Gee, what a difference a few days make. I went to Gatlinburg with some friends and any time we were in the condo, I had the news on, hoping and praying for the stranded victims to either get food and water and even better, get taken out of the city. 1 friend said watching it made her get depressed and it makes me sad also, but I couldn't pry myself away because I had to see people get rescued.

I was very surprised at the tone this thread has taken. I'm not sure if the offensive post was written before I left or after. The last post I read from Smile did not seem racist to me.

I believe the rescue delays and problems were due to the incompetence of the local and state governments and not based on race by the US. I certainly do believe there are racist people in this country, but our country as a whole is NOT. The Red Cross couldn't have collected $300M within just a few days if it was, or have people of all colors risking their lives to rescue those suffering. And even if a politician is a racist, they would not be stupid enough to do something that would cause him to get voted out of office in a heartbeat.

However, as we watched the happenings in NO, I was very shocked that there were very few poor white people who were stranded. Now, I am not familiar with the history of NO or the south and have only visited as a tourist. I realized that the poor were left behind, because they had no money, transportation or the good health to leave. Aren't there any poor white people in NO? Am I the only one asking this question?

Can we help each other understand?

Daisygirl