I posted New Orleans 2005 on a forum at AmericanaUK.com, and received these comments:


Posted by: Rick V
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana U.S.A.
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 4:53 am

Since I've lived in New Orleans all my life and experienced Katrina first hand I'll chime in:

Samm, you think you know what you're talking about but you are clueless.
You see racism where its convenient for you. Mayor Nagin is black - was/is he racist? Gov. Blanco got about 90% of the black vote in the last election - was/is she racist? Nagin and Blanco fucked up bigtime. Just like Bush. But it wasn't b/c of race - it was b/c all 3 miscalculated, got flustered, and made patently wrong decisions.

And while your writing songs about New Orleans 2005 be sure to include several verses about the 2 gangrapes that occured outside the D-Day Museum, the cops who stole by day and got drunk by night, the rape of of local R&B singer Charmaine Neville, the ghetto families who were stealing/or taking by force donated items (water, clothing, blankets, etc) at shelters from intimidated families, the burning down of Oakwood Mall after the mall gave away free water, the fact that Nagin ordered an empty train that could have carrieed a thousand people out of harm's way to leave the city the day before the storm hit , and the thousands of brave military personnel who saved the lives of countless numbers of people in peril.

You'd have some good tunes in there.

P.S. My wife and I have taken into our home a 77 year old man who wasn't rescued from his rooftop until 5 days after the storm. He is white. There are many others just like him. I guess Bush hates whites too?


posted by: samm
Location: japan
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:26 am

Dear Rick V,

First of all, I don't find it "convenient" to see racism. I don't like racism. I don't want to see racism. "Convenience" has nothing to do with it.

As far as whether or not the mayor and the governor are racist, I don't have the answer to that. They are not a part of the song. The song's focus is the president. There are no doubt countless others deserving of blame, praise, scorn, a round of applause, whatever. But they are outside the scope of this single song. It's absurd to suggest that "New Orleans 2005" could or should address every aspect of its subject, all the other public figures involved, etc. Maybe a 75-to-100 verse song could do the trick, but this song, Rick, exists to convey my feelings about the president.

Likewise, rapes, theft and any other horrible acts that ocurred in the wake of the hurricane are also outside the scope of the song. But since you brought up this subject, here's a question for you: are you suggesting that the Bush government's disregard for the safety and wellbeing of the flood victims should not be criticized because there were some crimes committed by some flood victims?

And yes, of course there were white people in New Orleans trapped, stranded and probably worse by hurricane Katrina. But in case you didn't notice, they were, uh, ASTRONOMICALLY OUTNUMBERED by black people. Here I'd refer you to the song's lyric: "just try to imagine a whole stadium full of white people left to fend for themselves for six days". They were BLACK people at the Superdome and the Convention Center. Or perhaps there were thousands upon thousands of WHITE people with no food, water, police protection, medical and sanitation facilities in some other stadiums and convention centers in New Orleans? So far, though, I haven't heard about them. Have you?


Posted by: Rick V
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana U.S.A.
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:05 am

samm wrote:
"First of all, I don't find it "convenient" to see racism. I don't like racism. I don't want to see racism. "Convenience" has nothing to do with it.

As far as whether or not the mayor and the governor are racist, I don't have the answer to that."

I do. They're not. As previously stated, Mayor Nagin is black himself. I think that safely excludes him. The Governor, a Democrat, got about 90% of the black vote in the last election. Its been a mutual love affair between the Governor (and her party) and the black community from the moment she entered the Gov's race. She won her office in a close election thanks to the overwhelming support from the black community. I think that safely excludes her.

Yet they both fucked up. Royally. JUST LIKE BUSH.

If Nagin and Blanco were white Republicans they too would be accused of racism and not caring about black people by people such as yourself. But since they aren't, you and those like you, can't accuse them of this. But Bush is the perfect target- a white male Republican. So his fuck-ups just have to be racially motivated. Again, its conveniant for you. And makes you feel better about yourself.

Bush appointed Gen. Colin Powell, a black man, to the highest position of authority any black man has ever attained in this country. And Condi Rice, a black female, is Bush's most trusted advisor. The man doesn't have an aversion to black people or Powell and Rice would have never been put in those positions.

Bush has fucked up on Hurricane Katrina and a whole bunch of other things. But they weren't racially motivated fuck ups. I have no problem with you writing a song about Bush fucking up - but I have a major problem with you using the charge of racism as the reason.


Posted by: samm
Location: japan
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:53 am

Rick, you really haven't addressed the main points I made in my reply to you. Instead you've simply reiterated the point about the mayor and governor. This is something I've already addressed: the song is not ABOUT the mayor, the governor, the dogcatcher, the Peruvian ambassador to Serbia, my mother-in-law... IT'S ABOUT THE PRESIDENT! End of story.

And I'm sorry you have a "major problem" with my characterizing the president as racist. I maintain that the neglect those thousands of Black people were exposed to simply would not have happened had those thousands of people been white. You can disagree all you want, but that's what I think. For your information, I also think Bush is a "class-ist", born and bred in the rarefied old-money world of oil and political power (both the elected and behind-the-scenes variety), and I also think he is a deceitful, greedy crook who jumped at the chance to send young Americans to kill and die in a war that was essentially his little personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein. He is a friend to the monied and powerful, and an enemy of the poor and the working class: those people at the bottom rungs of American society who, by the way, are disproportionately Black.

Fortunately, we're all still able to express our opinions on elected officials (even ones like Bush, who weren't even really elected by a majority in the first place), and whether or not you have a "major problem" with it, I shall continue to exercize my right to sing or speak or write my opinions. From your 2 posts it's now pretty clear to me what side of the fence you sit on, and I don't expect I'll be changing your mind on any of the topics we've touched on. So unless you have something of real substance for me to reply to in your next post (should you decide to add one) I don't expect I'll be replying to you again.

All the best to you,

Samm Bennett