Katrina's pass by New Orleans, and the flood that followed, confirmed my opinion that Blacks don't look ahead, that they value short term opportunities to loot and engage in power-mongering above longterm survival considerations, and that in general they are the most useless, inept people in a disaster that you could imagine. In fact, trying to help them can be one of the most dangerous undertakings you could attempt.
Why did New Orleans Blacks shoot at rescue workers? If you know how they think, it's easy to understand. After law enforcement broke down, ambitious Blacks who fancied themselves "leaders" tried to create fiefdoms within the city. Because of competition between them, each of these petty warlords and his subordinates could claim only a city block or two (by shooting anyone who disputed that claim). Skirmish lines formed along every street that marked the boundary between contested territories, each avenue becoming a no-man's land.
Into this warzone came small groups of good-hearted White rescue workers, hearts brimming with lovingkindness, with vehicles full of relief aid. They expected their efforts to be met with orderly queues of grateful Blacks who said "thank you" after receiving their fair measure of assistance.
Of course, Blacks don't really cooperate in that fashion.
What really happened is the rescue workers' vehicles were attacked by the first warlord gang to notice them, the supplies siezed, and the volunteers abused in various ways. Each warlord wanted all the good things which the rescue workers were bringing in, and furthermore he wanted to deny those blessings to his rival warlords. Letting the relief workers pass through his territory to the next would have been a tactical blunder, from his point of view.
To put it another way, the relief effort was attempting to operate on a scale larger than the one in use by the armed groups in Flooded New Orleans, and since the Blacks had the guns, their scale and their values prevailed.
That's why trying to help Blacks in such a crisis is a very stupid thing to do, unless you first send in military forces to kill the leaders of the armed factions that form spontaneously among them after law enforcement has broken down. To reestablish enough order to aid the remaining Blacks, you must first demonstrate to them that your soldiers have enough power to kill their soldiers, and the demonstration will necessarily be a lively one.
Jerry Abbott
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