Hurricane Katrina has placed, if only temporarily, America’s race problems at the forefront of international consciousness. The slow response of government and the conduct of some of the affected communities were seen as symbols of the catastrophe that is said to be race relations in America: blacks are marginalised and left behind, some of them respond with behaviour that has no place in a civilised country, and only a deluge of federal money and national guilt can wash away the problem.
But this symbolism was mainly misleading or wrong. Contrary to the impression created by the images of black looters and the filthy conditions in the Superdome, the vast majority of blacks in America are law-abiding members of the working, middle, or, increasingly, upper-middle class. And contrary to the domestic hand-wringing, the solution to America’s remaining race problems lies at least as much within the shrinking number of black problem communities as it does with government.
Above all, this country still provides something which has made it a beacon to the world—an opportunity for people to overcome the disadvantages of their birth. Trust me, I have been there. I was born in rural Virginia into an abusive and impoverished household of 12 children. None of my siblings—seven boys and four girls—graduated from high school. Although I, too, dropped out of school after completing the eighth grade aged 14, I nevertheless managed to earn five college degrees from an array of institutions, starting at a local community college and ending at an Ivy League university. I have been a divorced welfare mother of two sons. I have worked as an assistant in a nursing home. I have been an unskilled worker in a garment factory and a door-to-door salesperson. Now I am a university professor. Nobody can tell me that America does not provide possibilities for people to overcome poverty.
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