Monday was Aug. 28, an innocuous date. But blurbs about its history and meaning have been circulating on the internet. On this day:

• In 1955, 14-year-old Chicagoan Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at a white woman in a grocery store. His mutilated body, with a bullet wound to the head, later was found tied to a heavy industrial fan in the Tallahatchie River. A photo of his open casket published in JET magazine and circulated around the world served as a flash point for the Civil Rights Movement.

• In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Peace.

• In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, causing widespread devastation and at least 1,500 deaths. The event shredded the American psyche and called into question the federal government’s commitment to aiding its own citizens in times of crisis.

• In 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, leading to his ultimate election as the first African-American president of the United States.

While these historical tidbits are interesting, the bigger question is what have we learned from each of these events? How have we progressed or advanced as a nation because of them? Or do we simply keep repeating some of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding each in slightly different circumstances today?

As Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas last Friday, we saw scenes of Katrina-like devastation playing out in Houston, Bayside, Rockport and Beaumont this week as thousands of people clinging to rooftops and sending out distress calls on social media were rescued by boats and helicopters from their homes. Shelters in stadiums, convention centers, churches and schools were filled beyond capacity. People pitched in to help overwhelmed first responders to rescue strangers from cars, homes and nursing homes.

Yet, President Trump in Tuesday’s visit to Corpus Christi and Austin to meet with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials had little to say about the lives lost or the thousands of people who have lost everything. Instead, he talked about the size of the storm.

“It’s the biggest ever,” he said. “It’s historic. It’s really like Texas, if you think about it. But it is a historic amount of water in particular. There’s never been anything like it.”

It was like his response to the catastrophic clashes in Charlottesville between neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists trying to protect the statue of a Confederate general and counterprotesters, and the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, the latest martyr in the fight against racism and injustice. In that instance, President Trump said nothing about Ms. Heyer’s death and, instead, defended the bigots.

Like President George W. Bush during Hurricane Katrina, President Trump claims that help for the people of Texas is on the way. During a news conference on Monday, he said Texas would be “up and running very quickly” and that Congress would quickly approve whatever funds are necessary for recovery, beyond available funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Yet, his proposed 2018 budget cuts more than $838 million from FEMA’s discretionary budget.

And just 10 days before Hurricane Harvey hit, he signed an executive order rolling back regulations that would have required federally funded infrastructure projects to be less vulnerable to flooding.

Like a replay of the August 2005 event, the big post-Katrina question again pops to mind: How ready and willing is the federal government and this president to help the victims of this or any natural disaster?

It seems we have a president now who continues to insist on cutting taxpayer dollars from agencies like FEMA to build a Mexico border wall. Fortunately for the people of Texas, Mexico is a compassionate neighbor. Just days into Hurricane Harvey, Mexico sent convoys filled with relief supplies into Texas.

But what response can be expected for the people in Rockport, Texas, for example, where 30 percent to 40 percent of all structures have been destroyed by Hurricane Harvey? Will they be permanently displaced like many of the people of New Orleans?

The Trump response so far has shown that we cannot rely on a president who doesn’t have a clue. It’s time to act — people to people — to assist the people of Texas in any way we can — through donations to relief agencies, with supplies of drinking water and clothing and by offering a helping hand in the coming days with rebuilding.

From Texas to Richmond, engagement in our community is paramount. We must continue to speak our minds on issues, turn out to public events to insist on positive outcomes for our children and our families and vote — register and go to the polls to vote.

Virginia’s gubernatorial election is just three months away. We must vote against people and forces who would protect racists, abandon disaster victims and roll back civil rights gains, education funding and environmental protections made by this state and nation.

We must support people who demonstrably value compassion, justice and equality.

We have to learn from the past, not continually relive it.