Mallory Miller

The Victims of Hurricane Katrina

In the ensuing weeks and months of Hurricane Katrina, Americans were glued to their television and computer screens stunned by the horrifying images of the ruined Gulf Coast and its inhabitants. Our newspapers and magazines were splattered with scenes of people begging and pleading for their loved ones, food, and water. Throughout the media images there seemed to be one constant: the survivors were in the lower class and/or ethnic minorities. America and the rest of the world were looking at people who had no means to evacuate and who were forced to withstand the horror that would follow this tragic natural disaster. It was difficult to believe that a country as powerful and rich as the United States of America responded so slowly to rescue its fellow citizens. Due to that tardy response, the media and experts began to raise the question of whether or not the delay in rescue efforts was caused by the class status and race of those who were most negatively affected by this terrible event. The images that had invaded our homes and everyday lives provided overwhelming evidence that class status and race did have some impact on the rescue efforts of the hardest hit victims of Hurricane Katrina. In this paper I am working to understand the following questions:

Did race and class play a role in the rescue efforts for Hurricane victims?
In what ways did these two aspects of society impact the rescue effort?
How did the response from all levels of government impact the rescue effort?

As we watched our televisions and flipped through our magazines, the America that was not directly affected by Hurricane Katrina was ignorant to the reality of what was happening in New Orleans and other areas on the Gulf Coast. Many believed that the images they continued to see; those of lower class, mostly African American people, were simply the only pictures available at that time and images of non-minorities would eventually appear. Americans believe that the days of racial discrimination and prejudices have disappeared. However, after this storm many were confronted with the realization that this belief is simply false. Just because you are unaware of the woes of others, does not mean it does not exist. The idea that race played a role in the rescue effort has been brought up by people of all walks of life. Actors, political figures, authors have all explored this possibility. However, each believes that race has impacted this situation in a different way; some ways are more subtle than others. There is the idea that our country’s history of treatment towards African Americans and other minorities was the root of the problem. Another thought is that those with the power could not relate or believe that those who have suffered most are an insignificant number. In addition to these beliefs some think that because the lives of these people don’t affect theirs, it’s not his or her problem. One major attitude of intellectuals and individuals who discuss the race issue bring up the point that the population that was most affected by Hurricane Katrina resided in areas of concentrated poverty. This is significant because it allowed for one single disaster to displace and negatively impact thousands of people because they had no other options. Others simply believe that if it were white people who were most in need, the help would have been assigned immediately, without hesitation or delay.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the response by all levels of government to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The paper will discuss the more controversial ideas about the response to those most negatively affected by the storm. For example, the idea that class and/or race played a part in the distribution of aid. As well as discussing the theories about why there was a delayed response, my paper will talk about what life is like in present-day New Orleans. I will compare and contrast past and present New Orleans and talk about education, employment, healthcare and crime. I will conclude with suggestions on how we can better prepare for the next natural disaster and steps to be taken that will ensure a cooperative effort to support fellow Americans. Ultimately I want to make people aware that this country continues to struggle with the issues of race and class.

We all heard the people of New Orleans begging and pleading for aid and simple things like food and water. Why did their cries of desperation flood our homes for days, weeks after the storm? Where was the aid? Among experts and important political figures there is the belief that the history of the United States and African Americans contributed to the lack and delay in support of the citizens of New Orleans. In an interview with Gewn Ifil on September 5, 2005, Wade Henderson, the executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, insists that “the legacy of racial discrimination in this country helped to produce the population of people who were left behind…” Henderson believes that Hurricane Katrina has exposed America to the reality that in certain parts of the country, race is still a significant issue. In his book Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster , author Michael Eric Dyson discusses how American history, “white history” has left out African Americans and their suffering and disregarded their contributions to American society. The connection between the absence of African Americans in history and the slow response to help is due to the fact that President Bush and Michael Brown, head of FEMA “forgot” or didn’t pay attention to who was really in need; they couldn’t relate because they are wealthy white individuals who couldn’t see the anguish. According to Dyson, “Since their agency and angst had been minimized in the Southern historical, the black poor simply didn’t register as large, or count as much, as they might have had they been white” (25). The idea that history played a role in the rescue efforts is one of the more subtle and agreeable arguments of the race issue because it does not say that a particular person or group deliberately disregarded the poor minorities of New Orleans.

To say that there was no intentional disregard or hate for the lower class citizens or minorities is one thread connects many of the theories presented. There was no intentional disregard for these underprivileged people, but it was the non-chalant attitude of our government towards its poorest and most desperate citizens that characterized the delayed response. There has always been a lack of compassion for the underprivileged in this country so it was not surprising to see that aspect exposed in such a large way after Hurricane Katrina. Senator Barack Obama terms this as “passive indifference.” Passive indifference is the attitude that, because there is an already existing history of racism in America, I’m not the one perpetuating it, so it’s ok for me to participate in these types of activities. From this term, however, one could say that this passive indifference leads to racial discrimination (Dyson, Michael Eric: “Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster). The cause and effect relationship of passive indifference allows a pathway to segregation. The effect of segregation on society is that certain neighborhoods become oppressed with poverty. When this happens it makes a city or neighborhood more vulnerable to disaster.    

Concentrated poverty refers to the share of people living in high poverty neighborhoods. These neighborhoods have a legacy of having limited educational opportunities, poor performing schools, and high rates of unemployment and crime. Concentrated poverty led to chaos and instability because it greatly influenced the number of people affected by Hurricane Katrina.  Hurricane Katrina hit hardest in these concentrated poverty living areas. The people who had no choice but to remain because of their financial situations, and who were without modes of transportation, were most affected by this disaster. To illustrate the impact and large number of people that reside in these concentrated neighborhoods, Dyson writes “Nearly 50,000 poor folk in New Orleans lived in areas where the poverty rate approached 40 percent” (Dyson 6). If concentrated poverty were not so prominent in New Orleans, several less lives would have been taken by Hurricane Katrina.

As a result of poverty being so concentrated to one area, people outside don’t understand or are not aware of the severe conditions of these places. Americans forget about the poor or the poor become invisible, and until the plight of another person directly affects the life of middle to upper class people or communities, there is no talk or mention of the people in need. Because the lives of the poor people had no connection or affect on the middle to upper class citizens, there was no worry about their well being after a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina and therefore there was no plan to protect them. Along with being ignored, the poor of America are often taken advantage of. For example, the supermarkets in low class, poor neighborhoods have more expensive prices than those in a middle class neighborhood. It makes sense. The corporations know that the poor families have limited transportation and know that a family’s only option is to pay the high prices at the local market because they have no other way to get to the other stores in a different neighborhood. The government has been successful at reassuring this country that there are no race problems in this country. However, when Hurricane Katrina hit, everyone was suddenly exposed to the reality of racism in America and that it persists today.

The language and names that have been used to describe the scenes in New Orleans and the people there have influenced and continued the debate around race and class. One term thrown around often is “refugee” (After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina). Many inhabitants of New Orleans feel betrayed when they are referred to as a refugee. A refugee is someone who has crossed international borders to escape an unwanted life in his or her homeland. The media and government officials referred to their fellow Americans as refugees. The people of New Orleans are as much an American citizen as a grandmother in Iowa. To be called a refugee was a slap in the face for these people; especially when they were in need of such immense assistance. New Orleanian Sharon White expresses her feelings about being referred to as a refugee:

I am not a ‘refugee.’ I wasn’t shipped here... We are not refugees... We are United States citizens, and you be proud of that. A lot of us are taxpaying, honest, hardworking people. I’m like, when did I come from another country?... I am a survivor. They need to say, ‘the survivors of Katrina’ (Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina: After the Storm. Ed. Troutt, David Dante).

The survivors of Hurricane Katrina were battered mentally and physically and to be called a refugee brought down their spirits even more. The use of such names fueled the race debate because it showed just how little African Americans are respected in this country.

 Without the respect of fellow Americans or the government, why would one want to support an administration with such an attitude? Politics are a controversial issue in this country right now. Everyone wants to gain for themselves and do only for others things that will help them in the future. President Bush has little support from the African American poor because they tend to vote for Democrats and disagree with his political policies. Investigating President Bush’s record throughout his presidency shows that “... under his presidency black poverty has increased, black unemployment has risen, and affirmative action has been viciously assaulted” (Dyson 32). This accusation forces us to question his attitude towards those who simply do not agree with his policies. It is not fair or moral to leave your own people stranded for five days without basic necessities after a major hurricane just because you are unpopular among them and didn’t get their vote. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina George W. Bush was accused, rightly so or not, that he did not care about poor black people. Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson claimed, “Bush has not shown that he cares for civil rights or cares for the interest of black people” (Dyson 16). Others such as hip-hop artist Kanye West and actor Colin Farrell made similar comments about Bush’s lack of attention towards the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Colin Farrell also alluded to the fact that if the there was a natural disaster in the Hamptons and white people were in dyer need of assistance, every form of aid would be there immediately (Dyson 17). Under the pressure of all of these allegations, President Bush did admit that the response from the federal government was too slow and that the government failed to live up to expectations during a time of extreme suffering for its citizens.

In the midst of all this talk about race and class surrounding Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, there are those who believe that the inadequate aid sent to New Orleans had to do with bad planning. There are also those who contend that the relief effort was unaffected by race and class all together. Then there are those who are on the fence about what contributed to lack of timely aid and how those things affected the relief effort. Before Hurricane Katrina the city, New Orleans, had its fair share of problems: poverty, violence corruption in the police force and government. Due to the tender and sensitive relationship between the district attorney’s office and the police department, the help needed to save New Orleans residents was ineffective. There was no structure and/or plan for aid in the midst of all the chaos. There was no back-up plan for those residents of New Orleans who could not afford to leave the city or for those who were physically unable to evacuate. Poor planning was a major contributor to the slow relief effort. According to Dr. Irwin Redlener, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Mailman School and the co-founder of the Children’s Health Fund: “It’s not a lack of money, it’s a lack of structure; it’s a lack of distribution of the resources. We have a completely dysfunctional distribution system, and a great deal of bureaucracy” (Dewan).

One contributor that many experts say affected a timely response to the relief effort was the lack of communication between all levels of the government and FEMA. In the Frontline documentary “The Storm” former head of FEMA Michael Brown was confronted with questions about his response to Hurricane Katrina’s victim’s cries for help. He said that the reason FEMA made such a delayed appearance in New Orleans was due to the state and local government’s leaders not telling him exactly what they needed. He tried to pass off his inability to save people and bring them basic things on to others. It was quite obvious what was needed and if you have to bend some rules to save the lives of innocent people then do it. The of lack of communication between President Bush and Michael Brown allowed for each them to be unaware that survivors from New Orleans were also being sent to the Convention Center. It is said that Bush and Brown were not made aware of the situation at the Convention Center until the Thursday after the storm. People who were sent to the Convention Center were without food and water for more than two days because there was inadequate communication between government officials during the crucial days after the storm hit. In partial agreement with these views is the writer of the article “Racism! They Charged.” John McWhorter, believes that the reason for such a delayed response to residents of New Orleans is that there was a “... general ineptness of America’s defense against unforeseen disasters... ” This point is a major part of the discussion about what happened to the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina. It is probably the most significant factor in the failure to provide basic services to those in need after Hurricane Katrina. There was no prior planning: no back-up plan, no communication, and no allocation of responsibilities and all levels of government are to blame for the disaster that is New Orleans.

Fast forward a year and a half to today; what is life like for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina? What is life like in New Orleans for those who remain? Well, it’s safe to say that life in New Orleans is definitely not the same. Hurricane Katrina has had a major impact on all aspects of life for the residents of New Orleans. It has negatively affected the educational system, healthcare system, violence, the physical and mental health of residents and employment. Survivors are overwhelmed with the weight that has been placed on their shoulders. Residents must look for new jobs, new schools for their children to attend and do all of this while battling physical problems or depression. The disorganization of the police department and district attorney’s office has fueled violence and disregard for the law. So, yes progress has been made in New Orleans, but its survivors still have a huge burden on their shoulders.

In the area of violence, New Orleans has become the murder capital of the United States. Most victims are teens and the issues and causes of death are usually drug and gang related. This rise in crime is due in part to the always unstable relationship between the police department and district attorney’s office. It has distracted officials from addressing the real issues and cracking down on crime. Each department focuses more on blaming the other and setting aside the real problems. The inability to be organized and patient, on the side of the authorities, gives criminals the idea that they will never be caught and can act in any manner they please. The focus on disliking and blaming each other has distracted these two parties from cracking down on the important issues. If the authorities can’t respect one another, how can they expect the troubled citizens to respect one another? These two departments need to set an example for the residents of New Orleans so that there can be hope for better days.

The school districts in New Orleans took a particularly large hit from Hurricane Katrina. Many schools were destroyed by the storm and have yet to be rebuilt. Not only have the physical structures of the schools been ruined, but the structure of the educational system. Similar to the situation with violence in New Orleans, education was not highly valued. The schools continually had poor test scores and attendance records. When schools finally re-opened after Hurricane Katrina, the value of education plummeted even lower than it had before the storm. In a study conducted by the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Children’s Hospital Fund, experts found that “School absenteeism remains high, with more than a third of children missing for ten or more days of class in April, May, and June of 2006” (Dewan). The need for teachers and administrators has accented the woes of post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans and the educational system.

With only one fully functioning hospital in New Orleans, the healthcare system has been greatly affected. Survivors are dealing with such emotional pain and suffering that it puts a huge burden on them physically. The only fully functioning hospital in New Orleans is Touro Hospital. To say that it is a “fully functioning” hospital is to overstate its abilities. In an NPR interview with Kevin Jordan, the Chief Medical Officer at Touro Hospital said that his hospital only has about 1,500 beds compared to the 5,000 they had before Hurricane Katrina. He also said that the hospital is severely under-staffed and the need for nurses and tech aids is growing substantially every day. The most common ailments he does treatment for are respiratory problems and injuries related to rebuilding efforts; cuts, broken limbs, etc. Jordan also says that the labor costs are two times what they were before Hurricane Katrina. (“Katrina Survivors Contemplate Today’s New Orleans.” http://ww.npr.org)

Employment in New Orleans has had some improvements but also suffers negatively from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The rebuilding process has opened up jobs for many residents of New Orleans. People have jobs, but they aren’t steady and do not get nearly high enough wages to make a living off of or to replace what they were making before the storm. Other survivors have been too wrapped in the process of acquiring a new house or money for a new house that they have had to focus all their energy on that task and are not able to go back to work. In the same study done by the Mailman School of Public Health and Children’s Health Fund, it showed that “Nearly forty percent of the respondents said they’d been working before the storm but were now unemployed” this study also showed that “more than a third of working families earning less than $20,000 a year before the storm have not regained their previous income level... ” (Dewan). Not only have families been unable to meet their previous incomes, but twice the number of families are now on welfare after Hurricane Katrina. Still, more than a year after Hurricane Katrina hit, the poorer survivors are still in need of assistance and many are uneducated and uninformed on how to apply for housing and aid. Residents are still living in FEMA trailers confused as to how long they can stay and how long until they can get their lives started again.

To single out one branch of the government and blame the horrific conditions of New Orleans on it completely would be false. All three branches of government; local, state, and federal, were slow and hesitant to take any action in a timely manner so that thousands of lives might have been saved. It was not until Saturday, August 27, 2005 that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco requested that President Bush declare a state of emergency in Louisiana. The President obliged, and later that day Blanco ordered a voluntary evacuation. That same day New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin also ordered a voluntary evacuation. It was not until Sunday, August 28, 2005, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit that Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation. So, the Hurricane hit, and those who had no place to go were instructed to make their way to the Superdome. The Superdome was supplied with only enough food and water for 15,000 people for three days. Once Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin realized this simply wasn’t a sufficient amount of goods, they requested more. This is where the delay by the federal government and FEMA really impacted the situation in New Orleans. Head of FEMA, Michael Brown knew what was needed but did not send food and water immediately because there was formal paperwork that needed to be filled out. The formality of paperwork delayed rescue efforts so intensely that many lives were lost because of it. During the first three days following Hurricane Katrina President Bush was on vacation. He was in Texas and then Arizona and then San Diego. After his trip to San Diego, where he talked about the war in Iraq (and didn’t even mention Hurricane Katrina), he finally decided to make an appearance in the hurricane battered areas. People died, starved and suffered for several days because of the ineptness and the excruciatingly long wait for federal assistance. It was the collaboration of hesitancy of the federal, state and local levels of government that caused such destruction and desolation in New Orleans.

So, to return to the central questions:

Did race and class play a role in the rescue efforts for Hurricane victims?
In what ways did these two things impact the rescue effort?
How did the response from all levels of government impact the rescue effort?

Race and class did play a minor role in the relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims. It is the history of the United States and the way that the poor and African Americans are treated in this country that influenced the decisions of government officials on how and when to respond with relief. It is the passive indifference that people have toward the poor that assisted in the ignoring of thousands of poor and black people in New Orleans. The bitterness of the federal government aimed at black people due to their lack of support for the government’s policies also contributed to the slow response for aid. These things slowed down the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina victims and also halted some attempts for aid. The disastrous relief effort was affected by the lack of emergency planning on all levels. Communication between local, state and federal governments was also a factor in the slow response to Hurricane victims. Hurricane Katrina has left a lasting impression in the eyes of all Americans. It is obvious, as illustrated by the images collected from New Orleans, that racism and discrimination are still present today. Also illustrated by Hurricane Katrina is a lack of compassion for the poor and underprivileged. We need to get rid of concentrated poverty housing areas and sectioned housing. These developments are not a good environment for the future generations to be brought up in; they are ravaged with violence and poor educational systems. We need to have specific emergency plans and back-up plans that will help us get through a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina more smoothly and with less loss of life. As fellow Americans we must be educated about the treatment of African American (and other minorities) people that persists today and also the treatment of the poor. For things to improve we must be educated for when another natural disaster rears its ugly head at us, and we cannot be surprised at the images that follow it. We must be prepared and there has to be a plan A and plan B.

Works Cited

Carbado, Devon W., et al. After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina. Ed. Troutt, David Dante. New York: The New Press. 2006.

Dewan, Shaila. “Little Progress Seen for Poorest After Hurricane.” The New York Times. 1 Feb. 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/us/02gulf.html.

 Dyson, Michael Eric. Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. New York: Basic Cavitas, 2006.

Nossiter, Adam. Drew, Christopher. “In New Orleans, Dysfunction Fuels Cycle of Killing.” The New York Times.  5 Feb. 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/us/05crime.html.

NPR Radio.“Katrina Survivors Contemplate Today’s New Orleans.” http://ww.npr.org

“Rescue Efforts and Race.” PBS News Hour. 5 Sept. 2005. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/weather/july-dec05/race_9-5.html.

“The Storm.” Frontline. PBS. PBS Home Video. 2005.

Tizon, Thomas Alex. “Katrina’s Aftermath; Images of the Victims Spark a Racial Debate.” Los Angeles Times. 3 September2005.

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