Jon L. Christensen: “I have been through some of the worst hurricanes in the last quarter of a century. They were experiences I never want to…”

“I have been through some of the worst hurricanes in the last quarter of a century. They were experiences I never want to go through again, but none comes close to the devastation especially in the lives of the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. I would have thought that there would have been some institutional history and expertise at FEMA that would have dictated a more appropriate preparation and immediate lifesaving response. Obviously, I was wrong and lives were lost. What I have not been wrong about is what my CBC colleagues and I have been telling this body over and over again for a long time, that African Americans are left out and left behind in just about every facet of American life. Now the entire country and the whole world has seen it in its most stark and tragic reality. If nothing else comes out of the devastation we have witnessed over the past week, it should be that we forge the will and determination and the leadership of this Nation to close the gaps; to eliminate the disparities; and, finally, after all of these centuries, ensure fairness, equality, and justice for all and that all Americans be finally embraced into the fullness of the promise that is America. ____________________”