, if they would pull themselves up and get out of new orleans they’d be better off because it will happen again and they new that it was coming, no-one should’ve even lived there to begin with. The City has sunk 2 feet since the leves were built and it is sinking at about an .5 inches a year.
spike lee can kiss my ass
Holy fuck, you’re just some fucking piece of shit god-loving-black-hating white fag, aren’t you?
If you preached somewhere near me, I’d torch your fucking chapel and spit on your fucking god. Not that I don’t already.
I think you’re either gonna go to purgatory or the 1st level of hell. And you deserver it.
THIS IS THE MOST RACIST THING I’VE EVER HEARD.
You really ought be shot.
If I find where you live, Daniel, you’ll have
much more about which to worry than paranoid
(unjustifiedly or no) black people, understand?
Why would they blow up the “Chocolate City”?
Government can be corrupt, and not soley to one race, but it didn’t cause Katrina.
The city failed itself. The poverty level of that area should not be with all the money the community rakes in from tourism. They haven’t corrected any of those issues as of yet either. They re-elected the same incompetent Mayor and showed their priorities by having the topless bars be the first businesses to re-open.
Crying about better levees won’t prevent that which is just a matter of time. Where is the wisdom in building a coastal city under sea level?
Jeepers, I just thought Katrina did it! How lack luster is that? I have no imagination.
No.
We have that right. Whether or not it’s necessary to exercise it is another matter entirely.
Some people in New Orleans actually believe that the government blew up the levees in New Orleans. They believe that the government did this to save the better communities.
This is just further proof of a long standing theory of mine: Some people are stupid.
yeah, just as much as whites
That claim is so ridiculous. My dad works for the Corps of Engineers, and those levees were only built to withstand a category 3 hurricane because the state decided to be cheap. New Orleans has a history of VERY strong storms periodically, and they were due for one. The state government is to blame on this one, not because they were picking a “lesser evil,” but because they’re lazy and cheap.
No more than anyone else. This goes over the line to true paranoia. A mental disease
Hardly
With this administration, anyone has the right to be paranoid. I know I am!
Yes, black people have a right to be paranoid about the government. So do white people and all other people.
Ahem, notice how everyone who answered this question were white… The goverment is horrible and like Regina_ab_Cantus pointed out, black people are in fact racially profiled and a whole lot more than white people.
Tell me, if you’re walking down the street in a city and happen to see a single white person start to walk by you, would you feel the sudden urge to hide your wallet? Would you feel nervous? Apprehensive?
I’m not saying this is how I feel around black people, it’s just an example. Honestly, these people who commented should probably open their eyes, no offense. I’m a white female too, by the way.
Well, anyway. Later.
It’s not just black people who are saying this.
Oh my god, this is so stupid. Of course everyone has a right to be paranoid about the government, most of it is crazy! And it’s even more disgusting that people think black people are paranoid… I’d be like that too, if I was them. Some black people are really frowned upong, etc, it’s just so disgusting. I think that needs to stop. Phew – there. And I am a white female too, just like Regina ab Cantus.
hm why not ask whether or not blacks are being smart? paranoid is just such a negative word. this might be difficult but try using terms with good connotations when referring to blacks or any other race for that matter.
Everybody has the right to be paranoid about the government.
-KrIsTiN-
You have to understand the despair of institutionalized poverty and the self defeating mindset of “rejecting the values (you believe) rejected you”
There is much wrong in the USA, and much right. No one can really fix the world alone, but depending on the government to save you in every case is self defeating as well.
Like Iraq, shitloads of money on education would have helped more than free homes or bombs (in iraqs case) did…
Yes, they certainly do. Even as a white girl I can see that black people still aren’t treated fairly in America.
That’s stupid. Really stupid. And I’m saying this as a huge conspiracy theorist. Guess what New Orleans, you’re not the only city to have ever been devastated by a natural disaster!
Anyway, just thought I’d make that clear..
Do they have a right to be paranoid? Sure. Everyone has that right. You should always, ALWAYS be suspicious of the government. But the levees weren’t blown up by the government. They were weak. Katrina was strong. They broke. Levees do that.
they can be paranoid about whatever they want to, but that doesnt make it right!!! i dont think they are paranoid about it, but still living in the 50s and 60s, it is time to let it go and accept that i dont owe them anything, my great great great grandparents maybe, but not me!!! i have found that racism towards blacks is only still there because they keep it going!!!
i’m paranoid
and white
actually i suggested this and i’m white. so did a few of my friends online. where do you get that conspiracy theories are a black thing? ideas are a human thing… we all think.
Of course. While the government may not have actually blown up the levees, it refrained from doing a great many things that would have saved a lot of mostly black lives. And of course there is deeply institutionalized racism and classism which causes the poorest among us to ALWAYS live in the least desirable areas. When have you EVER seen a city where the poor people lived up on the hill and the rich lived down in the valley? Right.
just as much as anyone else… Black americans haven’t been treated fair in the past… why not be skeptical… but on the other hand skeptisim should supersceed logic…
answer this question first, and I will answer yours: do white people have the right to be paranoid about the twin tower attacks?
no more than anybody else
No
I don’t suggest that the government “blew up the levees” and I AM African American.
But everyone has a right to being paranoid because we’re individuals not grouped together like a species of animals.
I don’t believe the govenment did it.It was a natural disaster that couldn’t be stopped.The government could’ve at least fixed the levees like they said they were going to do over 10 years ago.
Unfortunately now we have almost no money at all and most New Orleanians just want people to fix the city for them and not help out themselves.
But everyones entitled to their own paranoia about the government.lol.
ha everyone should be paronoid about the government!!!
hey wutz up and wut is ur site about?
I believe our country’s history of dealing with races other than white is a good enough answer.
The people in New Orleans have more then enough right to be paranoid of the government. It took them so long to get anything done after Katrina and now they’re trying to turn the Big Easy into Las Vegas on the Bayou
ANYONE has a right to think that.
i think the gov is evil.they only care for people with money.
i dont like george bush.he bad influence to me.Lets see what would be fun to do,well there is a bad diaster going on but i think ill take a vacation and deal with it later but only help rich people!!!Wow really good job bush.
but as for blowing up the levees… thats untrue. the ‘explosion’ people heard was the sound of levees that had gone unrepaired since the last major hurricane to hit New Orleans prior too Katrina breaking under the pressure of a storm surge.
Since much of the Louisianna Delta is being covered up by the Gulf of Mexico, theres no natural buffer against storm surges. That whole ecosystem has been altered in a way that it can’tsurvive a hurricane and regenerate in time for the next one. If it continues like that, in a few decades Katrina will look like just a rain storm.
everyone has the right to be paranoid about the gov’t. look who is running it.
>.> I think all people have a right to be paranoid of the gvt ^_^
Yep, as do we all.
we should ALL be “paranoid” about ANY government especially the American one!
well they have the right to be paranoid, the same way Christians are paranoid of Science, and scientists paranoid of religious freedom.
But asking “should they…” would have a different response. The people live essentially on the bottom of a cereal bowl, with levees that have protection for cat. 2 hurricanes. Scientists projected (on 3d models!) what would happen for years, and both the public and the gov is to blame for negligance.
What does equal rights mean anymore anyways?
The black community would rather blame the government for their problems then try to work internally to begin fixing them themselves. To say there are no problems would be foolish. As for the question: sure you have a right to be paranoid, to act on this right would also be foolish.
Oh and anyone talking about how blacks are treated unfairly by our government…are you crazy? Black people are the recipients of lots of government funded programs, and there are plenty of scholarship opportunities for non-whites. Oh yeah, forgot about that phrase “affirmative action”.
everybody
Do you have the right to generalize one race?
Go eat a dick.
of course not… that’s ridiculous
Yeah, the government is handing them lots of money generally for stuff that was done wrong to not them. There’s gotta be a catch, right? In all seriousness though, why would the government do that? The “better communities” would have wealthier people who can bail themselves out rather than demand that the racist government hand it to them. So if the government did that, they are retarded. Everybody who knows anything about New Orleans has known that this was just waiting to happen and finally did, the government had nothing to do with it until they told everybody to get out.
After 200 years of racism in our country alone, hell yes.
I work in downtown Toronto (obviously in Canada). While working in a primarily black neighbourhood I have witnessed police officers on bicycles getting off of their bikes unprovoked and beating up young black men who are walking down the street basically minding their own business. I see a lot of violence working in the field I do, but that was definitely the most jarring experience as I didn’t have anyone to call to help them.
Do I think the government used a hurricane to create an act of genocide? Absolutely not…
of course the government was in charge of katrina! research fema and you’ll discover our beloved countries ties to the illuminati, geek…
We should all be wary of the government.
TODAY WE ARE ALL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST. UNFORTUNATELY, WE’RE REVERTING BACK TO SEGRAGATION. NO ONE FEELS TREATED FAIRLY AND RELIES ON THE MEANING OF DISCRIMINATION. CHECK OUT “SURVIVOR” THIS SEASON.
IF THAT TOOK PLACE IN OUR SCHOOL OR WORK ENVIRONMENT SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.
I’m a black female and though I try to give the government the benefit of the doubt, I do believe that the government are biased against black people. Hell, maybe even Hispanic people too. Especially since almost all people with power in the government are white. And if you listen to the views of people that come from the places these gov’t officials grew up, you would probably get a good idea of the mindset of the government and where you stand.
And I don’t think they blew up the levees…that’s ridiculous.
im not black, im not even american, but IM afraid of the us government.
the end.