New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (rt) and Ken Salazar, Secty of the U.S. Dept of the Interior
Last Monday, Chris Myers (host of FOX Sports’ NASCAR coverage) mocked the victims of Hurricane Katrina while comparing them to the victims of the recent Nashville flooding.
Without naming names, Myers described other flood victims as “standing on a rooftop trying to blame the government” while the citizens of Nashville were “hardworking, tax-paying, legal American citizens.”
It’s obvious to the whole world who Myers was talking about.
According to Fox Sports President Ed Goren, serious elevated discussion with Mr. Myers immediately ensued, and on Thursday Myers apologized to the people of New Orleans.
One of the goals of Levees.org is not allowing an environment where it’s acceptable to disparage the citizens of metro New Orleans.
While our hearts and thoughts and assistance goes out to the victims of the Tennessee flooding, we are also very pleased by Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s action this past week. He responded quickly and wrote a letter that succinctly captures why remarks like Myers’s are so wrong and out-of-touch with reality.
Of note is the third paragraph of the Mayor’s letter:
“…The historic disaster of 2005 was a manmade disaster that should never have happened. Faulty construction caused the breach of levees, causing the flood waters, forcing the people of New Orleans to “stand on rooftops.” Almost every levee by the United States Army Corps of Engineer failed, leaving nearly 80% of our city flooded and causing 1,464 deaths. Subsequently, this failure has been called the worst engineering disaster in the history of our country….”
The Mayor not only stood up for the citizens, but the excellent messaging of his letter demonstrates that he thoroughly understands the root cause of the horrific flooding of metro New Orleans.
Click here for more on Chris Myers recent remarks.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/05/chris_myers_apologizes_to_new.html
