It is obvious now that the vast major of those hit worst by Hurricane Katrina were poor and black. Yes, I’m sure that even Ann Rice’s house in the ritzy area was severely damaged, but those who are penniless, jobless, and being housed in foul stadiums are poor.

How much does this explain the lag tag in recognizing the scope of the problem? How much is this going to explain the relief effort’s success? Maybe nothing at all, but these questions must be entertained.

There was a huge lag time before the major media and even the major bloggers understood how bad things are down there. Without the media, the politicians didn’t know. Relief agencies didn’t know. There was a lost day.

Was there this lost day, because so many of the people and areas hit by the storm were extremely poor and socially isolated? There was no one there with connections in government or journalism. No key people making phone calls to find out what happened to Aunt Mabel.

I’m not arguing that anyone purposely ignored their plight, but that the social isolation of those communities meant that elites were left in the dark.

I am also concerned about the image of large groups of poor people yelling at the TV cameras that they want water and housing now. Lots of people already assume that poor, black, urban people are freeloaders. Are they going to want to help the “Welfare Queens?” Are people more likely to want to help Sri Lankans than the poor in their own country?

I don’t know. Just things I am worrying about as I pack up the kids for the park.