The traditional, elegant pearls graced her soft white skin.  They hung comfortably around her neck.  Her simmering silver-gray hair was perfectly coiffed.  She spoke with the dignity and the wisdom of a grandmother.  Her words were harsh, though understandably so.  She and the rest of this country were overwhelmed as they reflected on hurricane Katrina and the community it devastated.  This was perhaps, the nations largest natural disaster.  Everyone was tense; however, few were given the opportunity to talk publicly.  Yet, she was.  The former First Lady Barbara Bush had the ear of Nation Public Radio, Marketplace listeners.  

Mrs. Bush stated, “What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas.  Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.  And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this is working very well for them.”  At the time she spoke, in September 2005, the nation was uncertain of how to react to her words.  Was her comment a flippant slip of the tongue?  Did it demonstrate the difference between the classes and the masses?  What were we to make of this terse judgment?  One year later, we know.  Mrs. Bush was speaking for her fellow citizens; they want the Katrina evacuees to go home!
Only days after the anniversary of Katrina, on August 30, 2006

More than 1,700 residents gathered in west Houston Wednesday night to blame evacuees for violent crime rates that have increased almost 14 percent in one district and homicides that have nearly doubled in another.

The poor relations had worn out their welcome.  They are unclean, unfit, and are clearly criminals.  These poverty-stricken folks were well hidden in Louisiana and Mississippi, before the storm devastated their homes.  However, now they are out and about; they are walking freely among the wealthy, white Texans.  This will not do!

It cannot be; it cannot continue.  Compassionate conservatism is nice.  As a slogan, the phrase connects “us” with those of lesser means, those whose votes we need in order to stay in power.  However, when destitute drifters enter our real lives, when they live among us and soil our sanctity, it is time to pull the reins in, or so say the genteel citizens of Houston.  

In a town hall meeting, Mayor Bill White was empathically instructed to send the “refugees back to New Orleans.”  The outraged citizens said,

In District 19, patrolled by the Houston Police Department’s Westside division; violent crimes are up 13.6 percent over the same period last year.  In District 20, homicides jumped from five to 11 over the same 7 1/2 month period from a year ago.

Enough is enough.  He was told definitively, “These people” have no respect for those that have given them so much.  They have to leave.  Cast them to the wind or send them all back to their homeland.  Humm, I wonder; where that might be, or where do the white residents of Houston think it is.  Do the poor whites need to return to England or Ireland and the Black Americans to Africa, even though their families have been in this country for centuries?  My mind turns.  

The Mayor stood stoic and remained humble before the vocal crowd.  Mayor White was well aware of the numbers and the circumstances.  He understood that

As many as 120,000 evacuees remain in Houston since the city welcomed at least 250,000 after Katrina swamped New Orleans last year.  Katrina evacuees are suspects or victims in 59 of Houston’s 262 homicides between January 1, 2006 and August 26, 2006.  Those crimes account for all of the increases in homicides over the same period in 2005.

Considering the evacuees added approximately ten percent to the population of Houston, the Mayor knew this rise in crime was not unreasonable.

Mayor Bill White and Police Chief Harold L. Hurtt are aware of what is occurring.  The officials have taken measures to alleviate the problem.  However, an impatient and xenophobic populace is not gratified.  

Upon realizing the reality of the current circumstances, the Mayor and the Police Chief reached out and sought federal assistance.

An increase in violent crime since September 1 and a spate of homicides over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend involving Katrina evacuees have elicited urgent pleas from Mayor Bill White and Police Chief Harold L. Hurtt to the federal government to help pay the cost of providing increased security and to hire more officers.  Hurtt is taking the request to Washington next week as part of a meeting of police chiefs.  White is also in negotiations with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Both officials are careful not to blame Houston’s recent rise in violent crime solely on Katrina evacuees, saying such statistics were rising last year before the hurricane.  They point to what they call the majority of law-abiding Louisianans now living in the city and say the crime rate per thousand for the evacuee population is not greater than it was among Houstonians before the influx of Katrina survivors.

But the issue facing the city, officials said, is that Houston’s 2 million population grew by about 10 percent virtually overnight, straining all key city services such as schools, hospitals, emergency services and, particularly, public safety.  The addition of the evacuee population has dropped the ratio of police officers per thousand Houstonians to 1.9, compared with 2.3 before Katrina and with the national average of 2.8.

Additionally, as we assess the “facts” presented by the volatile Houston public we might note that they perceive crime as crime.  They offer no numbers to help us determine how many of the Katrina evacuees are victims and how many are suspects.  These angry residents must know that only late this month, Two Houston Residents [were] Charged with Filing Multiple False Claims for FEMA Assistance.  

Dear reader, I inquire how many more Houston inhabitants are profiting on the backs of former Louisianan residents?  Will the truth be told by those focused on finding the victims of Katrina at fault.  the Mayor, the Police Chief, and I wonder as we attempt to provide perspective.

After being bombarded by accusations and anecdotal accounts, the humble Mayor attempted to lessen the outrage.  He spoke highly of his Houston constituents.  Mayor White suggested the complaints are “a result of the fact that we have had some gangs and violent crime.”  White continued, “In Houston, generally, we are not very tolerant of the small minority of people who came here from the New Orleans area who are able-bodied and haven’t found a job yet.”

The Houston administrator declared `There’s a plan in place for those who break the law, and another plan for those evacuees who want to remain in Houston as law-abiding citizens.’  White said, “If people want do so something unlawful, then we need to catch them, try them, convict them and lock them up.”  The first officer knows, the law is the law and Houston is no place for those that to not honor the law.  

However, after issuing this stern warning the Mayor revealed his own form of Southern hospitality.  He stated, “If they’re [victims of Katrina] just trying to get on with their lives, then we ought to respect our fellow Americans, and there’s not much of a home to go to.”  In truth there never was.  Barbara Bush was “right.”  Those left homeless by the ravages of Katrina were “underprivileged” before the storm.  They lived in substandard houses.  They were employed in menial service jobs, if working at all.  Still, they were and are Americans.  

When Barbara and her neighbors say, “go home,” they exemplify the sad fact that too often we do not want to know the reality of the poor.  We do not want constant reminders in our midst.  We actually prefer not to see, hear, or experience what bothers us, or reminds us of our own frailty and failings.  When we perceive a “problem,” we blame everyone but ourselves!  I find this fascinating and futile!  How will we ever help others or ourselves if we avoid what disturbs us.

Please Ponder the World of Barbara Bush, Houston Residents, and Katrina Evacuees . . .

Betsy L. Angert Be-Think