Heartfelt Harvey response shows true colors of Valley and California. Just ask Houston.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the violent images out of Berkeley last weekend didn’t speak well of California’s response to these frightening times.
As divisive elements tore at the nation’s social fabric, peaceful protesters in a city famed for free speech were overwhelmed by black-clad thugs looking to crack heads in the name of hating hate. Or some such.
It was hard to know what the masked anti-fascist or “antifa” demonstrators wanted, exactly, as they pushed past police and mobbed straggling supporters of President Donald Trump. Thanks to social media, though, every incoherent shout and kick got maximum airtime.
It’s too bad, because California is such a very big place, and that fringe is, in every way, so small.
What you may not have seen was what a far bigger swath of California did over the weekend as epic floodwaters inundated Texas, that legendary red rival of this blue state.
At the Capitol, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services deployed some 330 urban search-and-rescue specialists, including swift-water boat rescuers, dog handlers, command staff and search dogs, said state Fire and Rescue Chief Kim Zagaris. By Sunday, teams of Californians were in Houston, saving lives.
Cupertino-based Apple Computer Inc. made a $2 million donation to the Red Cross and San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. kicked in $1 million. San Diego-based GoFundMe created a landing page to aggregate Hurricane Harvey donations. San Francisco-based Airbnb waived service fees for those affected by the disaster.
Dozens of Red Cross volunteers from across the state boarded free Southwest Airlines flights to Texas, readying for an onslaught of traumatized, displaced flood victims. Red Cross volunteers from Mariposa took off for Houston before Harvey even hit land. Save Mart Supermarkets on Monday began collecting contributions at checkout counters at its 83 stores. Faith-based organizations also are mobilized.
At the Central California Blood Center, officials are trying to ramp up blood donations to not only fill shelves for local needs during what they expect to be a busy Labor Day weekend, but also in anticipation of making some blood supplies available to hurricane-stricken areas in Texas.
These gestures occurred despite California’s own natural emergencies, which worsen with every summer: Southern California is in the grip of yet another record heat wave, and at least four wildfires now stretch emergency services from Yosemite to Oregon.
They also occurred despite deep political differences that recently prompted California to ban official state travel to Texas, a ban that was naturally waived and forgotten with lives in the balance. Compassion was automatic, though they were not looking for big publicity around it.
But if a picture is worth a thousand words, the last word shouldn’t go to idiots in costumes, squabbling in the street while fire and rain destroy the planet. There is more to us, all of us. So much more.
Pan out, past the “sieg heils” in Charlottesville, Va., and the black hoodies in Berkeley. Yes, they are us, but so is the bigger picture. This is not the time to lose perspective. Keep sight of who we really are.
This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Heartfelt Harvey response shows true colors of Valley and California. Just ask Houston.."