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Katrina evacuees: The final days at Camp Edwards
By adamg on Fri, 10/28/2005 - 9:24pm
ChezNiki reports on a meeting in Roxbury about the last days of the last Katrina evacuees at Camp Edwards:
... Families separated, no privacy, no continuity of care, untreated depression and high stress, filth, open disrespect from the Base and State police. Additionally, Evacuees were only allowed to take two bags off the base and forced to leave items behind. Some were sent to Taunton during the time that the Whittendon Dam was about the break. Some have been offered jobs on the Cape at lower than the normal going rate; many of the women have been steered into Domestic work. But the most heartbreaking stories were about the evacuees who asked, "What took you (the Black community) so long?" and "Where were you?" People in attendance at the meeting on Wednesday were literally crying. ...
She also reports a bizarre confrontation after the meeting with Sen. Dianne Wilkerson's chief of staff about what she's posting on her blog.
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Comments
I'm curious who is saying
I'm curious who is saying that jobs on the Cape are being offered to evacuees at less than the going rate. I'm wondering if there may be some confusion in as to what the going rate is. I live on the Cape; I make significantly less money here than I would if I worked in Boston or some other parts of the state at the same job. I'd even make more money with my current employer if I worked in one of our off-Cape programs. Also, since a lot of the work on the Cape is seasonal, some employers will pay less to someone they hire in October than they would if they were hired in June. Those types of jobs will often see a raise in the summer months.
Not to say that there aren't less-than-scrupulous employers on the Cape; just curious where the information is coming from.
Re: Im Curious...
There are plenty of people of color who were born and raised in Eastern Massachusetts who are paid less than the going rate and face a glass ceiling at work everyday. So, I have no doubt that poor Blacks from out of town are getting short-changed by whoever they approach for work. The regular practice of placing more value on one citizen's life than another, is what caused the trauma in the SuperDome and the apathy out on Otis. I hope we all can learn from this experience and that it doesnt take another natural disaster or terrorist act (God Forbid) to encourage us to treat each other in a humane fashion.