the palestinians of the united states
Aug. 31st, 2005 11:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sophiaserpentiaMy prediction is that there will be strong pressure to form a system of gulags to contain the New Orleans refugees, and that NOLA refugees will be treated differently from Biloxi refugees. I won't predict that this will actually happen, i just see a lot of potential for it.
This is one of those times where i really hope i'm wrong.
At present, with the United States in disaster relief mentality, people all over the country are happy to extend invitations to the NOLA evacuees to stay in their shelters and put their children in their school systems.
Before long, though, a perception will form that the NOLA refugees are "ungrateful." They will complain about living in huge dormitories with no privacy and no dignity, wiith no long-term prospects. Some will act from despair and desperation, using the survival skills they learned in New Orleans.
It doesn't matter that this will be a small fraction; NOLA refugees as a class will be indicted in public opinion. Politicians will speak out against the forming prejudice, calling for calm and compassion.
Did i mention that the majority of NOLA residents, and therefore most of the refugees, are black?
Even though it's 2005, it won't be long before many people in the south look around and decide that their city council members have invited a bunch of "unemployed blacks" to live in their arenas and high school gymnasiums... people who "will bring crime, drugs, and guns to their neighborhoods".
What i foresee happening then is talk of tightening restrictions on NOLA refugees still living in camps at that point. They could find themselves required to stay put until they can prove that they have a job or family on the outside. They will be like immigrants trying to establish citizenship in their own country.
In case this sounds outlandish, consider that three years ago New Orleans politicians were seriously discussing the idea of a tent city to house the city's homeless, a place where they could be fed, housed, clothed, and, oh yes, medicated; a place which they would find it difficult to leave. This idea is already floating around in memespace.
This is one of those times where i really hope i'm wrong.
At present, with the United States in disaster relief mentality, people all over the country are happy to extend invitations to the NOLA evacuees to stay in their shelters and put their children in their school systems.
Before long, though, a perception will form that the NOLA refugees are "ungrateful." They will complain about living in huge dormitories with no privacy and no dignity, wiith no long-term prospects. Some will act from despair and desperation, using the survival skills they learned in New Orleans.
It doesn't matter that this will be a small fraction; NOLA refugees as a class will be indicted in public opinion. Politicians will speak out against the forming prejudice, calling for calm and compassion.
Did i mention that the majority of NOLA residents, and therefore most of the refugees, are black?
Even though it's 2005, it won't be long before many people in the south look around and decide that their city council members have invited a bunch of "unemployed blacks" to live in their arenas and high school gymnasiums... people who "will bring crime, drugs, and guns to their neighborhoods".
What i foresee happening then is talk of tightening restrictions on NOLA refugees still living in camps at that point. They could find themselves required to stay put until they can prove that they have a job or family on the outside. They will be like immigrants trying to establish citizenship in their own country.
In case this sounds outlandish, consider that three years ago New Orleans politicians were seriously discussing the idea of a tent city to house the city's homeless, a place where they could be fed, housed, clothed, and, oh yes, medicated; a place which they would find it difficult to leave. This idea is already floating around in memespace.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-01 04:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-01 04:42 am (UTC)*cough*
no subject
Date: 2005-09-01 04:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-01 05:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-01 05:10 am (UTC)But contingencies have been very badly planned and poorly executed, and plans for what to actually do with hundreds of thousands of refugees for 3-6 months are not going to go smoothly. There will be at least small scale incidents.
And, bear in mind that it has only taken 48 hours for "looters" to be almost as bad as "terrorists" in the American imagination.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-01 05:19 am (UTC)