DYK-Katrina
NBRA home page on 16Jul09 before being replaced by the table
We The People By Lloyd Marcus (video)
The Democratic Party Owes Blacks An Apology By Frances Rice
Obama And Plantation Politics (Obama To Poor Blacks – Stay Poor) By Frances Rice
Obama’s America – No Freedom
Obama’s America – Voter Intimidation
Black leaders called for an investigation of the Obama Administration after Obama’s Justice Department dropped charges against Black Panthers who wielded weapons, hurled racial insults at voters and blocked polls at a Philadelphia polling place in the 2008 Election. Click here.
For more details see the article: “Career lawyers overruled on voting case - Black Panthers had wielded weapons, blocked polls” by Jerry Seper. Click here
“Protecting Black Panthers” is an editorial by The Washington Times that reveals how Jerry Jackson, one of the Black Panther defendants, is an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee and was a credentialed poll watcher for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. Click here
The video of a Black Panther saying: “You are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker”. Click here
The video of the Black Panthers intimidating voters. Click here
NBRA Launches Rush Limbaugh Billboard Campaign on I-26, about 15 miles south of Columbia, SC
"Take the Limbaugh Challenge" By Andrew Klavan, encourages people to actually listen to the Rush Limbaugh Show before bashing him.
Listen to "Two Trillion Tons" by Jim Gossepp featured in an NBRA video
Listen to "American Tea Party" by Lloyd Marcus featured in an NBRA video
Bush Deficit vs. Obama Deficit in Pictures from The Heritage Foundation - President Barack Obama has quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package. The Washington Post has a great graphic which helps put President Obama's budget deficits in context of President Bush's.
Frances Rice protesting wasteful spending at a Sarasota, FL "Tea Party" rally.
NBRA Newsletter - Tribute To Michael Steele
NBRA Chairman Frances Rice with RNC Chairman Michael Steele
The Myth Of Republican Racism - click here to view the NBRA Civil Rights Newsletter
The Trouble With Socialism - Socialism means that everyone gets free stuff from the government, so nobody wants to work to give the government the money to hand out the free stuff.
Click here to see a parody cartoon about socialist America under Obama.
Obama's Plan to Enslave Blacks - A cartoon created for the NBRA by Brett Noel provides a chilling look at the future of black Americans under a Barack Obama Administration as "Socialist Slaves" dependent on government handouts on the Democratic Party's economic plantation. As a corrupt Chicago "Community Organizer" for 20 years, Obama produced unlivable slums and wants to repeat his failure for the rest of America.
An Eagle-eye view of Obama’s America Under Socialism:
Look at Chicago where Obama worked for 20 years or any other black community in this nation to see what Obama has in mind for the rest of America. Click here to view pictures of the dilapidated buildings and the poor blacks who are suffering in the decrepit housing that Obama claims responsibility for as a "Community Organizer.”
Click here for a Boston Globe investigation with an article and video produced by Scott LaPierre about poor blacks condemning Obama for funding dilapidated slum projects in Chicago with tax payers’ money. Obama's friends and associates profited from the subsidies even as many of Obama's constituents suffered. Tenants lost their homes; surrounding neighborhoods were blighted.
Paul Johnson who helped to organize a protest against Obama and condemned Obama for funding dilapidated slum projects in Chicago said: "Of course he knew. He just didn't care."
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Katrina, Bush, Blacks and Louisiana: What the media did and did not tell us
By Rev. Wayne Perryman
The media reported that the federal response to Katrina was too slow, and as a consequence, many lives were lost. However the facts will show the United States Coast Guard which is a division of the federal government was on the scene rescuing citizens just two hours after the storm passed - and by the week’s end 4,000 members of the Coast Guard had rescued more than 33,000 persons. Rescuing trapped and stranded citizens was the government’s top priority immediately after the storm. During the next three days, an estimated 100,000 emergency personnel had arrived to offer their services. Even though critics believe the federal response to Hurricane Katrina could have been faster, it was the fastest response ever recorded in U.S. history.
Media Predicted Deaths May Reach 10,000
While the media proudly reported that Mayor Nanin estimated that the death toll in New Orleans would reach 10,000, experts who assess hurricane disasters predicted that because of the magnitude of the storm as many as 60,000 may die. However as of January 2006, less than 1500 known deaths in both Mississippi and Louisiana have been verified. While the media was quick to publish predictions of massive deaths it has yet to acknowledge that because of the quick response of the government’s United States Coast Guard, the death toll was kept to a minimum.
The Evacuation Should Have Taken Place Earlier
The media reported that President Bush should have ordered an evacuation earlier. However President Bush was not in charge of the evacuation procedures, these procedures were the responsibility of Governor Blanco of Louisiana and Mayor Nanin of New Orleans. Of the 1.5 million residents of New Orleans, 1.2 million had evacuated before the storm hit. Of the remaining citizens, many were offered no assistance from local officials, while others decided to stay and ride out the storm.
The Magnitude of the Storm
The media coverage of Katrina made it sound as if Katrina was an unprecedented powerful storm. Katrina was powerful, but not unprecedented in terms of its speed. Katrina was clocked at 140 mph when it hit landfall, in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, it was clocked at over 150 mph. And in 1965, when Hurricane Camille, which followed the same path of Katrina hit landfall, it was clocked at close to 200 mph.
Deaths, Rapes & Gun Shots In The Superdome
When the media reported on the chaos in the Superdome, the public was led to believe that there were a multitude of deaths and that bodies were scattered all over the Superdome. They also reported that there were a number of rapes, fights and gun shots. When the citizens were finally able to leave the Superdome, we learned that there were only six confirmed deaths. Four had died from natural causes, one was considered a suicide and the other died from a stab wound. The only verifiable shooting was a shot that was accidentally discharged by a police officer during a contested arrest. Reports show that there was only one attempted rape and it was stopped by a police officer. The media reports regarding the Superdome were far from being accurate.
Oil Refineries Destroyed
According to the first reports from the media, Katrina had destroyed most of the off-shore drilling rigs and platforms outside New Orleans and further claimed that because of the destruction, gas prices would soar. Gas prices did soar but only 86 of the 4,000 drilling rigs and platforms were damaged and most of them were rigs that were no longer productive.
The New Orleans Disaster Began Long Before Bush Took office
Katrina was an Act of God not an Act by the President of the United States. Experts now report that much of the damage cause by Katrina was intensified by engineering design flaws on key structures in and around New Orleans. All of these structures were designed and built long before Bush took office.
Flaws In The Designs of The Levees
The breach of the Industrial Canal Levee, the London Avenue Canal Levee and the 17th Street Canal Levee was due to faulty engineering designs that were approved by Congress in 1965 shortly after Hurricane Besty. These designs were approved by a Democratic administration, 35 years before Bush took office. The design called for driving 25 foot steel pilings into a spungy soil to support a new 7 ft concrete (levee) wall. When the storm surge hit the levees, the spungy soil was not solid enough to prevent the 25 foot steel pilings (that supported the concrete walls) from shifting nor did the design prevent erosion of the soil around the steel pilings when the levees were breached. The media never mentioned these problems. The new steel pilings are now 79 feet long, three times the size of the original design. Even though the size of the steel pilings are different, the spungy soil that will anchor the new pilings, remain the same. Experts feel the longer pilings is just a band-aid approach to the problem and that Congress must come up with the funds to build a better system.
Design Flaws in The Ponchartrain Bridge
The Pontchartrain Bridge was designed and built in 1964, again 30 plus years before Bush took office. Engineers claimed that because the bridge was built so close to the water level, the powerful storm surges were able to lift the 265 ton sections of the bridge from its base and tossed them into the lake (435 sections were damaged). This design flaw cannot be attributed to President Bush. The Pontchartrain Bridge which connects with Interstate 10 - was one of the main transportation routes that would have been used to bring emergency supplies and personnel into the city. There are now talks of constructing a new bridge that would be much higher to neutralize the impact of storm surges.
Design Flaws in The Pumping Stations
There are 24 water pumping stations in the New Orleans area. Most are located below sea level. These electrically driven Screw Pumps which were designed in 1912, (88 years before Bush took office) shorted out when the city was flooded. The pumps are capable of pumping out 30 billion gallons of water per day when in full operation. When the Katrina flood waters rose, the pumping station’s operators and engineers were forced to abandon their positions and swim for their lives. The few pumps that were located of above sea level had no problem, but were too few to handle the massive problem. Engineers reported that, if the pumps were in working order, it should have only taken 12 to 20 hours to remove the water from the city. The media never reported on the faulty design of the water pumps and their impact.
The Superdome Design Failure
The Superdome which was build in 1975 (25 years before Bush took office) also had designed flaws. Because of the hurricane force winds, the covering on the Superdome roof were blown away exposing portions of their electrical system. The hurricane shorted out the system affecting the lights, air condition, refrigeration and other systems dependent on electricity. The storm also affected the water pressure in the Superdome. With both systems out, the 25,000 evacuees had no water, no restrooms, no air conditioning, and no way to cook food. The media never reported on these design failures which had a profound affect on those evacuees who sought refuge in the Superdome. They are now replacing the old material with a new type of covering that can withstand hurricane force winds and rain.
The Area of New Orleans
Most of New Orleans which is already 10 feet below sea level is sinking every year. Since 1970, (thirty years before Bush took office) experts say the city has sunk two feet. In 70 years, experts predict that 15,000 square miles of its swamp land will be underwater. Even though they estimate that the area is losing the equivalent to a football field every hour, Congress still plans to sink our tax dollars into an effort to rebuild the sinking city.
Historical Relationship Between Blacks and Louisiana
When President Bush delivered his speech on Katrina he mentioned the fact that the history of racism has had a long term impact on the lives of blacks in that region (State of Louisiana). The following facts support his statement.
Except for a short period during Reconstruction, Louisiana has consistently been under Democratic control, or what the historians often referred to as the Party of White Supremacy. History Professor, James McPherson of Princeton University reports: “The focal points of the abolitionist concern [after the war] were Louisiana and South Carolina.” While under Democratic control the following are just a few of the incidents that have been documented by our nation’s top historians.
In 1865, over 2,000 black men, women and children were murdered in Louisiana alone. That’s more deaths than those caused by Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was an act of God, these deaths were an act of a political party that opposed Civil Rights for blacks.
In 1866, blacks in Louisiana were forced to return 10,000 acres of farmland to their former slaver owners. The orders came from Democratic President, Andrew Johnson. In contrast, in 2005, President Bush purposed an Urban Homesteading Act. Under his plan, federal lands would be offered for free to low income Katrina victims under a lottery system. The land would be used to build new homes of which they would own. Home ownership for blacks seems to be a goal of the Bush Administration. According to the Tavis Smiley’s 2006 State of the Black Union Conference, more blacks own homes under President Bush than under any other President in U.S. history.
In 1866, Louisiana joined other southern states and passed Black Codes which prohibited blacks from doing any jobs other than those associated with being field hands. Black Codes had many other restrictions as well.
In September 1874 several white Republicans from the Red River Parish who supported the newly freed slaves were victims of the Coushatta Massacre. Among the dead were the brother of Marhall Twitchell, (Homer), his three brother-in-laws and seven blacks. Marshal Twitchell was a former Union Army Officer, and the federal agent of the Louisiana Freedman’s Bureau. Weeks after the massacre, black local leaders fearing for their lives, slept in the woods at night. Red River Parsish was located in Northern Louisiana and was the place where Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom was beaten to death.
On September 14, 1874 , angered that Republicans had passed three Civil Rights Constitutional Amendments supporting African Americans, the terrorist wing of the Democratic Party invaded the Louisiana State Legislature and removed all Republican office holders. President Grant responded by sending troops to New Orleans to re-instate the Republicans.
On August 23, 1888, eight black ministers from New Orleans and the surrounding parishes met and wrote a letter to the United States Congress telling Congress how they are treated in the State of Louisiana. The following is a portion of their letter:
To The People of the United States:
We, the citizens of New Orleans, as well as of our neighboring parishes, from which we been driven away without warrant or law, assembled in a mass meeting at New Orleans, Louisiana on Wednesday August 22, 1988, at Geddes Hall declare and assert: That a reign of terror exist in many parts of the state; that the laws are suspended and the officers of the government, from the governor on down, afford not protection to the lives and property of the people against armed bodies of whites, who shed innocent blood and commit deeds of savagery unsurpassed in the dark ages of mankind.
For the past twelve years we have been most effectively disfranchised and robbed of our political rights. While denied the privilege in many places of voting for the party and candidates of our choice, acts of violence have been committed to compel us to vote against the dictates of our conscience for the Democratic Party, and the Republican ballots cast by us, have been counted for the Democratic candidates. The press , the pulpit, and the commercial organizations, and executive authority of the State have given both open and silent approval of these crimes. In addition to these methods, there seem to be a deep scheme to reduce the Negroes of the State to a condition of abject serfdom and peonage.
These acts are done in deliberate defiance of the Constitution and the laws of the United States, which are so thoroughly nullified that the Negroes who bore arms in defense of the Union have no protection or shelter from them within the borders of Louisiana. During the past twelve months our people have suffered from the lawless regulators as never before and since the carnival of bloodshed conducted by the Democratic Party in 1868.
A single volume would scarcely afford sufficient space to enumerate the outrage our people have suffered and are daily suffering at the hands of their oppressors….”
The letter was signed by Rev. Lyon, Rev. Albert, Rev. Coker, Rev. Stamps, Rev. Mason, Rev. Green, Rev. Kennedy and Rev. Wilson.
Two years later, in 1890 the Louisiana General Assembly passed an act requiring separate railway carriages for the white and colored passengers. Six years later, this law was challenged by a Mr. Homer Plessy in the landmark case of Plessy v. Ferguson of 1896. This was the Louisiana case that legally established segregation throughout the United States.