Skip to main content
Search
Services
INSIDE POLITICS
 » Rebuilding  |  Landmarks  | Storm & Flood  |  Special report

First lady: Charges that racism slowed aid 'disgusting'

SPECIAL REPORT

• Rebuilding: Vital signs
• Gallery: Landmarks over time
• Storm & Flood: Making history
• I-Report: Share your photos

(CNN) -- First lady Laura Bush on Thursday denounced critics who say race played a role in the federal government's slow response to victims of Hurricane Katrina, calling the accusations "disgusting."

However, she noted that poor people were most vulnerable to the devastation and said that the disaster's aftermath is a "wake-up call" for the nation to address the issue.

Black people comprise about two-thirds of the population of New Orleans, and many lived below the poverty line.

On Wednesday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Americans have to face the "ugly truth" that race and class played a significant role in who lived and who died when Katrina swept across the Gulf Coast. (Full story)

Dean also said that "lots of people perished" because the Bush administration lacked "vision" in handling the disaster.

Several black leaders and groups have expressed outrage over rescue efforts. Among them was the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said last weekend that race played a role, and called Bush's response to the crisis "inexcusable."

Last week, rapper Kanye West condemned the Bush administration on a live telethon to benefit Katrina victims, contending: "George Bush doesn't care about black people." (Full story)

"I think all of those remarks were disgusting, to be perfectly frank because, of course, President Bush cares about everyone in our country, and I know that," Laura Bush told a journalist with American Urban Radio Networks on one of her flights to survey damage in Mississippi.

"I mean I am the person who lives with him. I know what he is like, and I know what he thinks, and I know how he cares about people."

The first lady also said: "I do think -- and we all saw this -- was that poor people were more vulnerable. They live in poor neighborhoods; their neighborhoods were the ones that were more likely to flood, as we saw in New Orleans.

"Their housing was more vulnerable, and that's what we saw and that's what we want to address in our country."

Story Tools
Subscribe to Time for $1.99 cover
Top Stories
Get up-to-the minute news from CNN
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
Top Stories
Get up-to-the minute news from CNN
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
Search JobsMORE OPTIONS


 
Search
© 2007 Cable News Network.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map.
Offsite Icon External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pipeline Icon Pay service with live and archived video. Learn more
Radio News Icon Download audio news  |  RSS Feed Add RSS headlines