If Ohio were Puerto Rico - Arizona echo opinion
"What would Ohio do?
Hurricane Maria analysis.
If a storm killed 2,975 people in Ohio, would Donald Trump call it an 'unsung success?'.
I’m not 100 percent convinced that Donald Trump understands that the men, women and children living of Puerto Rico are Americans.
They are.
But, I’d guess that even if Trump knows this to be true, he still may not think of Puerto Ricans as real Americans, because if he did I don’t believe he would have said what he said about the government’s response to the disaster that was last year’s Hurricane Maria.
The latest Puerto Rican death toll from that storm, based on a study done by researchers from George Washington University, is 2,975.
Nearly as many who died on 9/11.
They are.
But, I’d guess that even if Trump knows this to be true, he still may not think of Puerto Ricans as real Americans, because if he did I don’t believe he would have said what he said about the government’s response to the disaster that was last year’s Hurricane Maria.
The latest Puerto Rican death toll from that storm, based on a study done by researchers from George Washington University, is 2,975.
Nearly as many who died on 9/11.
The island is still recovering
Hurricane Maria caused what is said to be the largest power outage in U.S. history, one that took nearly a year to fix.
Recovery efforts will continue for years.
And Trump called it “an incredible, unsung success.”
Without labeling that remark ethnically insensitive – at the very least – is it not safe to say that if a monster storm killed 3,000 men, women and children in Ohio Trump would NOT call it an “unsung success?” No matter how well FEMA and law enforcement responded.
Insensitive? Ignorant?
We all hope and pray that the government is prepared to respond to whatever occurs when Hurricane Florence reaches the East Coast.
(Our family has relatives in the Carolinas.)
Hopefully, as well, that no matter how well the government responds, that Trump would choose not to brag about it, at least in deference to those who suffer losses.
It’s like what San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said in response to Trump’s “unsung success” remark.
She said, “In a humanitarian crisis, you should not be grading yourself. You should not be just having a parade of self-accolades. You should never be content with everything we did. I'm not content with everything I did, I should have done more. We should all have done more.”
Reach Montini is a columnist for the Arizona Republic newspaper.
We all hope and pray that the government is prepared to respond to whatever occurs when Hurricane Florence reaches the East Coast.
(Our family has relatives in the Carolinas.)
Hopefully, as well, that no matter how well the government responds, that Trump would choose not to brag about it, at least in deference to those who suffer losses.
It’s like what San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said in response to Trump’s “unsung success” remark.
She said, “In a humanitarian crisis, you should not be grading yourself. You should not be just having a parade of self-accolades. You should never be content with everything we did. I'm not content with everything I did, I should have done more. We should all have done more.”
Reach Montini is a columnist for the Arizona Republic newspaper.
Labels: Arizona Republic, Donald Trump, E.J. Montini, Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Maria
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 4:59 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home