Reply #24: Obama: "they had been abandoned before the hurricane," [View All]

''The people that we saw in front of the Superdome and in front of the convention center, they had been abandoned before the hurricane," Obama, an Illinois Democrat, said.

Mayhem and violence were not phenomena created by the disaster, Obama said. They have existed in inner cities across the country while the nation's political leaders have stood by, largely indifferent, he said.

''The violence has always been there. It just wasn't on your television screen because it wasn't spilling out onto the lives of the rest of us," said Obama, who lives in Chicago's South Side.

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''We want to ensure that people who've been displaced have opportunities to participate in the rebuilding of their own communities," Obama said.

From Obama urges alumni to help fight poverty: Gives speech at Harvard meeting of black grads

By Tracy Jan on September 18, 2005

Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/09/18/obama_urges_alumni_to_help_fight_poverty?mode=PF