Its Really Not About Me
It’s Really Not About Me
By Anthony Harris ‘08
After the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, people all over the nation have found some way to reach out to the people of New Orleans. We have united in some way to help people rebuild their lives and start over once again. Yet, somehow, we still maintained being selfish. I’m not sure how it happened but people are abuzz throughout Morehouse College about themselves in this lost city.
It seems sad, but the first thing that I heard from some people was the question of the future of Mardi Gras. People are homeless, the city is in ruins, but there are people concerned about the integrity of Bourbon Street and assorted nightclubs.
Many have complained about the mounting price of gas after many manes were shut down even during the hurricane. People are dying, and we’re complaining about paying five dollars at the pump.
Morris Brown recently proposed that many of the students of fellow historically Black college, Xavier University, convene for the rest of the semester or even the school year at their facilities. The idea spread across Morehouse like wildfire. “Morris Brown’s goin’ to be hot again!” “Think about all the girls!” Even I thought about how this could be instrumental about how this may restore Morris Brown to prominence again.
One afternoon, a fellow classmate of mine told me, upon hearing I was from San Antonio, that the New Orleans Saints might spend the upcoming season in San Antonio. The first thing that came to mind was the revenue that it would bring the city that only has one professional sports team and who’s economy is heavily-based on tourism.
In order to cover the costs of government aid, one can be certain that taxes will go up this upcoming year. While $100 million dollars may not have passed through Congress as of yet, one can be certain that funds will be allocated for relief and that the American public will cover the bill eventually.
After Kanye West’s recent comments on NBC, many people have newfound respect for the talented artist. We have to buy Late Registration now as opposed to downloading or bootlegging it in order to support this brother.
With the loss of the city of New Orleans, many people will be moving into Atlanta for a while. Among those will be people from Xavier, Dillard, Tulane, Loyola, and other institutions. There are people that have to transfer schools. There are people who had to uproot their lives. Why are we thinking about picking up those poor, broken girls? Why are we concerned about the new traffic that will come?
And among the worst of all, we have found another thing to blame on President Bush. It’s understandable that the federal government has mishandled this situation, but must we constantly politicize this tragedy? Can we not think about how this may affect mid-term elections or poll results?
We must realize that there is a city that once was and is now for the moment lost. What was once a sprawling city of citizens, a place of merriment and real people with a distinct culture, has been reduced to a sea of ruins, slumbering beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, this loss affects us all in various ways (both good and bad, sad to say), but we mustn’t lose focus on the tragedy at hand and do what we can to help the City of New Orleans return to its great state once more.
By Anthony Harris ‘08
After the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, people all over the nation have found some way to reach out to the people of New Orleans. We have united in some way to help people rebuild their lives and start over once again. Yet, somehow, we still maintained being selfish. I’m not sure how it happened but people are abuzz throughout Morehouse College about themselves in this lost city.
It seems sad, but the first thing that I heard from some people was the question of the future of Mardi Gras. People are homeless, the city is in ruins, but there are people concerned about the integrity of Bourbon Street and assorted nightclubs.
Many have complained about the mounting price of gas after many manes were shut down even during the hurricane. People are dying, and we’re complaining about paying five dollars at the pump.
Morris Brown recently proposed that many of the students of fellow historically Black college, Xavier University, convene for the rest of the semester or even the school year at their facilities. The idea spread across Morehouse like wildfire. “Morris Brown’s goin’ to be hot again!” “Think about all the girls!” Even I thought about how this could be instrumental about how this may restore Morris Brown to prominence again.
One afternoon, a fellow classmate of mine told me, upon hearing I was from San Antonio, that the New Orleans Saints might spend the upcoming season in San Antonio. The first thing that came to mind was the revenue that it would bring the city that only has one professional sports team and who’s economy is heavily-based on tourism.
In order to cover the costs of government aid, one can be certain that taxes will go up this upcoming year. While $100 million dollars may not have passed through Congress as of yet, one can be certain that funds will be allocated for relief and that the American public will cover the bill eventually.
After Kanye West’s recent comments on NBC, many people have newfound respect for the talented artist. We have to buy Late Registration now as opposed to downloading or bootlegging it in order to support this brother.
With the loss of the city of New Orleans, many people will be moving into Atlanta for a while. Among those will be people from Xavier, Dillard, Tulane, Loyola, and other institutions. There are people that have to transfer schools. There are people who had to uproot their lives. Why are we thinking about picking up those poor, broken girls? Why are we concerned about the new traffic that will come?
And among the worst of all, we have found another thing to blame on President Bush. It’s understandable that the federal government has mishandled this situation, but must we constantly politicize this tragedy? Can we not think about how this may affect mid-term elections or poll results?
We must realize that there is a city that once was and is now for the moment lost. What was once a sprawling city of citizens, a place of merriment and real people with a distinct culture, has been reduced to a sea of ruins, slumbering beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, this loss affects us all in various ways (both good and bad, sad to say), but we mustn’t lose focus on the tragedy at hand and do what we can to help the City of New Orleans return to its great state once more.
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