The Bottom of Heaven Blogging Postmodern Blackness

This week, Congress will piece together legislation that will be one of the largest bailouts of the financial markets in U.S. history. Most news outlets are reporting that this package will total nearly $700 billion dollars. That’s right. $700 billion dollars to clean up the recklessness and greed of rich, white corporate investors.

Some people might think that my criticisms are unreasonable. This bailout helps all of us! – government officials will inevitably argue. Without it, credit institutions will freeze and the economy will come to a grinding halt!

I’ve heard these arguments all week and I understand that this bailout is somehow supposed to trickle down to help me, the little woman. However, I can’t help but think about all of the occasions where marginalized and underrepresented groups in this country also needed a bailout. Poverty, homelessness, and educational disparities are just a few of the crises that have confronted cities and rural communities for years now. Yet, these concerns aren’t met with the same sense of urgency.

Schools in many communities have been underachieving and failing. Here in New Orleans, high school kids go to school each day with mold growing on classroom walls and leaky ceilings. In Atlanta, thousands of men and women navigate through the city’s homeless facilities and service programs, struggling to find work at decent wages to afford the rising costs of housing. And every day, men and women struggle with the decision of whether or not to buy food or gas.  Where’s the bailout to help these people? And lastly, wouldn’t it be nice if the government would just “bail out” all of the incarcerated, black men that exercised the poor judgment and recklessness that got them involved in the criminal justice system in the first place? Where’s their second chance? And while we’re on the topic of criminal behavior – isn’t it pretty criminal to play with the retirement and 401K plans of hardworking Americans?

We’ve got a glaring double standard in this country that we will see in full force this week. What do you think?