NAACP Says It’s Clear Economics Played Part in Katrina Response
JACKSON, Miss.
NAACP President Bruce Gordon says it’s clear the economic status of those left stranded on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans played a part in the federal government’s response to the needs of Hurricane Katrina victims.
But Gordon said now is not the time for “finger-pointing” at the Bush administration. That can wait, he said, until the mostly poor and Black victims are given the care they desperately need.
“Right now, the NAACP is in what I call a lifesaving mode. We are not in a finger-pointing mode and until every life has been stabilized and every life has been saved, we will devote all of our energies for that purpose,” Gordon said.
Gordon and Mississippi NAACP officials spoke at a news conference in Jackson this weekend hours after Bush administration officials met with Black leaders in Washington about allegations that indifference to Black suffering slowed the response.
Gordon said the NAACP would monitor how federal officials provide relief in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast while offering assistance to displaced residents and those in need.
