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Katrina's Fund Raising Frenzy: Too Much and Not Enough
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Published on Sunday, September 11, 2005 by CommonDreams.org |
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Katrina's Fund Raising Frenzy: Too Much and Not Enough |
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by Sonali Kolhatkar |
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As I was driving to work last week I scanned my radio dial, listening to
the mostly commercial radio stations on Los Angeles' FM spectrum. Within
a few seconds of listening to each station (English and Spanish language
alike), it was clear that everyone was fundraising for the victims of
Hurricane Katrina. Everyone. Having seen the victims up close and
personal on their TV screens and in their newspapers, in frenzied tones,
desperate to believe in the soothing salve of charity, eager to "take
action" in face of so much suffering, it seems as though Americans have
concluded that the only way to help a suffering people is through money,
lots of it, more than you can afford, more than any one else deserves.
Corporations, celebrities, right wing and left wing institutions, high
school kids and cops are scrambling to fund-raise.
The Red Cross is reporting that it has already received more than half a
billion dollars in donations for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, even
more than was donated for last year's Tsunami victims, and more than for
the victims of September 11^th 2001. This overwhelming support for the
people of Louisiana and Mississippi is heart warming. But at the risk of
seeming callous I ask, is it really wise to throw millions of dollars at
charities? Without political action, will it really help the Katrina
survivors? And how will other causes be affected?
It was the government's responsibility to ensure that a hurricane
wouldn't result in this type of disaster. The government failed. It was
the government's responsibility to ensure that an emergency response to
such a disaster would save as many lives as possible. The government
failed. Now, it is the government's responsibility to ensure that all
the survivors are taken care of, financially and other wise. It seems as
though, by simply donating millions of dollars to certain large
charities like the Red Cross we are assuming continued government
failure. Those charities will need time and extra staff to even process
all the money before they can begin distributing resources. Instead of
the frenetic rush to raise money, should we not pour that energy into at
least demanding that the government divert any and all resources from
the Iraq war to the Katrina victims?
The donations would at best provide a salve, not a cure. Many Americans
did not even know the extent to which poverty in Louisiana and
Mississippi flourished along racial lines. Mindless fundraising is an
easy way out of the guilt that we feel at the racist and classist
conditions that poor blacks have been living in, and the disaster that
they have now endured. If enough money is raised, Americans can go back
to a numb existence of forgetting the injustices they have been forced
to face these past few weeks.
Last week Bush used emergency powers to suspend the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act
in the affected states. This means that contractors who rebuild the
flooded areas using federal assistance can pay their workers less than
the prevailing wage, thereby ensuring continued poverty and undercutting
unions. It was precisely the poor population of New Orleans who could
not afford to own cars that were stuck behind to suffer and die during
the flooding. By suspending this law Bush ensures continued poverty
among those who return to rebuild. Where is the public outcry demanding
that our tax dollars enrich rather than impoverish the construction
workers, likely to be residents of New Orleans?
A city that was already struggling against the forces of gentrification,
it is likely that the "new" New Orleans will more rapidly become a
commercial haven of casinos, mansions and corporate brand names. The
political organizations that have vowed to fight these threats need our
backing and dollars, perhaps even more than Red Cross, already flush
with more cash than it can handle. Community Labor United is a coalition
of labor and grassroots groups based in New Orleans who are expecting to
fight overwhelming political pressure from government and corporations.
They have set up a People's Hurricane Fund that will be "directed and
administered by New Orleanian evacuees." Another worthy organization is
the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, a grassroots group
struggling against racism, who are attempting to regroup their scattered
staff and volunteers in order to continue their work.
n his recent piece for The Black Commentator, Glen Ford says, "Charity
is fine. Rights are better." What is needed in the coming weeks and
months is serious political action to ensure that Katrina victims will
have the right to return to their homes, have their homes rebuilt if
necessary, have decent jobs and other resources. Will any of us
participate in that fight once we are done emptying our bank accounts
into the Red Cross? Or will we feel that we have done "enough" through
our donations?
Most Americans will have given their fill of tax exempted donations to
charities this year for the Katrina survivors. But while hundreds of
thousands of the hurricane survivors have been displaced, how many of us
think of the already-homeless in the US? In Los Angeles County alone
there are almost 100,000 homeless people, most of whom rarely merit the
attention of the media and the public. Local non-profits who provide
services for the homeless will be hard hit this year with most donations
being diverted to hurricane relief, and with "donor fatigue" setting in
earlier than usual. Many non-profits offer services that the government
fails to provide. Barely recovering from the impact of last year's
Tsunami donation frenzy, non-profits across the country who provide a
safety-net for millions, will be denied grants, will cancel fundraisers,
will accept losses in their direct mail campaigns, and will even have to
close their doors.
But as many in the non-profit world have learned the hard way, fund
raising without political action is never a solution. Rather than ensure
the closure of grassroots organizations nationwide by diverting our
personal financial resources to the 'cause of the moment,' we need to
become politically active and make demands on our government to ensure
that the thousands of survivors of Katrina, and the millions of others
who suffer daily from homelessness, starvation, poor education, poor
healthcare, etc, get what they deserve. After all, it's our tax money,
our people, our government, and our right.
Sonali Kolhatkar is host and producer of Uprising, a popular prime-time
radio program on KPFK, Pacifica Radio.
Notes:
Catherine Saillant, "Local Charities Fear a Drop in Their
Fundraising," Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2005.
- Glen Ford, "New Orleans Population has the Right of Return," BlackCommentator.com, September 8, 2005.
- More information about Community Labor United can be found at
www.qecr.org .
- People's Institute for Survival and Beyond is online at www.pisab.org.
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