quotd: Racism

"The storm's most dramatic political effects could turn out to be local. It has seriously aggravated race relations in New Orleans. Blacks tell pollsters that they are mad at Mr. Bush for the slow federal response. Whites are more inclined to blame the looters, the thugs who shot rescue boats and Mayor Nagin, who is black. A drunk white householder asks a rhetorical question: "Can you name a country run by blacks that is an example to others?" When your correspondent suggests Botswana, he roars: 'Get off my property!'"

--From "On the mend, but changed forever" in The Economist, September 17th-23rd