America

It's been four years since the terrorist attacks on the East Coast, and once again Americans are uniting to help those victimized by disaster. Except this time, instead of planes crashing into buildings, it was a fierce hurricane tearing through a coast. I can scarcely name a Web site I've visited or commerce outlet I've patronized that didn't offer or display a way to help Katrina evacuees. Yes, we are spoiled here and tend to be very materialistic. But if there's one thing we know how to do when it counts, it's help one another. And our generosity extends past our borders in many ways as well. There's a reason why more than 60 countries (including Cuba) have offered aid TO US this time.
Someday we'll know all the things that went wrong in getting aid to survivors quickly, and I guarantee none of it will have to do with George W. Bush's feelings toward black people (FYI: he just signed one of the largest foreign aids bills of all time for ... Africa). More troubling than the ignorance in Kanye West's words last week were his own implications. He insisted on referring to every person of color in New Orleans as "we." And yet, in the stories or photos of countless celebrities pitching in throughout the Gulf Coast, West's face has been absent.
"We" are Americans and though we're far from perfect, "we" care.