Tonight, we had a discussion before dinner with a group that works on discussing race in regards to Hurricane Katrina. How much does race play into it? How much of it is just poor infrastructure? Was the poor infrastructure a reflection of the politics of race? New Orleans is not a financial capital of the country (unlike NYC or LA) - is that why it was ignored? If New Orleans were a city with the importance to our capitalist society as NYC (Wall Street) or LA (Hollywood), would the levees have been built better? Would we have spent the extra money to make better stronger levees if New Orleans were more than a cultural center of our country? How does race play into all of these questions?
We also discussed the racial politics of post-Katrina New Orleans. Many wealthier white citizens were able to move back and rebuild, but many less wealthy minority citizens have been unable to do so. The media claim New Orleans as rebuilt and coming a long way, and it has, but there is still so much more to do. 5 years later, and we still have large groups coming to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes in areas that have been ignored. 5 years later, and you can still see the scars.
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