Wilma and FEMA vs. the Poor The underreported story...
Joseph Phelan, Miami Workers Center Communications As days turn into weeks the situation worsens for the poor people left behind not only by aid relief but by society as a whole. People who had been living under slumlord conditions are evicted from housing that has been deemed unsafe for human habitation, yet at the same time there is no alternative housing offered. People living paycheck to paycheck are facing the stress of lost jobs do to homelessness or business closures. They are also facing a hostile city government which refuses to spend reimbursable money on temporary vouchers for hotels. The situation in Miami is very similar to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, if not in scale than in intention. A system of aid and relief failed poor people of color. This failure is not a sudden breakdown of an otherwise functioning society. It is a sharp illustration of the structural problem of underdevelopment in particular communities, namely poor, urban, and black and immigrant. Evictions and death due to lack of health care, hunger, and poor living conditions are a reality for these populations. These permanent conditions under the neo-liberal policies of today's capitalism are only accelerated by the crisis of natural disasters. The tragedy of New Orleans was highlighted by immense press coverage, as it should have been, do to the severely dramatic nature of bursting levees and massive flooding. Press coverage and public outcry at the lack of support for low income communities of color leading up to, during, and after Katrina forced President Bush to acknowledge 'that poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America,' a line that cuts sharply against the right wing push to dismantle hard won civil rights. While poor people of color were displaced in relatively large numbers in both Miami and New Orleans the cities' tourist destinations were up and running with electricity first. In Miami, the beach and other wealthy and tourist areas were sealed off and protected by police and national guard under curfews and martial law. This indignity only served to further highlight the sad reality of the U.S. society as illustrated by Gihan Pereara of the Miami Workers Center, 'We are living in two cities, two worlds, one poor and working class, the other rich.' Victims of Katrina in New Orleans and victims of Wilma in Miami lived through a storm of immense natural power and destruction. But more destructive than the winds and water is the disaster of economic injustice and racism This killer does not find its origins in the the Atlantic but in the board rooms of corporate developers, the meetings rooms of real estate speculators and the back rooms of banks. Katrina has now rendered all of New Orleans a clean slate for mega- casino's and luxury hotels, Miami's poor black and immigrant communities were already facing an ironic affordable housing crisis in the middle of an unprecedented building boom with the promise of 70,000 luxury condo units to be built in the next four years. The forced removal of these communities was on the horizon before Wilma, the destructive nature of the hurricane just happened to be more immediately violent. Wilma and Katrina's displacement of poor communities is a windfall for developers. In the wake of Katrina a lot of the talk from political leaders focused on re-building. Because of strong national attention on the area there is a possibility that this rebuilding process will not completely exclude the communities that originally lived there. But with no state-sponsored support prior to and immediately following the storm, a terrible to non-existent tracking program for displaced people, and a legacy of disenfranchisement for poor people of color the question has to be raised: Who will direct and benefit from the rebuilding of New Orleans, and Miami and who will be left out of the picture? The answer to that question is all too clear under the present political regime. It is the poor, the black. the immigrant, the low wage earner, the mother, the children of them all that pay the price. It is on their backs that a few may prosper handsomely, and it is those few that make decisions for all of us. To subscribe: http://lists.portside.org/mailman/listinfo/portside *** http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051121/zirin The Soccer Star and the President by DAVE ZIRIN If there were a Mount Rushmore of international soccer, Diego Maradona's face would adorn it. In 2000 he was named by FIFA (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association), along with Pelé, as the greatest player in the history of the sport. But in his native Argentina, Maradona is a lightning rod for love, hate, brutal criticism and passionate defense. He is Muhammad Ali in 1968--if 1968 lasted for twenty years. Maradona was in the eye of a media storm last weekend, as he participated in a rally against George W. Bush and US trade policy while Bush met with Latin American leaders at the Fourth Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Surely many wondered why this stocky, five-foot-three former athlete was so adored, so incendiary and so intimately involved in a protest against the American President. Maradona went from soccer superstar to Argentine folk hero during the 1986 World Cup, when he avenged the 1982 British defeat of Argentina in the Falklands War. Argentina trounced the UK four years later with two Maradona goals--one with his foot and one with the sly help of his hand, a score that has become known as "the hand of God." His brilliance on the pitch inspired Latin American writer Eduardo Galeano to write, "No one can predict the devilish tricks this inventor of surprises will dream up for the simple joy of throwing the computers off track, tricks he never repeats. He's not quick, more like a short-legged bull, but he carries the ball sewn to his foot and he's got eyes all over his body. His acrobatics light up the field.... In the frigid soccer of the end of the century, which detests defeat and forbids all fun, that man was one of the few who proved that fantasy can be efficient." But Maradona, nicknamed El Diego Dios, struggled with hard drugs. He was suspended from the sport for twelve months in 1991 after testing positive for cocaine. Then he was banned for another fifteen months for taking the banned substance ephedrine during the 1994 World Cup. In 1997, he tested positive again, and eventually slouched to retirement a shell of drug dependency and obesity. His real sin, however, at least in the eyes of the soccer authorities, was a tendency to speak truth to power. He agitated for international labor standards to be applied to soccer and asked team owners to "open the books" so players could know the profit margins inked with their blood and sweat. Corporate media treated his drug addiction like a national spectacle. When arrested for possession in 1991, it was played live on Argentine television. Mocked by the media for drug dependency (they called him "Maracoca"), weight problems and psychiatric distress, Maradona has come back after on-and-off stays at Cuban health clinics for much of the past four years. Now clean and sober, he has experienced a public resurrection as the host of a popular Argentinean talk show, La Noche del 10. Maradona re-emerged on the world stage this weekend, challenging Bush's global agenda with the same kind of daring that once defined his play. In the weeks leading up to the summit, Maradona had urged his viewers to join protests. This included airing parts of a five-hour interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who said, "We are in solidarity with you and with Argentina. We have fought for decades, and we will be happy knowing that you are there." Maradona then arrived at the mammoth stadium protest wearing a "Stop Bush" T-shirt and said, "I'm proud as an Argentine to repudiate the presence of this human trash, George Bush." Maradona also sat shoulder-to-shoulder at the packed rally with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who had come to the conference vowing to "bury" Bush's proposed Free Trade Agreement for the Americas (FTAA). Maradona embraced Chávez to rapturous cheers as he shouted into the microphone, "Argentina has its dignity! Let's throw Bush out of here!" His stance opened him up to criticism. John Tierney, conservative op-ed columnist for the New York Times, slammed Maradona as a hypocrite who benefited from lucrative endorsement deals with global corporations, yet now condemns the excesses of global capitalism. But what Tierney and his ilk don't understand is that this only endears Maradona further to his people. The poor of Argentina know from bitter experience that, unlike Maradona, they will never taste the fruits of globalization. The fact that El Diego Dios now stands alongside them only cements his greatness. Bush left Argentina last weekend embarassed, off-message and without a trade deal. That's hardly surprising. When a former Major League Baseball owner like Bush squares off against a soccer deity in Latin America, you don't need the sports pages to discover who has the greater claim to the hearts and minds of the people. The Fourth Summit of the Americas will be remembered as a moment when a certain frat-boy smirk was wiped off the face of the American President by those who oppose US trade policies--with a little help from the "hand of God." Dave Zirin is the author of What's My Name Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States. Contact him at [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** INDEPENDENT BOOKS/INDEPENDENT MINDS... Huge Book Sale Offers Freedom of Choice Saturday, November 12, 2005 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Southern California Library is holding a one-day-only book sale event that will provide access to thousands of used and new books and pamphlets that are unavailable or hard to find in most superstore chains. The event will take place at the Library on Saturday, November 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Most books and pamphlets will be $1 or $2. Books will be available on such key topics as political theory, socialism, ethnic studies, and history, as well as children's books. Fresh stock is being added to our inventory almost daily. There will be free refreshments. The event is free and open to the public so please come and bring your friends. Families and children welcome. All proceeds will benefit the Library. FREE. EVERYONE WELCOME. @ The Southern California Library 6120 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles (323) 759-6063 • www.socallib.org ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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