Class. It is a forbidden word in America. But the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brings new meaning and understanding to the word. We grow up viewing class and race conflict as a thing of the past, yet both cannot be ignored when viewing government response following Rita and Katrina. Two years ago I saw clearly how the poor of New Orleans have been ignored and now returning again I am intrigued to see what progress has been made. I am happy to be here, thrilled to get outside my normal comfort zone and learn new things, new skills, and feel the accomplishment of helping build a home; but I hold the frustration that we need to be here. Two and half years has past and still so many have been without help or assistance. We all dedicate large portions of our lives to community service, and are proud to do so, but it needs to be recognized that if our government worked correctly, if it showed even the slightest bit of care for the poor the non profits we work for the and community service we do would not be needed. We are here, or I am here rather, because we can no longer wait for the government to act.
Todd
Todd-
There are too few opportunities for all of us to talk about race and class. I hope we change that in our own way back here on campus and in the local community. The intentional diversity of the Bonner Community Scholars Program gives us a unique chance to make some progress–and trips like this will build the relationships that make it easier to grapple with the most challenging of issues; but we’re all stronger for it in the end.
FYI. I emailed the profs from the USA Studies program–the ones that I met to date–and asked them to have a dialogue with the group.
Best,
PD