Grapes of Wrath

Hurricane Katrina and its affect on the Gulf Coast may have the same impact as the dust bowl back in Depression times. After the the tenant farmers were run off their land by the banks which held the paper on the real estate, they loaded their meager possessions into old wrecks and made their way from Oklahoma and Arkansas to the promised land known as California. Steinbeck immortalized their diaspora in The Grapes of Wrath, one of the great American novels. I suppose then that certain people pointed out that the “Okies” chose to live in Oklahoma so that’s what they got for their bad decision making. The “Okies” and “Arkies” were not treated well in California. They were persecuted, cheated, jailed and beaten. But they had one thing going for them. They were white. And in less than a generation were able to meld into the population, earning their way and prospering. One wonders what life has in store for the dispossessed and poverty stricken poor folk of New Orleans. So far, even with the eyes of the world on them, they aren’t getting very good service. Shoot to kill orders dictate that they keep their place. Unfortunately, there place is in the toxic streets or in the urine stained, feces smelling Superdome watching people die. So, what happens to these poor, black people after government gets its act together? Do they buy old jalopies and toss a couple mattresses in the back and head for California? Here come da Joads. Get your rifles loaded and axe handles polished. This time it will probably be the second and third generation Okies mobbing up to hold off the hordes of famished, desperate migrants. It’s pretty easy to forget where you came from. (More on The Grapes of Wrath here).