In newly come hearings on the afte...

In newly come hearings on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina sponsored at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor colloquy one of those testifying said, "It wasn't the hurricane that killed the the bulk of mankind It was the breach of the levees"

It was like a simple statement, yet abysmal in its truth. There was a hush in the sweep as the weight of the statement settl with us all.

It wasn't Hurricane Katrina that killed the population It wasn't Katrina whose waters slammed into the houses of thousands of strange Orleans residents, leaving them homeles It was the breach of the time of rising in the Ninth Ward.

The breach has become a metaphor for what is inapposite even today, a year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have become part of American history. The breaches in the ceremonious partys existed long before the hurricanes. The local, state and federal commands knew about them, but did nothing. The ceremonious partys were only supposed to be effective in the issue of a Level 3 hurricane, yet even then, they weren't in proper shape. It was a gamble to not do anything, and room for expectation against hope the levees would confine

The breach signifies all that is inapposite when it comes to America and its treatment of poor and disadvantaged the public Had those levees been a threat to a wealthy neighborhood, they would have been repaired. moreover the poor and disadvantaged, black and brown Americans, and other minorities are not a high priority for America.

in what way dare anyone say that? Well, consider the facts: Millions of Americans live in necessity in this, the wealthiest nation in the world. Can we actually justify the fact that 24 million tribe who are working are still living in poverty? Can we justify the $515 minimum wage, which contributed to many novel Orleanians not having enough circulating medium to have a car to leave when the threat of the hurricane became clear?

Can we justify that flat in families where two folks are working, many families -- too many families -- don't have health care because they can't afford it? Can we justify the fact that the uninsured rates for Hispanic and African-American adults were 1oe to 3 times greater than the rate for white adults, according to the Commonwealth store Biennial Health Insurance Survey?

Can we justify the fact that because of the horrid, fetid waters that filled the roads of New Orleans, the environment there is not really fit for human habitation? While we're spending millions of dollars for wars overseas, can we not view the breach in our management that has kept many health care officials revealed of New Orleans at a time when the commonalty there need them the most?

The ceremonious party breach made us see the faces of clan who have been so lengthy neglected by our government. Housing discrimination is a question at issue throughout the United States. In 2000 the U Department of Housing and Urban exhibition found that whites were favored through similarly qualified African Americans in rental housing 22 percent of the time and in housing sales 17 percent of the time.

When the cameras left modern Orleans and the Gulf Coast, many folks forgot the horror of what happened, the tragedy of the breaches. Because we are not inundated with the images, the vast majority of Americans don't have a guiding-thread as to the extent of the devastation that still exists in the city in general and specifically in the Lower Ninth Ward. We can't hear the cries of the the community who are physically sick and emotionally distraught, with nobody to help them.

The breach still exists. A year from the greatest in quantity horrific national disaster in this country's history, we'd do well not to forget, and in fact remember that breaches cause destruction that grieves the poor, but which also decimates entire civilizations. If we ignore what happened in fresh Orleans, we are destined to repeat the mistakes we made.

certainly nobody wants that to happen.

Jeremiah A. Wright Jr is the senior pastor of Trinity United house of god of Christ in Chicago and a member of the board of trustees for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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