“I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a Black family, it says they’re looting. See a White family, it says they’re looking for food.”
– Kanye West ignoring the teleprompter at a Hurricane Katrina telethon last September to put the media in check over its depiction of Black survivors
“Now get off your asses and do something, and let’s fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.”
– New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin to federal officials, saying exactly what we were thinking
“Tell me the truth, boys, is this kind of fun?”
– House majority leader Tom DeLay, who, while speaking to three young hurricane evacuees at the Houston Astrodome, likened their stay to being at camp
“So many of the people in the arena here were, you know, underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.”
– Barbara Bush on the hurricane evacuees forced to live in the Houston Astrodome, proving that no one in her family can keep their foot out of their mouth
Quotes of the Year
Some of the most memorable sound bites came in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.