A member of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board wrote Thursday that she is praying for a storm that will transform Chicago — similar to the way Hurricane Katrina forced change upon New Orleans.
It has been almost 10 years since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast in August 2005, devastating parts of New Orleans, displacing, and killing many of its residents.
Kristen McQueary, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board started her column by writing that “envy” might be an unexpected response to Hurricane Katrina.
But with Aug. 29 fast approaching and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu making media rounds, including at the Tribune Editorial Board, I find myself wishing for a storm in Chicago — an unpredictable, haughty, devastating swirl of fury. A dramatic levee break. Geysers bursting through manhole covers. A sleeping city, forced onto the rooftops.
That’s what it took to hit the reset button in New Orleans. Chaos. Tragedy. Heartbreak.
Residents overthrew a corrupt government. A new mayor slashed the city budget, forced unpaid furloughs, cut positions, detonated labor contracts. New Orleans’ City Hall got leaner and more efficient. Dilapidated buildings were torn down. Public housing got rebuilt. Governments were consolidated.
An underperforming public school system saw a complete makeover. A new schools chief, Paul Vallas, designed a school system with the flexibility of an entrepreneur. No restrictive mandates from the city or the state. No demands from teacher unions to abide. Instead, he created the nation’s first free-market education system.
Hurricane Katrina, McQueary wrote, “gave a great American city a rebirth.”
She closed the column by writing that the storm she hoped for was “a figurative storm.”
I can relate, metaphorically, to the residents of New Orleans climbing onto their rooftops and begging for help and waving their arms and lurching toward rescue helicopters.
The column’s original headline — “In Chicago, wishing for a Hurricane Katrina” — and some passages were reportedly revised and replaced, according to nola.com.
McQueary was met by outrage from readers on Twitter.
Looking forward to the “The Chicago City Council is corrupt so I hope Chicago has a 9/11” column, i guess.
(PS – sorry, guys, still mad)
— Marcus Gilmer (@marcusgilmer) August 13, 2015
I’m sure the 1,833 killed by the storm would have loved this pic.twitter.com/vSZmoXO4or
— Josh Terry (@JoshhTerry) August 13, 2015
Jesus Christ when “Hurricane Katrina gave a great American city a rebirth” is your thesis statement, JUST STOP WRITING.
— dan sinker (@dansinker) August 14, 2015
Why couldn’t the Tribune writer who wished for a Katrina just wish for another Great Chicago Fire?
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) August 14, 2015
McQueary also responded to the criticism online.
If you read the piece, it’s about finances and government. I would never diminish the tragedy of thousands of lives lost.
— Kristen McQueary (@StatehouseChick) August 13, 2015
And she’s completely right. American’s rarely do anything without a tragedy to spur them on. Her critics seem more inclined not to offend people than actually understanding the history of this country.
Should such a storm hit Chicago, I hope she’s the only one to die.
Kristen McQueary may require a roof rescue in her not too distant future…
“If you read the piece, it’s about finances and government. I would never diminish the tragedy of thousands of lives lost.”
Except of course, that she just did. In essence, she is saying that she wants thousands of Chicago citizens to die, so she can get a new mayor.
Oh yeah, she is a real humanitarian all right.
While tragedies do sometimes spur action, I think the negative twitter responses also reflect a powerful point of view. New Orleans’ city government may be “leaner and meaner,” but that is at best a simplistic outcome that doesn’t address many problems. There are still entire neighborhoods that haven’t recovered from that storm. Nor has the school system suddenly become the best in the country, especially for some segments of the population. The writer seems to be echoing a Scott Walker message - if we can just cut government bureaucracy and bust the teachers’ union, we will live in utopia. Well, I’m not buying it.