Take A Look At Yourself

Are we a nation of racial and religious profilers? Do we (the American people) look at life through a racial lens, constantly making assumptions of other people based on skin color and religious affiliation?

We are a country that mass produce, generalize most things, and make quick assumptions on just about every decision. We like things quick. So, might we like to figure out who or what a person might be as fast as possible? Well, maybe, but I’m going to assume not all of America is as narrow-minded as that. Though, I can say with certain confidence that everyone has had a moment of racial or religious profiling in ones life, however innocent it may have been.

The reason I introduce the issue of racial and religious profiling is that I have just finished the book “Zeitoun”, by David Eggers. In this narrative nonfiction Abdulrahman Zeitoun -- a member of the New Orleans community during the catastrophic natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina -- is taken in to custody for suspicion of looting. With out giving up too much of his fabulous story, Zeitoun is wrongfully detained and later accused of being a terrorist.

Zeitoun is Muslim, an immigrant from Syria, and a native of New Orleans for over 10 years when Hurricane Katrina hit.

Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centers in New York City, better known as 9/11, it seems our nation has taken a drastic turn on how we view the Muslim religion and Islamic culture. Zeitoun’s story speaks true to this sentiment. Understandably, immediately after the attacks airport security was heightened among other security issues, but what may be a harder to understand is how religious profiling and discrimination against Muslim’s took on a new rage. Muslim’s living in America prior to 9/11 went through their daily routines, work lives and family responsibilities seemingly unfazed. Yet, after the attacks these same Muslim’s live in a nation where the people they have daily contact with hate or fear them based on their religious affiliation and looks.

As I scoured blogs and articles around the web searching for more insight on this line of thinking I came across a common theme.

The belief that while not all Muslim’s are terrorists, most terrorists are Muslim.

This is of course a fear-based assumption, and indicative of our thinking today, mainly from 9/11, but these assumptions are simply false. In fact, Islamic Extremists make up only 6% of terrorists attacks on America. Yet, the Muslim-American community is wrongfully thrust in to this category and the assumption that ‘they’ are behind every attack on America.

10 years later we are still dealing with the issue. To put it simply, America is still not completely comfortable with the Muslim-American community. One such example is the backlash of the possible construction of a mosque near ground zero. I use the word mosque because that is how the media has spun it to me, but what is really being built is a community center.

Let me say that I do not mean to use “10 years later” as a statement that we should be moved on from 9/11. America should never forget the lives lost that day, and honoring those lives every year is something that should happen.

Rather, I say “10 years later” in reference to the drastic line of thinking that continues to this day. A line of thinking that should not keep continuing to pigeonhole an entire community based on a small group of extremist who affiliate with the same religion as them selves. The issue of the mosque (or community center) is a sensitive one that has radicals on both sides. Clearly the greatest issue is the location of the project, though there is some controversy on how that is being portrayed. I’m not here to get in to the details or the pros cons of the community center -- that is for another argument (click here if you would like to see some pros and cons). Instead, I’m trying to point out that America is still sensitive (61% oppose the mosque construction) to the Muslim-American community, and wrongfully take a small group’s horrific actions and blame it on the entire Muslim faith, and anyone who represents it.

I mentioned the heightened security post 9/11, in airports and other facilities, as a first step in making America a safer place. You remember the heightened security at airports don’t you? Waiting in lines for hours just to get past that metal detector. It still happens today, in fact, airport security in the past year has taken some heat in its approach to fully-body scans and invasion of privacy.

Recently questions have arisen about whether or not airport security should choose to limit who they search, using racial and religious profiling (singling out young male Muslims coming from the Middle East) to target the people who ‘should’ be searched.

Clearly this has its issues, there are obvious flaws to this approach: it invites terrorist’s who do not fit the profile to easily surpass security, but the major issue is the seclusion of a people based race and religion.

America is split on whether or not racial and religious profiling should be relied upon to further inspect a passenger.

Each side has its reasons why there should or should not be: catching a potential terrorist from causing harm to the United States is a positive. Stopping useless passenger scans and searches, like the women who did not want her breast milk going through the X-ray, would be swell as well.

Yet, the argument being made seems a bit contradicting. For the people who do not fit the alleged profile, having to be stopped for silly reasons may be an inconvenience.

But, think of the people who are going to be stopped, searched and most likely violated, who are not terrorists, because of their race or religion.

What seems worse?

You’d think it would be ridiculous to be stopped because of the size of your toothpaste container, imagine being searched because you happen to be Catholic.

These issues are disheartening.

America can’t seem to find a common ground with its own people. Such is life these days, though, as we must force our selves to sway to the extreme of one side and completely disregard the action of the other.

Topics such as the community center and airport security are sensitive subjects, but subjects that should be addressed.

With us, it seems there must always be a right and wrong, and while some are right and others are clearly wrong, there are just some subjects where a middle ground is needed. Where right and wrong go out the window. Because with both nothing will move forward.

There has to be middle ground, whether or not we come to one is a different story.

Hurricane Katrina and PTSD

Hurricane Katrina destroyed many things: homes, schools, families, and hearts. In Dave Egger’s book Zeitoun he explained one families journey through this natural disaster and the lasting affects it had on their psyches. Zeitoun and Kathy, the leaders of the Zeitoun family, both suffered from some version of post traumatic stress disorder. Post traumatic stress disorder, commonly known as PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event that caused intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

There are four key symptoms of PTSD: reliving the event, avoiding situations that remind you of the event, feeling numb, and feeling keyed up. These factors can vary in intensity and make living a normal life extremely hard for a victim of this disorder. People with PTSD can often experience hopelessness, shame and despair and consequently become depressed or develop anxiety, alcohol or drug problems.

Both Zeitoun and Kathy exemplified symptoms of PTSD. Zeitoun had a hard time sleeping; he would stay up late thinking about people and places that have been burned into his brain from that horrible month after Hurricane Katrina. He also said that he would try to avoid driving past the Claiborne house and Greyhound Station because they held bad memories and feelings for him. Kathy had a difficult time as well, she ended up loosing basic cognitive functions like not being able to understand English, loosing feeling in her hands, memory loss, and anxiety.

One of the largest misconceptions of PTSD is that symptoms manifest immediately after a traumatic event. In many cases, it takes a month or two before symptoms are noticeable. They are usually brought forth by stress and/or old memories. Kathy and Zeitoun had a month of high stress and anxiety after the hurricane but did not feel the PTSD effects until a short time after that. Although this couple has shown signs of PTSD and is currently living in the remnants of New Orleans, the center of the disaster, neither of them has sought help.

Hurricane Katrina affected everyone. There is common social theory that exclaims that every person in the world can be connected to any other person in the world by six people, hence its name, six degrees of separation. This theory just proves my point further that this one disaster was able to affect all of America. America which is one of the leading countries in this world right now was shaken up by this fast and unstoppable force. We have experienced natural disasters before but not in a while and not with this big of an affect.

1.2 million people in the northern Gulf coast from Louisiana to Alabama were evacuated under government order, the final death toll was 1,836 people, an estimated 400,000 jobs were lost, about 275,000 homes were destroyed, 705 people are reported as still missing, and it is estimated to have cost the United States a $110 billion in damages.

Now if you don't know one of those 1.2 million people then someone you know does. This event was broadcast all over the world on every media platform because of our governments failure to help fast and efficiently from the beginning. With this disaster affecting so many people Americans were sitting at the edge of their seat waiting for the news to tell them what they wanted to hear or maybe hoping that they wouldn't hear anything at all.

The physical damages that this natural disaster cost people is nothing in comparison to the psychological damages it has created. In a paper presented in 2007, professors found that PTSD was diagnosed in over 38% of the people who came into one Emergency Department facility that they were studying in New Orleans. This is more than ten times higher than the 3.6% prevalence in the general US population.

There are good treatments available for PTSD. When you have PTSD, dealing with the past can be hard. Instead of telling others how you feel, you may keep your feelings bottled up but talking with a therapist can help you get better. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one type of counseling. It appears to be the most effective type of counseling for PTSD. In cognitive therapy, your therapist helps you understand and change how you think about a trauma and its aftermath. The goal is to understand how certain thoughts about trauma cause stress and make symptoms worse. The Zeitouns obviously are not reaching out for help but it shouldn’t be the victims having to ask for help. There should be programs and people reaching out to as many of these survivors as humanly possible. With an entire city of people who have survived through a natural disaster like this one we should be stepping up and making sure that it does not effect their psychological development for the rest of their life.

Between January 1, 2011 and March 15, 2011 there has already been 11 major natural disasters.

In just three months thousands of people all over the world have died due to these natural disasters that no one can prevent or even sometimes predict. What if the next one happens to you? PTSD is not something you can prevent either but it is something you can deal with it. There are far too many people with this disorder not getting the help that they need and that needs to change now.

Death by Silk Rope...

The recent YouTube video featuring a white UCLA student complaining about the Asian students on her campus says a lot about the way Asians are currently perceived in our country. I'm not saying she speaks for all white people or America for that matter, but it is worth noting that a lot of what she has to say is often considered common knowledge.

From her annoyances about their families being around to her mocking of the Chinese language (actually, it's not really made apparent what language she is ridiculing, nor do I believe she has the capacity to understand that there exists different languages), this isn't new material, and it's certainly not the worst I've heard.

In fact, this girl wouldn't be alone if she brought up the other stinging stereotypes that permeate a race that is the fastest growing of all major ethnic groups in the US.

I don't want to condemn this country as a place that is ill suited to accommodate multiple races, but I can't be alone in saying that there is far too heavy a reliance on past actions dictating present standards.

There is a sense of stasis in the world of racial revolution where an Asian man or an Asian woman can't be described as who they are without their ethnic prefix as a determiner, setting in motion a wave of harmful preconceptions this country has not noticed enough to change.

I could go on about how these biases pervade multiple aspects of the Asian American life, but I want to look at what I believe to be at the center of a lot of this and that is the misrepresentation of Asian genders.

Eastern ideals have always been at odds with what the West has deemed appropriate for a gender.

For Asians, solidarity and group-mindedness outweigh the importance of self. This focus on the group rather than the individual plays out in a lot of cinema. Martial arts films such as "Legend of the Fist" star a protagonist whose sole motivation for the film is vengeance for his school's fallen master and to bring back honor for himself and his school. There is seldom a love interest in the vein of Western Hollywood where macho heroics win the girl. Being heroic means self sacrifice, wisdom, and loyalty; all non-active qualities.

American heroics by contrast often include independence, bravery, and notoriety. The hero always gets the girl and something probably blows up behind him.

While analyzing conventions in Western and Eastern film is one thing, it becomes another when these notions manifest themselves into actual opinions of people who are representative of these two cultures.

America was founded on the idea of independence. Confidence and self-reliance have always marked a great man in our culture. We consider facing a task alone to be brave and noble and find that dependence can equate weakness.

Asian culture is in no way ethnically more cowardly than our Western counterparts, there just isn't the desire to make such things so public. Asian men, then, come off as meek and effeminate. Asian men are typically portrayed in Western media as number crunchers and video game nerds. The only Asian men given any sort of respect for their physical prowess are the martial artists (and sadly, they've even taken that away from us).

Perhaps it is this de-masculinization that caused Asian men to be considered the least attractive race to females in America.

Asian women, on the other hand, suffer from quite the opposite: a hyper-sexualized opinion from the West.

Madama Butterfly tells the story of Navy Lieutenant Pinkerton, stationed in Japan who, upon leasing a house, also procures a geisha wife: Cio Cio San. Despite her family's objections, the two are wed with the Lieutenant knowing full well he will one day, instead, marry a "real wife."

When Pinkerton returns to America, Cio Cio (having given birth to their child) patiently awaits her husband despite advances from a Japanese prince.

When Pinkerton finally does return, it is with his new wife. And despite Cio Cio's maddening despair, she allows this to happen with no protest. Instead, she dutifully proceeds to take her own life.

What is illustrated here is the Western male fantasy of a submissive Asian bride. It doesn't help dispel this stereotype that Madama Butterfly is the most performed play in America. It perpetuates the idea that not only will Asian women submit to their male counterpart, but that they will do so willingly even more so then they would for their own race.

The other side of this stereotype is the "Dragon Lady." This exotic figure represents the mystique embodied by "Oriental" women. They provide the fantasy of an "aggressive or opportunistic sexual being." One of the more notable types of this character was Ling Woo, portrayed by Lucy Liu in the show "Ally McBeal."

This depiction of Asian women sets forth a series of promises that they simply cannot and should not fulfill. There is a certain fetishization of the Asian female simply because she is not understood or, rather, is thought to be understood.

These stereotypes play on the dominating tendencies of the West towards the East. Consider the occupation of India by Britain or the destruction the US laid upon Japan during WWII and it's easy to see how the East is commonly viewed as something to be conquered.

I'm not illustrating these points to raise the Asian American community's racial issues above those of the African or Latino/a variety nor is this an attempt to compete to see which minority has it worse.

I believe there is a certain insight that is missing from the general American public as far as just who and what we, as Asians, signify. When all anyone sees are Asians within the stereotypes set forth by how we are portrayed, there's little room to prove people wrong. These preconceived notions of what define an Asian man or woman are setting back any sense of progress other races have made in this country.

I don't want to have to play second fiddle to Tom Cruise or the Green Hornet.

I don't want to have to be good at math and breaking boards with my fists to be considered noteworthy.

Even more, I don't want my children growing up in a world that attempts to convince them that they are less than great.

I will hold on to our one role model, though. He's brave, adventurous, kind, and resourceful. Keep it up, kid...



love matty!

New Orleans and Japan

I think I've already generated a sort of response in my head, but I wanted to bring the question up with any one who is actually reading other posts. The recent earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that have hit Japan have decimated their country in a way very similar to Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. It's hard to make too general of a statement, but I think that the recent activity in Japan will end up being much worse than Katrina. Consider the numbers. The final death toll for Katrina was estimated to be about 4,081 where Japan is already looking at 3,400 lives lost. That same article is touting the disasters in Japan to eventually cost more than Katrina as well considering only about 14-17% of Japanese residences have earthquake insurance.

Despite all of these facts and figures about which was worse, there was another comparison that I am interested in, and that's the looting that occurred in Katrina. If this is bound to be so much worse than what happened in 2005, why is the response so different? Part of my assumption lies in the cultural differences. When you compare both countries, the US' crime rate is much higher but its overall altruism when looking at how trustworthy its people are is much lower. If you look at those same questions regarding Japan, you find the opposite. I feel that there is a stronger sense of solidarity in the East as well. The Western world boasts a DIY sort of mentality where you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do what you need to to stay afloat. That same mindset does not exist as prominently in a culture that values honor in their society.

With that being said, there is also the fact that other natural disasters have struck our country that did not result in the sort of looting we saw in Katrina. This brings up the idea of the effects of such a disaster on a community that largely lives below the poverty line. For those who still question "why did these people loot?", I think you need to start looking at it as if you were in their position. Despite the fact that you need to survive, think about the inequalities that surround you as a person living in poverty. As harsh as it may sound, looting can lead to less prosperous peoples gaining amenities they might never have dreamed of owning before. I don't mean to cast judgment upon the residents of New Orleans saying that they attempted to capitalize on the disaster, it's just that I can see justification for it on so many levels, I don't understand why the question is "why wouldn't you loot?"

Just thought this might pose some interesting discussion considering what has happened in Japan so recently.


love matty!

Awsners

I feel like during times of need people turn to faith to answer their questions or to give blame. In the entire book we see that Zeitoun believes that god has a plan. I feel that when people aren’t given a direct answer or feel like they need one, they turn to their religion or some sort of higher being to put them at ease.

I personally believe that people need a sense of hope, just like Zeitoun did during the entire time of the book. Zeitoun felt that god was the reason for the hurricane and god had sent him to help aid the cause. Zeitoun was almost like a modern day savior saving people who were trapped.

http://mediamatters.org/research/200509130004

For those who do not seek faith for answers, they seek that which threatens them the most. Since 9/11, the US was on high alert and kept a close eye on Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia because they threatened the US way of life. We tend to profile people and classify everyone based on looks, religion, and stereotypes. Because Zietoun fit the stereotypical view of “Al queda,” those who threatened the American way of life, then it seemed “right” to detain him.

Again “God” plays a huge role in the American way of life, “Under god,” a trademark placed everywhere, recited in schools, common areas, etc. Those who practice religion, because of fear, correlated the 9/11 attacks with the devil, thus making Muslims a threat. This goes both ways, those who associated with Al queda saw us as the devil, and their actions were just because god told them to.

http://www.actupny.org/YELL/falwell.html

“God has a plan.” Zietoun truly believed that god had a plan for him and believed that everything that led up to the hurricane had a purpose. He believed that he was being tested by god, because he had no answer for what has happened to his community, to his country, or what has happened to him. In the end ignorance is bliss, and we turn to that which has no answers for all the awnsers…

Blog 3

Hurricane Katrina was a stressful event, and to add to that, Zeitoun was arrested for things that he didn't do. These events are traumatic for the Zeitoun, but they prove to be traumatic for his family as well. When Kathy can't seem to find him, she definitely seems to develop anxiety. She panics a lot and doesn't really talk about how she feels or what she'd going through. She bottles up her feelings to "protect" her children. Because of all of these feelings being trapped and all the anxiety that built up over not being able to reach Zeitoun, and even perhaps being away from him, Kathy has developed PTSD.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder. It commonly affects people who are in the battlefield during war, but as Kathy proves can affect people going through other traumatic events too. While reading through Zeitoun, you can see where Kathy is developing anxiety, such as when she didn't know what to tell her children, which leads to her PTSD.
Despite all the things he went through, Zeitoun manages to keep his calm collected self. Rather than develop PTSD he developed what he called "heartbreak" from being apart from his family. Being reunited with his family made the pain he was having in his side miraculously disappear. He also managed to take care of other health issues in a rather MacGyver way, such as the metal splinter in his foot that he removes with shards of a Tabasco bottle. It's rather ingenious I thought, but unfortunate that he wasn't able to receive medical attention simply due to neglect. He also proactively tries to get medical attention for his side, and is neglected once again from the doctor. Perhaps if it were a more serious issue the doctor would have looked at it.
Both Kathy and Zeitoun have proven to be strong individuals, but with Kathy's PTSD I'm surprised that they had another baby. Perhaps Kathy also has postpartum depression too? Maybe if Kathy hadn't kept her feelings inside, and had told her friends and gotten support, she wouldn't have PTSD? There are studies currently going on for the prevention of PTSD and it shows that reducing anxiety can help the prevention of PTSD. I'm also curious if there were any lasting affects on the children, aside from having to be more proactive around the house. The stress of being away from a parent can be hard on a child, and these kids didn't even know where their father was.
This book was an interesting read, and I'm glad I read it. I feel like even though there was a large population of people who were misrepresented, Zeitoun definitely had a point of view, and a different perspective of what happened during Katrina than others.

By now it is well documented how horribly our government handled Hurricane Katrina. FEMA's delayed response in rescue and relief was embarrassing for this country and devastating for the residents of the New Orleans. FEMA knew such events could take place in New Orleans, and in fact had devised some sort of plan to prepare themselves to aid such an event all the way back in 2001! Clearly their plan failed. FEMA knew of 3 catastrophes that could strike the United States: a terrorist attack on New York City, a large earthquake in San Francisco, and a hurricane striking New Orleans. The New York Times reported that FEMA believed Hurricane Katrina could be the deadliest of the all, yet they clearly did not prepare themselves properly for such an event.

There are countless stories on how FEMA failed the people of New Orleans, one could go on forever bashing their incompetency. One small example is one that also relates to Zeitoun and is still effecting peoples lives today. Though it is only a brief snippet in the whole debacle Zeitoun went through I think its still worth mentioning. FEMA offered and delivered the Zeitoun's a free trailer for which to live, or use however they would like. Yet, they were virtually given a gigantic trailer to stare at as it was not set up properly and were issued no keys to enter the 'home'. After 14 months of countless phone calls trying to resolve the issue, Kathy wrote a story to a local paper and the trailer was removed immediately, unused.

That story seems almost meaningless when you take into account the entire situation Zeitoun and his family went through; the reason I use it is because it is something that has come in the news recently. FEMA has issued the last 424 tenants of these trailers to be out of them by the end of April. I didn't know there was timeline for recovery... Unlike the Zeitoun's, some families in New Orleans and the surrounding areas have not completely rebuilt their lives or homes. The trailers are the only home these people have for the time being. Yes, it has been 5 years since this disaster but it may take some longer to rebuild than others. FEMA is stating that they will fine (or charge) anyone not out of the trailer by the scheduled date $800 a month. In fact, the city of New Orleans has taken a similar policy, saying they will charge the remaining trailers in their city $500 a day. Some families can't afford to rebuild and move out during this timeline and now they are threatening to charge them money? Unbelievable. I could understand if these families were free loading, and heck maybe some are, but we are not that far removed from Hurricane Katrina. Yes, some of positive has come to New Orleans since: a Super Bowl title and still being one of the hottest tourist destinations. Some families have not fully recovered from this event and should not be rushed to do so.

Zeitoun Blog 3

For this blog I am going to take the psychological lens, specifically talking about PTSD. I started this blog on Thursday evening, about one paragraph in my friend left my apartment after a night of studying together, within 3 minutes of her leaving she called me to tell me to turn on the news. I live three blocks away from Ocean Beach on Sloat and she lives two blocks away from Ocean Beach off of Lincoln Street. I proceeded to watch the news until about 1:30 am. All I could get out of the media was Hawaii was freaking out and the west coast wasn’t technically on Tsunami watch “yet”. I semi freaked out until my boyfriend called me to tell me I was being silly and that nothing would happen other than maybe Sammy (my car) getting a little wet. I went to bed reassured that my apartment would still be there when I woke up. Around 5:30 am I get a call from my mother, frantically asking questions, “Where are you? Are you ok? Are you coming to Sonoma? Are you being evacuated?”. The rest of the morning was pretty much the same, phone calls and text from family and friends asking if I was ok, needed somewhere to go, and if I was prepared. Well we all saw how that worked out, we got some high waves at the beach and that’s about it. The whole point of this story is that if this had gone on for days, the fear inside of you or your loved ones -- I do not if I would be able to handle it. Also if the “Tsunami” would have actually hit us in the bay area and something were to happen to my home what would happen then? Well the dreams/nightmares I had that morning gave me plenty to imagine from but thankfully I still have not had to go through anything so traumatic.

Now back to the book, Zeitoun like many of the other thousands of people affected by Hurricane Katrina suffered a devastating loss of loved ones, homes, schools and so much more. Loosing any part of your life is hard but to loose it all can have a lasting affect on a person. The people affected by this hurricane saw some terrible things happen right in front of their eyes and sometimes to people they knew. Post traumatic stress syndrome is an anxiety disorder that can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event that caused intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

I am hoping that you all have finished the book by now so I will not be ruining anything but it was clear that Kathy was suffering from PTSD and it was having very strong effects on her. She was loosing herself because of the mental strain Hurricane Katrina had put on her and unfortunately if she doesn’t receive help she will only get worse. I have taken more than my fair share of psychology classes and PTSD seems to be one of the most curious disorders. PTSD can come in all shapes and sizes and be caused by a variety of different experiences’. After reading this book you would think that Zeitoun would be the one who has such a hard time adjusting back to a normal life, the man went through starvation, prison, and a hurricane. I believe that the reason why Zeitoun was not as mentally damaged by this event as Kathy is because he had hope through out the entire experience. He believed that it all would work out in the end. On the other hand Kathy was frantic in trying to find her husband and in having to answer to his family and even had started to prepare herself for her life without him. Zeitouns personality and way at looking at life has kept him from going down a dark whole and although he still has issues they have not overtaken him, unfortunately that is not the case for Kathy.

After finishing Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, I was left with so many unanswered questions. It baffles me that our government treats people the way it treated Zeitoun and there was no consequences for its actions. I had no clue that people were treated the way they were during Katrina—treated like animals for looting. Why was our government building a prison two days after the hurricane? The sheriff of Orleans parish even called the warden of Angola prison to ask for supplies and labor to build a makeshift prison before the hurricane (310). These prisons had food, water, and even toilets—many of the things the refugees waiting for rescue did not.

Was everyone as ignorant about the circumstances surrounding Katrina as I was before reading Zeitoun or were they just choosing to ignore the facts? If so, then it saddens me that no one did anything about it. Why weren’t more people angered at what went on? Maybe because I was only eighteen at the time and was in my own little world, but I don’t remember any of this being on the news. When natural disasters happen in other countries America always does what it can to help. Our government has even already sent Navy ships and relief supplies to Japan, but it 5 days for the government to get to New Orleans.

Zeitoun was one of the few people who were actually doing some good after Katrina. Instead of treating him like the hero he was, they treated him like a terrorist. Think about it, who was actually terrorizing who? Zeitoun was the passive one, while the guards and police were the ones terrorizing him. Instead of using all this money and manpower to build prisons and arrest “looters” and “terrorists,” the American government could have been helping the people trapped, starving, and dying in the streets. After the whole ordeal was over, Kathy and Zeitoun decided to sue. But the outcome was not revealed in the book—I would like to know what happened. I wonder if anyone was ever punished for his or her wrongs.

If you take away race, religion, and socio-economic status, these were just American citizens dying in our own streets without the help of their government. When we think of America, we think of a land of freedom, of opportunity; instead those affected by Hurricane Katrina lost hope and faith in their government and their country.

Blog Post 2

I've actually finished the book, so I hope I don't give too much away because I don't remember what happens in this section, and I don't have the book with me.

Zeitoun's family has proven to be quite religious up to this point, but I think this portion has shown how much they value their faith. From personal experience, I know it's hard to not know where your dad is or what he's doing. My dad is in the Army and when he was deployed to Iraq, there were times where it was too dangerous for him to tell us where he was, and he wouldn't talk to us for weeks at a time. To see Kathy rely on her faith so much is astounding, rather than to turn and wonder why this was happening to her and her family. She didn't even know if he was dead or alive, yet she kept firm in her faith. I think that many people would lose hope at that point, or turn against, wondering why them.
I think that her faith is what grounds her. Kathy could have definitely lost it more than she did. Considering the circumstances, and the fact that she had 4 children to consider also, yet she remained mostly calm, doing what she thought was best for her family.
What also amazes me is how grounded Zeitoun is. He was arrested and put in jail for what seemed like terrorist charges, yet he still took the time to pray with his friend Nasser every day. He wondered why it was happening to him, but not in a way that he was turning against his faith, but just because he was a good man, and wasn't doing anything wrong. He also wasn't able to talk to his wife, and had injuries that weren't addressed. If it were me, I would probably be mad, and wondering "Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?", yet Zeitoun kept praying. He also made do with his circumstances, using dirt to clean himself off. He really didn't dwell on how bad he had it. On a little side note, I thought the love he had for Kathy and the kids, and how hard he worked to get ahold of them was really sweet.
Hurricane Katrina brought together many people in churches. Between the relief effort and churches coming together to provide for people in need, religion played a big role. But Kathy and Zeitoun got through the hurricane, and this was worse than that, yet they still held strong. I feel like that amount of faith in something is really inspiring, whether you're religious or not. The ability to believe in something so strongly, and not falter such as Kathy and Zeitoun did.

During last weeks class we reviewed a blog that brought up the question of why Zeitoun and his companion were passed up multiple times by rescue & military boats when searching for help. Some reasons were race, possibly greater things to worry about in the city, maybe they just couldn't hear them. Who knows? As I continued to read I thought the answer would come up, there had to a possible explanation, but as I continued on things just got even more confusing for me. My initial reasoning for them being passed up was because of Zeitoun's race. That possibly they would not help someone like Zeitoun because of the way he looks, resembling that of the men they are fighting overseas. This may be the reason but I'm not necessarily looking for the answer to why they got passed up. My curiosity is why Zeitoun and his three companions were detained (captured really) and accused to be terrorists all the sudden.

Maybe I'm taking the whole passing Zeitoun's boat up to a level it was not intended, but how can Zeitoun be passed up one moment, and then be considered a terrorist the next? Was it becasue of the suspiscion of looting? Kathy mentioned in their story that Zeituon should be careful, because of the 9/11 attacks he could be subject to profiling. Could this group of military personal that took Zeitoun and the other men be part of that thinking, and maybe the other men and women who passed him earlier were not? Frankly, I'm just confused how Zeitoun could be wandering the murky waters of New Orleans without much issue but when he is in his home he becomes a threat. Maybe it is because they thought he was looting and the "evidence" ($10,000 cash etc.) that was brought against them conjured up the idea that they were terrorists, along with his nationality and appearance. But in the reading they were accused of being terrorists before their bags and belonging had been searched, well at least in the timeline of the book.

I'm just finding it hard to understand the turnaround of events that are happening. If it were based solely on looks wouldn't Zeitoun have been taken when he was right there in the open? Maybe just the site of Zeitoun in the nicer part of town, inside a home with what I'm assuming are nicer belongings is enough for them to suspect a false affiliation.

There is likely no link between the two situations (Zeitoun's boat being passed and Zeitoun being held captive), but there must be answer to why, at that time, he was imprisoned. As far as I've read (about pg. 273) the questions of why they are being imprisoned are being asked but no answers have been given. Maybe I will find out...

Difficulty Paper/ Second Blog

A lot has happened in the last hundred or so pages (105-202) of Zeitoun I read this week. What stood out to me the most out of everything that happened in this section was the strong presence of armed guards and the question of what where they really doing there? The official story is that the National Guard and other various mercenaries where they to protect American citizens from the looters, murders, rapists, etc. that infested the city after the hurricane. But why were there so many of them. Many claim that the report of murders and rapes, not only in the city but in the Superdome as well, were over exaggerated causing police and armed guards to overreact themselves.

Because of the "animalistic" state that survivors of the hurricane went into, it was decided that the National Guard would confiscate firearms from any remaining citizen. I don't know if I think this is a good idea or a horribly stupid one. Get rid of the remaining firearms and maybe murders and looting will go down, but take away firearms and people are not as well protected. Maybe the citizens in New Orleans needed to protect themselves from the government and it's National Guard that overzealously believed they could not be left to their own devices. According to some news reports (used in hyperlinks) many citizens were harmed or even killed by the police when they were just trying to get help, and in some cases the police tried to cover their mistakes but hiding the bodies of the innocent victims they murdered. The whole situation confuses me. Maybe because I grew up in California, and liberal Los Angeles at that, but I do not think all this force is necessary. Even months after Hurricane Katrina, the National Guard was still being called back into the city whenever order seemed to go awry. Thinking that the citizens felt “very safe” with these armed guards around, the government seemed to use them almost as a threatening tactic against future anarchy.

Similarly, Zeitoun witnessed the over population of armed guards when he stayed behind after Hurricane Katrina. The guards did not seem to be any help when Zeitoun encountered them. He repeatedly needed their help and he was shut down every time. First, when an over weight woman was stuck in her house and needed help getting out. Zeitoun tried to flag down several passing boats with armed guards on it but was simply ignored. Maybe they had a mission they were on, but would it have really hurt for just one of the boats to stop to help if it meant saving lives? Another event where the armed guards let him down is when Zeitoun goes to elicit help to get his elderly neighbors out of their house and evacuated from the city. Zeitoun asks the man and the man just brushes him off; first telling him he needs to go to the a different compound and then by telling Zeitoun it will be down and eventually doing nothing about it. In this instance, and probably many others like it, Zeitoun has to help himself. The citizens of New Orleans where not allowed to protect themselves but had to save themselves. This does not seem right to me.

You Know We're... Below Sea Level, Right?

I'm actually unsure of where I'm supposed to be in the book so I think I'll leave my last post to be a little more content based. Anyways, I was really interested in our discussions in class about why the city of New Orleans was built where it is. I mean, not only are you below sea level, but you are building in a high risk area for hurricanes! Some of the things I was reading led me to believe that the issue of being below sea level got worse over time, but according to this article, there were levees in place as early as the 17th century. If that is indeed the case, then they were well aware of the dangers that existed with their chosen location.

With all of that, though, the location did bring a lot of potential benefits. Its proximity to such a large body of water and major river aided the movement of goods and people alike throughout its early years. I suppose it's both good and bad, as its port made for a prominent destination for slave traders as well.

Despite this, the impact of humans really has been detrimental to the state of the city. A lot of blame is pointed at the levees. Before their construction, sediment from the Mississippi River would continually build new land on top of what was being washed out by the flow which maintained a steady height above sea level. The levees that are put in place to control flooding actually prevent sediment from building up, forcing it to wash out to the sea and allowing the water levels to rise to dangerous levels unless bigger or better levees are built.

Mike Tidwell points the blame at human hands as well, claiming that the flooding of the river naturally maintains the structure of the soil. The alluvial soil that is present in the waters compacts as it is pressurized causing land mass to sink.

So basically, New Orleans was built because it was super-duper convenient. And that's a great reason to build a city in a set location. The issue was not the location though, it was the attempts at controlling the nature of that habitat that led to unsafe living conditions. One of the articles I read pointed in the direction of The Control of Nature by John Mcphee which touches on an attempt to redirect the Mississippi River.



love matty!

Zeitoun Blog 2

Media Lens-
I have just spent the last hour looking through videos of Hurricane Katrina on youtube. A lot of them showed similar images of horror: water, destruction, black people stranded or walking through water up to their chest, black looters, cops with guns, army people with guns, dead bodies in the water, cars underwater and so much more. My point with this is the media portrays Hurricane Katrina in a very particular way, New Orleans is destroyed and the poor black people are left to survive on their own.

I have assumed that this is because it IS a horrible tragedy and they are making sure people understand that this is something that everyone is going to need to help with. Financially they needed support from whoever can give it. Also their was going to have to be the migration of survivors and victims to all over America that people were going to need to take in, hire, and help. Another thing I noticed was the media was only talking about the looters in a negative fashion; these people are greedy, stealing, looking out only for themselves etc. but how about these people just loss their homes and have no basic necessities to live off of?

In watching a lot of videos on Hurricane Katrina I came across some patterns. Videos that were featured on television shortly after the hurricane showed "bad" people looting, people getting saved, and the sad stories of people having no where to go. Videos that were uploaded by average people talked about the dead bodies lying about, people starving to death, being stranded and in general people being left without help. Videos that are more recent to us that are from the news as well are mostly about corrupt cops admitting what they did wrong, i.e. killing, taking advantage of the chaos, and/or abandoning morals. The differences in these media outlets and time periods make all the difference in how this event was perceived. I don't know whether or not I think this is a good thing or a bad thing but what I do think it is positive that some of the negative side-affects from armed men being in control with no rules and the victims getting unequal treatment are finally coming out.