Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 September 2005 — Page 4

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2005

SEPT. 11 ► Continued from Page 1 concern for the less fortunate, and took more time out for their loved ones. But much of this unity began to dissipate as Americans not directly affected by the incident returned to their normal lives as time passed. Lingering harrasment was also leveled at Arab Americans and Sikhs. Organizers of a special Sept. 11 service hope to recapture the fellowship that blossomed among many Americans during the Fall of 2001. The service will mark the fourth anniversary of the attacks and take place on Sunday at 4 p.m. at North United Methodist Church, 3808 North Meridian Street. “9-11 reset our clocks,” said Rev. Kevin Armstrong, pastor of North United Methodist. “A lot of us talk about what life has been like after 9-11. This event is one way to reset our compass so that we can redirect ourselves from suspicion and redirect ourselves to reconciliation. We should reset ourselves to be the kind of people we wanted to be right after the attacks- people who help each other and offer the best that we have.” The interfaith community service will begin with prayers by Armstrong, Imam Mikal Sahir of Nurallah Islamic Center and Cantor Giora Sharon of Congregation Beth el-Zedeck. They will be followed by music from vocalist Carrie Newcomer. An offering will be taken up for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. In addition to an elevated spirited of pride and unity, however, many Americans also found themselves dealing with increased levels of anxiety and intense feelings of insecurity after the attacks. The ongoing military conflict in Iraq, frequent raising and lowering of terror alert levels and constant stories about conflict in the Middle East have not been helpful to the human phsyche. “I think people want a sense

of hope that we can actually deal with terror,” said Dr. Tyronn J. Bell, a professor of phsycology at the University of Indianapolis. “A lot of people see the war going on and think ‘well, this is never going to end because we really don’t have a handle on this.’ We would like to feel a sense of hope and that there will be some kind of closure as far as the War on Terrorism is concerned.” Although he mostly teaches and does not actually see clients, Bell noted that he has talked to other physcologist who have noted an increase in cases of anxiety and depression since Sept. 11. He encourages everyone to be open about their fears and not allow “what could happen” to intefere with “what is happening” or their everyday lives. “It’s important for people to alk about the issues and be aware of it,” he said. “They should not keep their concerns to themselves, but be willing to talk to a caring friend or therapist.” In addition, some behavorial centers and non-profit groups offer courses on how to manage and deal with environmental anxiety. It has been estimated that 2,972 people were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the crash of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. 24 are still missing. In New York, the fourth anniversary of the attacks will be observed this weekend with a special ceremony. One hundred pairs siblings of September 11 victims will read the names of the victims, as the World Trade Center site will be made open to the public, with first priority given to family members. There will be four moments of silence, each marking when each tower was hit and when each tower fell. And the Tribute in Light will be seen again.

RESPONSE ► Continued from Page 1 conferences.” “Someone needs to get their a** on a plane and get down here and figure it out,” he stated. “Excuse my French, everybody in America, but I am pissed. They (federal officials) are feeding the people a line of bull and people are dying. They don’t have homes. They don’t have jobs.” The response seemed so slow that three days after Katrina hit and flooded New Orleans, tens of thousands of people were still stranded in rising water, looters still ran loose and dozens of city police officers were leaving the force. The hurricane arrived on Sunday, Aug. 28, but it wasn’t until Friday, Sept. 2 that a large number of federal troops were present to help local officials restore order and protect rescue workers from armed anarchists. Although the evacuation of New Orleans is near completion and most residents are safe at shelters and churches in various cities, several questions have been raised: Why did it take so long for federal emergency assistance and protection to arrive in New Orleans? Would the aid have arrived quicker had it not been designated for a city that’s nearly 70 percent Black? Would more Americans be forthcoming in providing financial help if most of the individuals shown on television weren’t Black? How could a nation with the world’s most powerful military have chaos in one its major cities? Rev. Jesse Jackson and volunteers with his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition visited New Orleans twice with buses to transport citizens out ofthecity. He had much to say about President Bush’s visit to damaged areas in Louisiana and Mississippi on Friday. “President Bush has come very late with very little... and did what can be described as a ceremonial tour of the area. He would nottouch the ground in New Orleans where suffering Black people are dying. America can do better than this. There should have been a massive air rescue effort. Several hundred

buses should be dispatched to the city. We need our churches to house the people. We can also use our military bases to house people.” As criticism mounted, Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, appealed for patience. “Response operations are being conducted over a disaster area of nearly 90,000 square miles - the biggest single disaster response in our nation’s history,” said Brown. “This is a catastrophic event, and it takes time to get assets to victims over this large area.” While not necessarily defending the actions of federal officials, Lt. Dale True, interim director of the Marion County Emergency Management Agency, offered to clarify the approach of general emergency response providers. “What people don’t understand is this is basically a large area that is totally devoid of what we would refer to as normal sources of resource,” True stated. “There’s no electricity, no running water, sewers don’t work and the roads are clogged. Just as we can’t expect to be able to immediately drive on a road that has debris on it, we can’t expect the federal government or anyone else to snap their fingers and respond to this overnight. This is an enormous disaster. It could take years for a complete recovery.” True explained that unlike tornados, which commonly strike Indiana but leave only a couple of blocks damaged because theyjump up and down in the air, hurricanes destroy nearly every building in an area for miles. “What FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is attempting to do what we would do in the event of a disaster here: Marshal the resources, personnel, and funding to try to do what can be done for the most amount of people in the least amount of time,” he added. But Jackson and prominent Black columnists such as Earl Ofari Hutchinson and even apolitical New Orleans natives like jazz musician Wynton Marsalis have

maintained that national officials should have been better prepared for flooding, especially since it has been known for decades that New Orleans sits below sea level. “We knew as of last Friday (Aug. 26) that the violent storm was on the way and that the levees in the city could only handle a level three hurricane,” said Rev. Jackson, noting that Katrina hit just weeks after President Bush cut nearly half (more than $71 million) of the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers, the body responsible for protecting the city from floods. “Monies for levees were shifted to Iraq and left New Orleans vulnerable,” he said. It’s commonly known that New Orleans is comprised mostly of racial minorities, but many still wonder why so many people who were seen struggling in flooded streets and crowding into the Superdome happened to be Black. Ramla Bandele, a professor of political science at IUPUI who specializes in urban affairs, noted that in the situation affecting New Orleans, location means a lot. People in the mostly suburban areas of the city of all races, she noted, had a better chance of avoiding or surviving the severe flooding. “People who have a great amount of money were able to move to higher elevations, while those who live in poorer areas, including the mostly Black 9th ward, were swamped because their areas flooded more easily,” she said. “They weren’t helped by the fact that there was no plan of evacuation for members of the poorer communities.” For his part, President Bush noted that Congress will soon be holding investigations to determine “what went wrong” during the federal response. In the meantime, the city of New Orleans will continue the long process of, repairingbroken levees that caused the flooding, recovering the dead and draining flood water into Lake Ponchatrain, which experts say, could anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months.

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