Letters

Katrina's Legacy

In response to our Special Report on the Hurricane Katrina disaster, TIME heard from New Orleans residents who escaped the flood but lost their homes--though not their hope. Less optimistic were the many readers who expressed anger at the government's failure to prepare for a long-expected calamity

"The incompetent federal response to Katrina and the President's callousness made me ashamed to be an American." KEVIN MILLER Saline, Mich.

New Orleans holds a special place in my heart, so I greatly anticipated the issue of TIME that would come out following Hurricane Katrina. You did not let me down [Sept. 12]. From Nancy Gibbs' poetic story to the astounding photographs, TIME once again took me to the scene and helped me understand the enormity of the storm's destruction. LAURA TAYLOR Atlanta

There are multiple lessons to be learned from the disaster of Katrina and the unnecessary loss of so many lives. Besides the government's obvious failure to respond rapidly and the further evidence of the Bush Administration's incompetence, the catastrophe demonstrates the folly of lower taxes and less government. We are in desperate need of policies that address the issues of poverty, deteriorating infrastructure and environmental degradation. Unless U.S. leaders devise a dramatic new approach for coping with hurricane disasters, we are destined to be devastated by many more Katrinas. We can only hope that this was the ultimate wake-up call. MICHAEL F. HAMANT Tucson, Ariz.

I am a native New Orleanian who evacuated the city before the horror. Now, as I sit in San Diego, I try not to hate those responsible for the botched response to the hurricane. I've been listening to national politicians who state that what happened in New Orleans could not be anticipated. That is a blatant lie. It was common knowledge that our coasts were vulnerable and the levees were inadequate for a hurricane as strong as Katrina. For decades, our local and state officials have fought for funding to rebuild the eroding coasts and levees. Although I know that my immediate family and friends are safe, my family has lost all its material possessions. I am sad and angry but not broken. I am alive. I am one of the fortunate ones. But what about my neighbors? ROBIN ROCQUE San Diego

I am an evacuee from Metairie, LA. The majority of people on the Gulf Coast, even those of us who left before the storm hit land, were in a state of denial. Mistakes were made--too many of them fatal--on all levels. Although there must be a thorough accounting of what went wrong and why, I beg the media to focus on the kindness and strength of the human spirit that we are seeing now. Just as with 9/11 and the Indian Ocean tsunami, good can come out of disaster. We have some tough choices ahead. I pray that we make the right ones. JANE LABRECHE HEBERT Friendswood, Texas

Katrina and its aftermath demonstrate our misplaced priorities: cutting taxes for the rich instead of shoring up infrastructure and maximizing corporate profits at the expense of the environment. A nation that abandons its poorest, weakest citizens to the vagaries of a glorified free market shouldn't call itself civilized. BETSY RIM Phoenix, Ariz.

Revising Government's Role

Columnist Joe Klein's argument that the disaster "should spark a reconsideration of what has become a casual disdain for the essentials of governance and our common public life" was right on point [Sept. 12]. Beginning with the Reagan Administration, many government departments have seen budget cuts over the past few years, and we have arrived at the logical end. The Bush Administration can no longer provide security--that most basic part of the Hobbesian bargain in which power is ceded to a central authority in exchange for protection. To consign people to death because of bureaucratic ineptitude is one issue, but speaking as a political scientist, I believe failure to provide security for one of the largest ports in the U.S. is simply unthinkable. BARBARA P. McCREA Kalamazoo, Mich.

When did it become the President's responsibility to run our lives? Aren't we responsible for ourselves? People were not forced to live in high-risk areas. That was a choice they made. GEORGE KELLY Lewisville, Texas

Katrina was the first disaster. The response by FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] was the second. Shame on those in charge. Shame on us if we let the government get away with it. KENIS SWEET Lake George, N.Y.

Dangerously out of Touch?

Matthew Cooper's article "Dipping His Toe into Disaster" discussed George W. Bush's awkward and slow response to Katrina [Sept. 12]. But the point is not the political tone-deafness of the President or his handlers. It is whether his incompetence, and that of his appointees, has cost lives. While the White House was working on speeches, people all along the Gulf Coast were desperate. They needed food and water, not rhetoric. TAYLOR HEBDEN Bloomington, Ill.

To Rebuild--or Not

Walter Isaacson's Viewpoint "How to Bring the Magic Back" [Sept. 12] stated that New Orleans "needs to restore itself authentically rather than produce a theme- park re-creation." A fire reshaped Chicago's destiny, and an earthquake remolded San Francisco. In the wake of the disaster, New Orleans can have its future written by people like Isaacson. Why not have him serve on a committee with other esteemed natives to help rebuild? BRETT HARWOOD Maplewood, N.J.

Maybe the French Quarter and a small area around it can be saved. But let's give the rest back to nature, and establish a reborn New Orleans farther from the Gulf Coast. ANDY ROGOW Hollywood, Fla.

The Sudan Situation

Your article "Who Speaks for Her?" [on the violence against women committed by the Janjaweed militiamen in Sudan's Darfur region] was badly out of date and portrayed the situation in a sensational and inaccurate manner [Sept. 5]. In recent months the government of Sudan, in cooperation with others in the international community, has taken significant steps that have stabilized and improved the situation in Darfur. The government agreed to take concrete measures to protect women against rape and violence. We are implementing those actions. Sudan will address the problems of Darfur and permit our country to enter a new era of peace, national unity and reconstruction. KHIDIR HAROUN AHMED, AMBASSADOR EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SUDAN Washington

Black Enterprise Responds

Your article about the efforts of Wal-Mart to establish stores and offer jobs in poor black communities [Sept. 5] suggested that Wal-Mart's announced sponsorship of Black Enterprise magazine's 10th Annual Entrepreneurs Conference somehow helped ensure Wal- Mart's inclusion on the Black Enterprise list of the "30 Best Companies for Diversity." That suggestion is absolutely false. Our list of the best-diversity companies, which was published in the July 2005 issue of Black Enterprise, shows there is no correlation between corporations that sponsor Black Enterprise events or advertise in the magazine and the 30 companies selected as the best for diversity. Some sponsors and advertisers made our list; most did not. Also, many of the corporations on the list have no relationship with Black Enterprise. TIME's unsubstantiated implication that the editorial integrity of Black Enterprise can be purchased for the price of an event sponsorship is irresponsible journalism. EARL (BUTCH) GRAVES JR., PRESIDENT BLACK ENTERPRISE New York City

>> In our story, after describing the conference and the diversity list, we followed with the line, "Guess who made the cut?", which suggested a connection between the two. We apologize for implying a connection when we had no proof there was one.