Racism and Hurricane Katrina

As Hurricane Katrina ravaged the South and drowned large parts of New Orleans this past September, the ugly reality of our nation’s continuing problem with class, poverty, and race became apparent. Many Americans began to question the possibility of racism being a deciding factor in the fate of many New Orleans citizens who were black and who lived in the poorest, most low-lying portion of the city, the Ninth Ward. Many, including First Lady Laura Bush, denounce critics who say race played a role in the federal government’s slow response to the victims of Katrina. While it is possible that the government’s slow response to the disaster was not directly due to racism, there are many unanswered questions suggesting the protection of the city was ignored because the people who lived within it were poor and primarily black, thus having little political power.

We may never know the true reason for the government’s inexcusably slow response to the poorest, mainly black Katrina victims in New Orleans. Whether racism played a role or not, at the very least it exposed the fact that racism continues to be a major problem in our country.

Understanding the history of this area can help us appreciate the perspective of the minorities who believe so strongly that the levees were destroyed and the Ninth Ward was flooded on purpose, for in fact something very similar did happen in 1927. In the spring of 1927, our country was devastated by one of its greatest natural disasters, known as the “fatal flood.” After weeks of constant rain, the Mississippi