House Editorial: Remember when the levees broke
Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina deserves tribute whether JMU likes it or not
Posted on August 28, 2006

This week marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most violent and destructive natural disasters to befall the United States. Let us remember one year ago Tuesday, when the hurricane made landfall in Louisiana, and New Orleans was absorbed into the Gulf of Mexico. Let us remember the loss of a major U.S. city. Let us remember the deaths of over 1,800 Americans. Let us remember the houses rotting from the mold, the towns wiped off the map and the families still scattered across the nation.

Let us remember. For it seems that JMU has already forgotten.

Rather than commemorate the tragedy of a year ago, our school has instead decided to carry on with business as usual. Why interrupt the second day of classes with a moment of silence or a candlelight vigil for dead and displaced poor people?

None of this should come as a surprise to those of us who were at JMU during the tragedy. The administration started a miniature firestorm in the weeks following the catastrophe with its logo for the JMU Katrina relief fund. Instead of showing an image of the devastation, it showed a picture of a little boy crying, superimposed over a satellite photo of the storm. Nothing too controversial on the surface, save for the fact that the crying little boy was a blond-haired white kid. Rather than accurately depict the realities of the crisis — an overwhelming majority of those affected by the storm were minorities — JMU instead chose to appeal to their constituents.

Only after the administration was flooded with complaints was the picture of the little boy taken down, replaced with the image of two black children over the same storm photo. Rather than being gripped by their loss, however, these children stared into the camera jaded and stoic, as though six feet of sewage and forced relocation doesn’t faze black kids.

JMU handled its tiny responsibility after the hurricane about as well as FEMA did. It is therefore understandable why it would be loath to revisit the issue one year later. But their reluctance does not make Tuesday any less deserving of remembrance. As you go about this week adjusting or readjusting to your home-away-from-home, take time to remember those who have not seen their homes in over a year. And especially remember the many whose homes, filling with water, was the last thing that they saw.

In the meantime, perhaps JMU would find it in its interest to commemorate this week the one-year anniversary of abnormally high gas prices. At least that would better appeal to their constituency.