Shame

We are a proud lot, we Americans. We think very highly of ourselves and our abilities. It rallies us through much adversity.

But pride becomes arrogance when we ignore our flaws, don't listen, aren't sensitive.

Now we see the third world brought to one of our most beloved cities. Our city. In many ways, one of our most central hearts of culture.

I've heard it said in my travels that New Orleans is so precious it doesn't deserve to be in the United States -- we don't appreciate it.

We, in this country, hang our heads now. We feel shame that these are our citizens, in our country. It looks like a horror in Haiti.

We have failed somewhere and we dread to look at it.

The failure of government manifests broadly, at every level.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley exclaimed, "I was shocked. We are ready to provide considerably more help than they have requested," the mayor said, barely able to contain his anger during a City Hall news conference. "We are just waiting for the call.

"The people we see suffering on television are our brothers and sisters," Daley said. "It's incumbent on all of us, as American citizens and fellow human beings, to do our part to help them through this terrible tragedy."

According to the Chicago Tribune, in the event of a disaster, the city offered to send 44 Chicago Fire Department rescue and medical personnel and their gear, more than 100 Chicago police officers, 140 Streets and Sanitation, 146 Public Health and 8 Human Services workers, and a fleet of vehicles including 29 trucks, two boats and a mobile clinic.

"So far FEMA has requested only one piece of equipment -- a tank truck to support the Illinois Emergency Response Team, which is already down there," Daley said. "The tank truck is on its way. We are awaiting further instructions from FEMA."

When government cannot care for those most vulnerable, we lose faith that it can care for any of us.

Did it not occur to planners that evacuation plans that relied on private ownership of vehicles would leave 100,000 and more behind? There are those who cannot buy a car. There are those who cannot drive.

Telling prejudices arise: From Harper's Index, August:
Number of bars visited this spring by an undercover team investigating racial discrimination: 40
Percentage of bars that charged black customers more than white customers: 40

That statistic is horrible. Something is very wrong with how we've been treating each other on a daily, basic level.

We now are forced to examine all of it. I pray we find in it a path to a better nation -- to see the brothers and sisters around us, who have always been there, on a daily, basic level.