That's what witnesses before a house panel are saying today.

"“No one is going to tell me it wasn’t a race issue,” said New Orleans evacuee Patricia Thompson, 53, who is now living in College Station, Texas. “Yes, it was an issue of race. Because of one thing: when the city had pretty much been evacuated, the people that were left there mostly was black.”

According to a recent Gallup poll, NBC News’ Kerry Sanders reported on Tuesday, six out of every 10 black New Orleans residents said if most of Katrina’s victims were white, relief would have arrived sooner."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10354221/

That's a tough question, but I tend to agree that it was racist. The difficult part is that 80% plus of the population of New Orleans is black, so it's hard to say that it was outright racist, with clear evidence of blacks being pushed aside from the helicopters to let whites on first.

If you look at semi-similar situations, like the big earthquakes in California in the 1990s (? .... sorry, have forgotten when, in Oakland, etc.), the response was much quicker.

However, having visited New Orleans well before Katrina, I have always felt an undercurrent of racial tension just below the surface in that city.

And yes, I do believe that the delay in getting help was partially due to racism. The other part I attribute to the fact that this administration in particular just doesn't believe that anything that drastic is going to happen to them (but it did!).

Oh come on. Was it a race issue? Of course not. People are way over sensitive. I live in San Diego and I can't get a job. OH, IT MUST BE A RACIST CONSPIRACY AGAINST WHITE PEOPLE SO ONLY MEXICANS CAN GET JOBS! Of course it's not, I can't get a job because im 14, not because I'm white. I'm sorry the people of New Orleans weren't prepared for a hurricane, but it's not our fault.

it is our fault that we didn't do anything about it. Bush knew that the hurricane was coming and that it was coming strong but he chose to ignore it he didn't want to have to spend money on that he only cares for the rich, for instance he said he would cut taxes but he didn't he has acually raised taxes he has made people pay extra so that he can spend more money on the war and also on helping Halliburton. i mean be for real he needs to start helping this country not making it the center of hate in the world!

Give them hell Cody. They have earned it! You sound like a bright 14 year old. I am 5 times your age so it is good to see some bright young minds on the chat.

Don't you ever think for yourself. Hell, you can probably find some lunatic that will say alien envaders were responsible for the hurricane if you look hard enough but that wouldn't make it so. Many of the blacks in New Orleans are black racist themselves. So the quote just might be coming from a black racist. Most of the so-called black leaders in this country carry the racist baggage.

Actually I don't think I am going to live long enough to see racism in this coungry let alone the world end. Heck, maybe it never will; but what I do see today is the rise of black racism. Today I think there are more black racist than white racist

I do not know if katrina was a race issue. i do not think so. I think it was just general incompetency. I do know I saw on every news station and cspan a tape where they were directly informing Bush that Katrina would hit New Orleans and the levees were likely to fail and it would be an unprecedented disaster on a major american city. He just sat there with the same blank look he had when he heard about the 9/11. Then for four days while the disaster occurs we hear not one word from him on his vacation. Then a tape shows him 4 days post katrina stating he had no idea it would be this bad. Fox,CNN,Cspan every channel showed it and the white house did not deny it.He wqas caught lying on tape. Republicans and Democrats alike were shocked and he lost a lot of republican support. So I think it was laziness not direct racism. Remember he also ignore the warning about 9/11 he received 2 weeks before while again in Crawford, That was the testimony under oath by Rice and she gave him the report. He did not even notify the FAA. I think this man is so far in over his ability maybe he cannot help it but it is frightening.

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BLIND FAITH IN BAD LEADERSHIP IS NOT PATRIOTISM

I doubt it was racial but I was surprised the press let him off so easy on that lie. It was blatent and there for the whole world to see.

2 nights ago a panel of four on Fox 1 women 3 men very neocon were discussing katrina. The entire time was devoted to how Bush could shake up his cabinet to distract from his mishandling of Katrina and the video that showed he was informed made by his own staff. I know they think their helping bush with their stradegies but I think it makes him look worse when they constantly strategize for him. Maybe just addressing the problems and coming up with some solutions or plans would help more than trying to move cabinet members around so everyone will forget about your last mistake.

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BLIND FAITH IN BAD LEADERSHIP IS NOT PATRIOTISM

I hope people realize that... you know... there were a high percentage of non-white people in New Orleans to begin with.

And yay to other teens interested in politcs, me too!