ClassWarz
2005-09-01 08:37:04 UTC
quote
Anger rises among Mississippi's poor after Katrina
Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:12 PM ET
By Paul Simao
BILOXI, Mississippi (Reuters) - For about a decade this gambling town on
Mississippi's Gulf Coast has been the place to be in the state if you were
poor, down on your luck and looking for work.
That changed on Monday when Hurricane Katrina came ashore, leveling hundreds
if not thousands of houses, stores and commercial buildings and killing
scores of residents.
The legalization of gambling in Biloxi created an economic boom in the early
1990s and the city developed a reputation as a place where a person could
get a decent-paying job in the casino or hospitality business.
But not everyone prospered. In the devastated streets and atop the rubble
piles where their homes stood before Katrina blew through, a bitter refrain
is increasingly heard. Poor and low-income residents complain that they have
borne the brunt of the hurricane's wrath.
"Many people didn't have the financial means to get out," said Alan
LeBreton, 41, an apartment superintendent who lived on Biloxi's seaside
road, now in ruins. "That's a crime and people are angry about it."
Many of the town's well-off heeded authorities' warnings to flee north,
joining thousands of others who traveled from the Gulf Coast into northern
Mississippi and Alabama, Georgia and other nearby states.
Hotels along the interstates and other main roads were packed with these
temporary refugees. Gas stations and convenience stores -- at least those
that were open -- sold out of water, ice and other supplies within hours.
But others could not afford to join them, either because they didn't own a
car or couldn't raise funds for even the cheapest motel.
"No way we could do that," said Willie Rhetta, a bus driver, who remained in
his home to await Katrina.
Resentment at being left behind in the path of one of the fiercest
hurricanes on record may have contributed to some of the looting that
occurred in Biloxi and other coastal communities.
A number of private residences, including some in upscale neighborhoods,
were targeted, residents said.
Class divisions, which often fall along racial lines in this once-segregated
southern state, are not new to Mississippi. It traditionally is one of the
poorest states in the United States.
In 2004, Mississippi had the second lowest median household income and the
highest percentage of people -- 21.6 percent -- living in poverty, according
to a report released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.
© Reuters 2005. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters
and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the
Reuters group of companies around the world.
end quote
Class warfare against the poor continues even when disaster strikes. The
looting is just retaliation for being left behind.
ClassWarz
Anger rises among Mississippi's poor after Katrina
Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:12 PM ET
By Paul Simao
BILOXI, Mississippi (Reuters) - For about a decade this gambling town on
Mississippi's Gulf Coast has been the place to be in the state if you were
poor, down on your luck and looking for work.
That changed on Monday when Hurricane Katrina came ashore, leveling hundreds
if not thousands of houses, stores and commercial buildings and killing
scores of residents.
The legalization of gambling in Biloxi created an economic boom in the early
1990s and the city developed a reputation as a place where a person could
get a decent-paying job in the casino or hospitality business.
But not everyone prospered. In the devastated streets and atop the rubble
piles where their homes stood before Katrina blew through, a bitter refrain
is increasingly heard. Poor and low-income residents complain that they have
borne the brunt of the hurricane's wrath.
"Many people didn't have the financial means to get out," said Alan
LeBreton, 41, an apartment superintendent who lived on Biloxi's seaside
road, now in ruins. "That's a crime and people are angry about it."
Many of the town's well-off heeded authorities' warnings to flee north,
joining thousands of others who traveled from the Gulf Coast into northern
Mississippi and Alabama, Georgia and other nearby states.
Hotels along the interstates and other main roads were packed with these
temporary refugees. Gas stations and convenience stores -- at least those
that were open -- sold out of water, ice and other supplies within hours.
But others could not afford to join them, either because they didn't own a
car or couldn't raise funds for even the cheapest motel.
"No way we could do that," said Willie Rhetta, a bus driver, who remained in
his home to await Katrina.
Resentment at being left behind in the path of one of the fiercest
hurricanes on record may have contributed to some of the looting that
occurred in Biloxi and other coastal communities.
A number of private residences, including some in upscale neighborhoods,
were targeted, residents said.
Class divisions, which often fall along racial lines in this once-segregated
southern state, are not new to Mississippi. It traditionally is one of the
poorest states in the United States.
In 2004, Mississippi had the second lowest median household income and the
highest percentage of people -- 21.6 percent -- living in poverty, according
to a report released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.
© Reuters 2005. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters
and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the
Reuters group of companies around the world.
end quote
Class warfare against the poor continues even when disaster strikes. The
looting is just retaliation for being left behind.
ClassWarz