Before I say anything else, I would like to ask everyone to take a few minutes of your day to pray for the millions of families affected by the hurricanes and storms in parts of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and all of Florida.
Maybe God is telling us that it’s time to start working together for the betterment of man, not just self.
This is by far the worst devastation in America’s history. First, Harvey destroys most of Houston and southern Texas and parts of Louisiana, then comes Hurricane Irma, destroying most of Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas.
The hurricanes left millions of people homeless, with millions more having to renovate homes, and many more having to pay massive repair bills on their cars damaged by water or high winds. And to make matters worse, not knowing when they will be back to work or if the business they work for is going to rebuild, renovate or stay closed.
CNN once again did a brilliant job of covering the storms and should win every award, because they showed what the news media should be about. Some of the anchors showed they were human also, by pushing the politicians to stress, as they did, to some of the people who said they were not leaving, to insist they leave.
As I stated in my last column, I don’t know why people would risk their lives and their families’ lives to stay in their homes. There is nothing they can do when the storms hit. If the eye of the storm hits the house it’s gone with whomever and whatever is in it, and if the water hits it’s going to drown whomever is in it. So, it’s much safer to simply go to a shelter and wait the storm out, then go back to the house after the storm has hit, and the water has subsided to see what you can save. That way you don’t see your loved ones die before your eyes.
There are two good things that may have come from these storms. First, the politicians, residents and officials learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina, which saved many lives in both Texas and Florida.
Second, a lot of jobs will be created, first by rebuilding the infrastructure of these major cities, then the smaller cities throughout Texas and Florida. This will be the beginning of what just about every governor has asked for and both Presidents Obama and Trump have said should lead to the creation of millions of jobs while also renovating the much-needed infrastructure of cities throughout this country. This just may be what Trump was looking for, jobs for his base, mostly White males over 50 with high school degrees who will help their friends, family, and neighbors get jobs.
These are good paying jobs that somehow Blacks miss out on. It seems like only Whites know about these jobs, and Blacks aren’t doing enough to find out. I have been noticing how few Blacks there are on the renovations of the bridges here in Pittsburgh, which is an infrastructure job. When the money is allotted Blacks must make sure we are at the table when the slices are divided out.
Congress is coming back this week and the number one priority must be money to help Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas rebuild from these storms. Even though Texas and Florida received the most damage, those other states also received a lot of damage.
President Trump has indicated he will work with Democrats to get funding for these states to rebuild, even if it means going against some Republicans.
After we finish praying for the families we need to ask God to guide us in finding a way we can help these people, because if we truly believe in God, we believe he will make a way out of no way. One such way is calling, E-mailing, writing or tweeting your senator, congressman and the president, letting them know that you are not a Republican or Democrat when it comes to helping these people, that we all are Americans and helping them must be our number one priority as Americans.
Changing the subject: Michael Bennett, star defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, says he was arrested at gunpoint by Las Vegas police who said they were looking for a gunman. Even though everyone was running from the club after a gunshot, police selected the Black man to arrest. He was released the next day. Apparently he wasn’t the suspected gunman.
Bennett just happens to be outspoken about race relations and is a leader in the National Anthem protests at NFL games started by Colin Kaepernick.
Bennett did not stand for the Anthem in Sunday afternoon’s (Sept. 10) game at Green Bay.
Even though Kaepernick is a very talented young quarterback who led his team to the Super Bowl a few years ago he still hasn’t been picked up by any team, even as a backup quarterback. Where is the NFL Players Association? Blacks make up 70 to 80 percent of the NFL.
(Ulish Carter is the former managing editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier.)
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