The Gulf Coast Will Not Receive a Visit From President Obama

President Obama will travel to New Orleans this morning to discuss and view the Hurricane Katrina recovery, but he will not be coming to Mississippi. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports on the disappointment many are expressing over that decision.

When President Obama announced last month his intention of making good on his promise to visit the gulf coast by the end of his first year in office, many in Mississippi thought the visit would be a chance to show the President the real state of the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. When it was later announced that the president would only be visiting New Orleans, many including Robert Avila director of the non-profit group The Steps Coalition, felt shortchanged,

“So I think it is important that we lift our voices up and say we won’t be forgotten and pay attention.”

The President has received a number of letters in the past weeks from organizations and elected officials, including 4th district Congressmen Gene Taylor, expressing disappointment over his decision not to visit the Gulf Coast. Charmel Gaulden, director of the Gulf Coast Fair Housing Center helped organize a campaign which has sent 600 postcards signed by Gulf Coast residents to the President,

“This is a postcard of a house in east Biloxi, it shows a picture of an overgrown lot. The other side of the postcard says ‘Dear President Obama make us visible, recovery is not over. Sincerely, the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”

The White House released a statement earlier this week saying that President Obama is committed to helping the Mississippi Gulf Coast and that his administration has obligated over $160 million dollars to the state with another $2.5 billion planned. But Alice Graham, executive director of the Gulf Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force says that it is the symbolism of any president coming to an area that makes a difference,

“It increases the level of hope. It increases the level of energy. It shows that we are not just doing this in isolation, that we are connected to a larger community.”

The president will spend his time in New Orleans today viewing the lower 9th ward and holding a town hall meeting. Roberta Avila says a delegation from Mississippi will attend, and if they can’t get in will gather outside holding signs just to remind the president that Mississippi’s recovery is not over.