New Orleans - Poverty Revealed

When the typical American and the current American President for that matter, think about New Orleans, they think about the fun they had there in the past. While I was never there during Mardi Gras, my trips to New Orleans were paid for by my company. We were put up at the best hotels and ate at the best restaurants. So the New Orleans I know of first hand was pleasurable to visit. That changed last week.
Katrina introduced us to the other side of New Orleans and the many faces of poverty in America. The simple truth is that many people didn't get out because didn't have the money or the means of transportation. Some of them may never have left New Orleans in their life time before this. Many are black. Some are direct decendents of slaves sold on the streets of New Orleans 150 years ago. The Mayor of New Orleans said that poverty isn't a race issue, but one of economic class. This in a land where the President spends his time with those he calls "the have's, and the have more's." He also refers to them as "his base."
Katrina is educating all of us, including the President, about poverty in the land we believe to be the land of opportunity. On this first day of school let's hope we go to school on this issue. For starters, take a look at some definitions of poverty. Since the poor of New Orleans are being farmed out accross the land, some will learn more about it first hand. We of course have had the poor with us here in Oregon all along. But perhaps proving kindness to strangers will high light the issue. Give yourself a chance to learn.