A follow up on the racism and classism around Katrina Disaster...

[Kevin Spidel]

Yesterday I took a chance and called the aftermath of Katrina (in human cost) is associated with racism and classism. I was not sure how DU would respond to it. The original post is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4531590

I was pleased to read so many were supportive over my rant.

This morning this article came in my inbox. Glad to know it is getting out there!


Hurricane Katrina exposes racism and inequality
By Lee Sustar , SW, Aug. 30, 2005

Decades of official neglect, racism and the impact of global warming
magnified the destructive impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
and other parts of the South.

The mainstream media focused most on the big-money property losses--for example, the heavily damaged casinos on the Mississippi coast that took a direct hit from Katrina, and the tourist hotels in the French Quarter in New Orleans. But beyond the media spotlight are countless others who don't have sufficient insurance--or any insurance at all--to rebuild their lives.

As in all "natural" disasters, a far-from-natural logic asserted
itself: Those who had the least to begin with stood to lose the most.

Thus, in the Gulf Coast cities of Mississippi that took a direct hit
when the hurricane came ashore, the big hotels were left standing, though heavily damaged. Other structures--even whole neighborhoods and communities--were erased from the map. "This is our tsunami," said one person, drawing a comparison with last December's disaster around the rim of the Indian Ocean.

The rest here: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc-sustar010905.htm