Gulf Oil Crisis: Questions for Spike Lee and Kanye West

Now that we are well into the 6th week (Day 43) of the catastrophe in the Gulf, furiously gushing oil continues to destroy one of the world’s most gorgeous and valuable estuaries: it’s lapping up in and around New Orleans and the rest of the Louisiana coast, as well as the coastlines of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. The destruction to the Gulf region is now reaching—and some say even surpassing—the levels of damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.

Here’s a question: I wonder when Spike Lee is going to make a film about the oil spill like the one he did about Katrina, with the underlying theme being that New Orleans was abandoned by the essentially racist federal government led by President Bush. I also wonder when we’ll hear from Kanye West, who raged on national television that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

The oil spill is destroying the exact same areas in the Gulf region. Hey, Spike: Does Obama’s lethargic and passionless response to the oil disaster make him a racist? Hey, Kanye: Does Obama’s lack of any kind of coordinated and effective federal response make him a hater of black people?

Just asking.