Katrina in black and white

Josh Mankiewicz concludes his comments about Katrina in black and white with:

Is what’s going on in New Orleans an issue of white and black— or it an issue of sort of the haves and the have-nots?

[Rep. Maxine Waters (Republican-Calif.)] thinks its both. "When you take a look at the television screen America is seeing the majority black people who are basically being treated like dogs. They don't see whites for the most part. They see blacks. And so people cannot help but raise the race issue."

...

The truth is that it’s hard to divorce race from class in America. They’re two issues we almost never discuss honestly— unless we can’t avoid it.

Emphasis Mine

Yes, that Marxist concept of class raises its ugly head again. In spite of all the propaganda that we live in a classless society, we see the deadly effects of class war on the poor. And the poor are losing badly. It is the bodies of the poor that are floating in the waters of New Orleans. It is the bodies of the poor that left by the roadside.

And mixed into the class issue is the issue of race. Racism is used by ruling class to divide the poor against each other. When blacks and whites fight each other, the capitalists can carry on screwing both.

This is why most of the news coverage is about race not class. If one race are seen to be getting preferential treatment, either in relief or in news coverage, then the anger and envy of the other races is stirred up against them. As long as racial hatred can be maintained, the ruling class are safe.

As Malcolm X once said:

You cannot have Capitalism without Racism.