Editor’s note: Watch “TV on the Edge: Moments that Shaped Our Culture” tonight at 9pm ET on CNN.
CNN
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As the United States works to recover from recent major hurricanes, the cultural conversation and discussion around disaster relief efforts in some ways began more than 20 years ago with a national telethon and a moment with Kanye West.
“I hate how they portray us in the media. If I see a black family, I say they are looting. If I see a white family, I say they are looking for food. ” West said off-script during NBC’s “Concert for Hurricane Relief” telethon in September 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.
“George Bush hates black people,” West said next.
This provocative statement shows that the state and federal government’s response to the effects of Katrina, the worst hurricane to hit the continental United States in 50 years, has been atrocious, especially for people of color and people living in economically disadvantaged communities. It reflected the frustration of many people who felt it was inadequate and unfair. region.
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, causing severe flooding in cities from New Orleans to Biloxi. New Orleans faced devastating flooding, with levees and seawalls breaching and much of the city submerged. Thousands of people died, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Katrina caused more than $125 billion in damages.
More than 25,000 storm evacuees who took shelter in the Louisiana Superdome were exposed to dangerous conditions due to wind and water damage. The scale of the disaster was such that basic supplies failed before the venue was eventually evacuated by authorities.
Then-President George W. Bush faced backlash after photos were released of him observing the destruction from the window of Air Force One and the government’s slow response in providing aid to these areas.
“It made me question whether I was living in a government that was running on my behalf,” Van Lathan, co-host of the podcast “Higher Learning,” told CNN. “I wondered if I was American.”
Mr. West’s comments received a variety of opinions.
Years after President Bush left the White House, he disputed West’s statements in an interview on NBC.
“That wasn’t true, and it’s one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency,” Bush said in 2010.
CNN contributor Van Jones says the telethon moment was part of the foundation for what would become the Black Lives Matter movement on a new episode of “TV On the Edge: Moments that Shaped Our Culture.” .
“It was a cathartic moment that this new generation was coming onto the scene and they were going to call it what it was,” Jones said.
Comedian and actor Mike Myers, who appeared on the TV show with West, said he had no prior knowledge of West’s planned comments. Myers said in a 2014 interview that he was “very proud” to be standing next to West in that moment.
“Someone spoke truth to power when someone needed to speak.”
Of course, this was decades before West sparked any other political controversies, and before his recent comments were widely criticized as anti-Semitic and anti-Black.
“This moment shouldn’t even be about Kanye West and President Bush,” CNN entertainment correspondent Lisa Respers France said on Sunday’s episode. “This moment should be about how detrimental Katrina was to the New Orleanian community, the lives lost, and the people who lost their way of life.”
