Katrina Exposes Racism

[Karmadillo]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x22396

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According to Attytood’s research, though 2004 was one of the worst hurricane seasons in history, the federal government this year imposed "the steepest reduction in hurricane- and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history."

Why the neglect? Though it is best known as a tourist destination, New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in the U.S., with a population that is 67 percent African American. In the parish, or county, of Orleans, 34 percent of households live below the federal poverty line--an issue that was the focus of a new community coalition at a meeting just a few days before Katrina hit.

The scale of the threat has been well known for years. Oceanographer Joe Suhayda created a detailed model of the impact of a Category 5 hurricane hitting New Orleans, showing that much of the city could be plunged under 20 feet of water, causing tens of thousands of casualties. And in 2004, Hurricane Ivan barely missed the city, again highlighting the urgent need for a viable evacuation plan.

"Affluent white people fled the Big Easy in their SUVs, while the old and car-less--mainly Black--were left behind in their below-sea-level shotgun shacks and aging tenements to face the watery wrath," activist Mike Davis wrote of the evacuation plans for Ivan. "New Orleans had spent decades preparing for inevitable submersion by the storm surge of a class-five hurricane. Civil defense officials conceded they had 10,000 body bags on hand to deal with the worst-case scenario. But no one seemed to have bothered to devise a plan to evacuate the city’s poorest or most infirm residents."

more...

[wake.up.america]

1. Is this racism or class warfare? Maybe I am wrong.

[pippin]

2. Several DUers Have already noted this.

Hope the fact "the federal government this year imposed "the steepest reduction in hurricane- and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history" comes back to bite the repugs (and democrats ) in the the ass--big time.