Still Chained

“I was a descendant of Ham, who had been cursed, and that I was therefore predestined to be a slave. This had nothing to do with anything I was, or contained, or could become; my fate had been sealed forever, from the beginning of time.”  James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

This week marks the tenth year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. What has happened in New Orleans in this last decade? Have those displaced by the floodwaters found their way back? Are the schools up and operating for the benefit of all, or has the rebuilding effort been a financial windfall for the fortunate few? If Katrina had happened to a city with a predominately white population, would the Federal response have been faster and more effective?

The news is full of images from the storm and its aftermath. Images of New Orleans residents, mostly black, a few white, exiled to the Superdome, desperate for assistance, for food and water and basic sanitation; George W. Bush flying over the disaster area; entire families stranded on rooftops, waiting for help that was late to arrive – if it arrived at all; bodies floating in a flooded city.

It’s all of a piece, isn’t it, all connected? I mean the whole, rotten system. The financialized and unequal American economy, the mass incarceration of black men, the abandonment of programs to help people hard-pressed by life’s vicissitudes, the lack of investment in infrastructure, schools, universities and medical facilities, the outsourcing of jobs to countries where labor is easier to exploit, the deaf, dumb and blind corporate media, the inability of our political system to face facts about climate change, income inequality and austerity measures that guarantee even more income inequality, institutionalized racism, murderous blundering overseas, and hypocrisy when it comes to human rights?

All of a piece and no end in sight, our would-be kings and queen-in-waiting will not change these dynamics one bit.

We stumble on into an uncertain future. In this country, on the tenth anniversary of Katrina, people are forced to organize themselves for the purpose of asserting that “black lives matter.” Think of that for a minute or an hour. Shouldn’t it be obvious that black lives – all lives -- matter, just as the fact that this country was built on the buttocks, backs, and shoulders of African slaves is obvious? No mystery whatsoever. Slaves in the fields, slaves in the factory, slaves in the main house, slaves in the barn, slaves purchased and sold like mules or goats. All these years later, Django remains chained by history and brutal reality.

Ten years ago this week, dead bodies were seen floating along streets and avenues of a treasured, iconic American city. More than 1,800 people perished; thousands more were displaced and scattered. Help for the poor black folk of New Orleans was slow in coming.

Down in the Gabacho Pit

“Tomorrow dawns like a suicide.” U2, Sleep Like a Baby Tonight

Part I

Not having time to piss away, I didn’t watch the first GOP debate, either the Kid’s Table version or the Main Event. The whole thing is contrived and ridiculous and serves only to show how skilled our political schemers are at making a total mockery of democracy. From what I gather after skimming various media sources, bluster-king Donald Trump was the big “winner.” Most of the candidates made at least one patently absurd statement, and none of them talked about important issues like climate change, income inequality, race relations or prison reform. Classic! Just ignore what you don’t want to talk about and poof! it ceases to exist.

Over the next ten months or so Trump and Walker and Rubio and Bush and Paul will pound on one another, shove one another further right, spew all manner of blatantly false and stupid gibberish, while the talking heads on the tube will jabber about poll numbers and campaign coffers, which horse is surging and which is fading. Substance, depth, historical context? Forget it. Facts and coherence are completely optional in this day and age; Fox News requires neither. The candidates will bang on about illegal immigration, border fences, abortion and Planned Parenthood, Iran, their love and fidelity for Israel – all distraction issues. The GOP has spent the past six years obstructing every proposal, idea, or suggestion made by the White House, a stance which has paralyzed the government at a time when people, real people, are in need of help, and the most pressing issue of our time, climate change, requires real action.

Part II

Meanwhile, it’s Fiesta here on the American Riviera, Old Spanish Days, that magic time of year when white people make fools of themselves by donning sombreros and shawls and shouting “Viva La Fiesta!” at every opportunity. For five days the inconvenient fact that the Spaniards were brutal colonizers is ignored. All the local pols ride in the Fiesta parade up State Street (billed as the largest equestrian parade in the nation); they wave, blow kisses, point and smile to people they know, make sure they are seen by potential voters, photographed by the local papers. The best moment of the parade for me was when Nick Welsh, the Angry Poodle columnist at the SB Indy, tossed a cascarone (an egg filled with confetti) that barely missed County Supervisor Salud Carbajal.

De La Guerra plaza is a sea of vendors selling tacos, tortas, burritos, churros, roasted corn, soda, water, funnel cakes and lemonade. Grills hiss and smoke rises into the sky. Across the street at the beer garden – which I am renaming the Gabacho Pit – 20 and 30 something’s look for hook-up opportunities and cough up $6 for a plastic glass of beer. The guy I was standing next to nudged his buddy and said, “Man, all this fine architecture is making me rethink my wedding vows.” Have at it, pal. After one beer, my wife and I became bored and bailed from that scene.

The real Fiesta happens on the east side of town, off Milpas Street, at Our Lady of Guadalupe church, where the food is as authentic as the crowd. You will see pale faces at Guadalupe, but for the most part it’s a Latino crowd, people with deep roots in Santa Barbara, family ties, history. Long lines at the food booths and plenty of private security to make sure matters don’t spiral out of hand, lots of children, elderly people with knowing eyes, trinkets and wares for sale. Guadalupe is the place to be.

If only the presidential campaign were as short as Fiesta.

One Man's Obsession

“The truth is, we are all caught in a great economic system which is heartless.” Woodrow Wilson

My wife tells me I should spend more time writing about being a father to two teenagers and all the trials that entails. Why, she asks, do you bitch, moan, and whine about politics and social injustice and racism and climate change? What good does it do?

She has a point.

Perhaps the reason I obsess about politics and social injustice rather than my children is because I sense that it is those areas of life that have the potential to limit their choices for happiness. Perhaps it’s because I am amazed at how radically the world has changed in my short time on this planet. And perhaps I obsess because I am afraid.

Unlike most American political leaders, and the entire gaggle of Republican presidential candidates (the Democrats are equally hapless), I believe that climate change is real, happening every minute of every day, gaining momentum that will be irreversible and catastrophic. Sticking our heads in the sand will not work because in a relatively short time the sand is likely to be submerged under several feet of seawater.

The other day I was listening to Democracy Now and Amy Goodman was interviewing a Latin American economist whose name I never caught, but what he said stuck with me. The world’s political leaders, he said, the economic high priests, hedge fund managers, resource extractors and capitalist cheerleaders know we are headed off the cliff. They know. The tragedy is that they keep doing the same stupid things.

Stupid is going to destroy this planet. I can’t, under any circumstances, be described as a fan of the Catholic Church, but the recent missive issued by the Pope summed up our situation very well. Name one other world leader who has made the case for immediate fundamental change – economic, social, political -- with equal vigor? Most nations are marching in neo-liberal lockstep with the United States, denying the evidence and insisting on business as usual. The major network news outlets in this country – profit centers of corporate America -- never allow the words, “climate change,” to be uttered on air, opting instead for the more benign term “extreme weather,” as if the cause of extreme weather is a mystery.

What was it George Orwell said, first they steal the words, then they steal the meaning?

I sense that time is running short, and the stakes mounting. I wonder what it will take to make our leaders and the oligarchs who own them wake up to the fact that business as usual is fatal. The future I see in my head is that of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, The Road; society has collapsed, the sky is permanently gray, the landscape denuded of life, food is scarce, and death is always near at hand.

Yes, I obsess. Can you blame me?