09.27.2005

Dear New Orleans,

I feel compelled to write this letter to a great city... a city that resonates in my childhood memories, a city of culture and music, a city of food and fun. My family is from New Orleans, and, when I was a little girl, I used to spend every summer there with my grandparents. I still revisit many memories daily, such as a charcoal picture of me done in the French Quarter, Mardi Gras every year, beautiful hot summers, and even a pile of crawfish on the back porch. These are just a few of the scenes that I play in my mind when I think about this city, and these scenes are how I would like to remember it. But I can't. My fond memories are quickly fading and being replaced by the images that I am watching unfold in the media: images of devastation, suffering, and unimaginable pain. These images are too horrible, and they hurt me on every level to my very core.

I felt desperate to make a difference, to help and comfort your people, during the initial aftermath of Katrina. And although I know that my part was small in comparison to the great need coming from the gulf, I am still confident that it helped in some way. I am also confident that if everyone did their own small part, we, as a nation, could help New Orleans heal. Embarrassment does not even begin to describe how I feel about the way local, state, and federal governments treated you. We have failed you, New Orleans, and we are very sorry and deeply ashamed. How could this have happened in this great nation of ours? How could such a great city be so unprepared and neglected? I am hurt, angry, and desperate for the people and animals in New Orleans, but I am confident that those affected will be taken care of well.

As an American, I know that we will all pull together to help you recover both your city and your lives. I believe that the first step toward justification, for all of the cities affected by this act of God, is an apology. And even though I had no direct responsibility for the hurricane, I feel an indirect guilt that we failed you as a country. I am so sorry that those levies were not taken care of ten years ago and that all of the warnings from scientists and scholars did not convince the government, local or federal, to take action in order to prevent this. Truly, I am horrified that so many of you were trapped in a toilet due to inadequate evacuation assistance. Ideally, the city would have provided transportation, pre-arranged housing, and necessary survival supplies for those with nowhere to go. For many nights, images of the Katrina aftermath have recurred in my head as nightmares. I am broken up over the fact that no government agencies helped to prevent such suffering. We cannot tell the future; however, we should still be able to make common-sense decisions as quickly as possible. None of our parachutes opened, and there are people who have a lot of explaining to do. And believe me, they will be held accountable for your suffering.

How will we ever bring justice to your suffering? If it were up to me, first, the governor of Louisiana, along with her staff, would be prosecuted for negligent homicide for the citizens that we lost and child abuse for all the children that were left abandoned. The mayor of New Orleans would also be charged due to his idiotic handling of the pre-hurricane evacuation; he failed miserably in providing a means for the poor to be able to evacuate. I was sickened by the images of unused busses that, with a little forethought, could have been a resource for this idiot mayor. Also, I would exile loudmouth fools who took food and supplies from the mouths of women and children, like Kanye West, who turned a telethon meant to raise critical funds into a finger-pointing circus. If Kanye was so upset, he should have been donating money, time, and even his fancy-ass tour bus to help with evacuations instead of pointing fingers and making ghetto remarks about the President. I would replace him with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, a strong African- American who not only puts her money where her mouth is, but who also acts appropriately on television when trying to generate sympathy... which equates to more money. And Donna Brazile, a leading democrat who grew up impoverished in New Orleans and lost family members to Katrina, would be a strong recommendation for a leadership position due to her insistence that we that we help each other instead of waiting around to cast stones at negligible officials. Next, I would impose extreme psychological and intelligence testing on Mike Brown and, ultimately, also charge him with negligent homicide and abuse. Finally, to prepare for future disasters, I would insist that all government officials who hold positions related to mass-disaster relief be able to pass such stated tests in order to ensure that their intellect can hold down the job.

As for the President, I feel that he was definitely too slow in his response to the disaster from a federal level, and he is also definitely guilty of choosing an idiot to direct FEMA. Thankfully, we are, in the least, lucky enough to have a humble President who admits that he was wrong in his decision making, and, as a result, is going full-force in his efforts to remedy the situation. I am positive that Bush will go above and beyond the federal government's responsibility and do everything in his power to make things right. I also believe that the American people will band together and make up for the relief efforts that our government has been unable to provide. If we work together instead of placing blame, we can get through this. Let's stop pointing fingers and stop making excuses; let's get off our asses and contribute the money and time to help everyone involved.

The bottom line at the end of the day is that a tragedy in one of our greatest cities has occurred and people need help. People need shelter, food, medical care, and, most of all, comfort. Why focus so much time on chopping heads and laying blame when so many people are hurting? I believe that this devastation is a red flag from God, and it is emblazoned with the words, "Get Ready!" We are obviously not prepared for a terrorist attack or a natural disaster of this magnitude, and I feel God tapping us on the shoulder. Unfortunately, New Orleans was the sacrificial lamb meant to wake America up. So, wake up America!

Is there a silver lining to this cloud? Absolutely. We will, once again, pull together all of America and not only learn from this disaster, but also learn to prevent outcomes such as this one during others to follow. We will rebuild New Orleans; we will not come undone. Black or white, rich or poor, we love you New Orleans. In our great country, there are two types of people: people who talk and people who do. I choose to do.

Sincerely yours,
Anna Benson