The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought many horrifying images to televisions sets across the world. Many in the “loyal opposition” reveled in the opportunity to blame President Bush and the Republicans for the destruction. One of the corpses they fished out of the sewage to throw at the right was the specter of racism.

The conspiracy goes something like this: if the people of New Orleans had been white, the response would have been faster. If New Orleans had money, the response would have been faster. The body count was blamed on allegedly racist Republicans letting black and poor people drown.

As far as race is concerned, it is easy to understand why people gravitated to the idea that black people were hurt harder by Hurricane Katrina than white people would have been. Of course, it makes a great political club to advance a party without one single idea of how to improve anything except their standings at the polls. The areas most devastated were heavily black areas. However, statistics showed white people died in the highest proportions of any other demographic.

This fact hasn’t stopped hyperventilating hysterics such as a column by Bruce Britt called “Global Warming Could Spell Disaster for Blacks.” At first, it is easy to think this is a spoof similar to “World Ends: Women and Minorities Hit Hardest” but it was, in fact, a serious column on BET’s Web site. See, you need to vote Democrat or the hurricanes will keep killing black people and let whitey off.

However, poor people were predominately affected by the hurricane and there is no disputing that. To put this another way, if you were able to get by on your own, you were fine. If you relied on the government to help, you didn’t fare so well. The government created a cycle of dependency that failed them when they needed it most. Instead of enabling people to have the skills to survive, they crafted policies that led to people dying.

When Alan Keyes was running one of the most laughable and atrocious campaigns in history, he did get one thing right when he talked about reparations. There are those who believe anyone with white skin owes people with dark skin some money, despite any connection or lack thereof on either side to slavery. Not only is this idea racist and stupid, but it does nothing to solve the problem.

Keyes suggested reparations should be in the form of school vouchers and college tuition. He believes reparations should enable a generation of young blacks to succeed on their own merits and not as tokens. While the left’s solution to the problems of black America is to blame whitey, Keyes presented a viable solution that will actually lift people up as opposed to tossing a few crumbs down.

There is a train of thought among the elites that the solution to the problem is to actually create segregation. Black homecoming is a great example. Not only do they have their own homecoming celebrations, but apparently they don’t want white students attending.

Martin Luther King wouldn’t stand for black people creating their own subculture – he desired unity. The Jesse Jackson’s of the world are apparently O.K. with creating a subculture that only succeeds at perpetuating the poor conditions that those in black America have to deal with, while they personally cash in.

It is long past time to get beyond the notions of race that only perpetuate the problems that are there. Tossing a few entitlements around is not the solution to poverty. Affirmative action helps those who generally have less need for help. It isn’t the black student who has trouble affording college that needs help as much as it is the black kid who never graduates high school. Young blacks need to be provided a solid education so they can succeed on their own merits. Those who for 40 years could only find people to blame need to be cast aside so the next time a hurricane hits people won’t die.

John Bambenek is a graduate student and academic professional at the University. He is not a product of public education. His column appears on Wednesdays. He can be reached at [email protected].