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Issue.3

A Look At Hurricane Katrina In o7′

by LaShic Mondrell, Contributing Writer

Hurricane Katrina would hit the Gulf Coast Region in August of 2005. The storm magnified the poverty rate in such cities as New Orleans, which was 40% pre-Katrina according to a study titled “Katrina, Black Women, and the Deadly Discourse on Black Poverty in America” by Barbara Ransby. The same study showed that black women in the region were hit even harder by the storm since some were the poorest in the nation and since women in general “are more vulnerable in times of natural disaster because they are the primary caretakers of the young and the old.”

Many of the storm’s survivors compared the horrific catastrophe to slavery where generations of families of African descent were separated and scattered across several continents only to endure years of inhumane acts and no human rights. Those who survived the storm would be transported away from their relatives and homes without knowledge in the stability of their futures.

Phylicia Bradley attends University of Houston and is a member of the American Humanics Student Association. She and her family are from New Orleans and are survivors of the storm. While Bradley feels that the Bush administration made no verbal promises in handling the storm’s aftermath, she believes it is still assumed that the government would help in some manner.

She believes people “can’t blame [the storm] on the government solely…we allow things to happen even though should have personal responsibility.” She states that the people of New Orleans have some blame in the neighborhood’s neglect and gentrification because many residents in the low-income areas were not educated enough and were not interested in politics to protect themselves. Bradley sees that the average to low income areas, Eastern New Orleans and 9^th Ward, are not being rebuilt and that many “familiar places [are] not coming back” while tourist attractions are up and running again.

She states it is like this because, “they don’t want us to come home. Many want to and will come home. It isn’t theirs. People who want to come were kept from coming back. The Bush administration had contracts and hired illegal immigrants to clean up the area.” As a result, she stated that the residents are not placed in jobs where they are rebuilding their city and instead must work in fast food and corporate services.

Bradley has heard of no news about the levees being rebuilt to withstand a category five or six hurricane or about houses being built above sea level. While “they are in Iraq for democracy and rebuilding whatever they blow up,” she stated that the “people in New Orleans don’t have democracy.”

In response to an editorial illustration of the Katrina survivors as being ignorant and frivolously spending FEMA funds done by The Daily Cougar who has not issued a public apology or showed any accountability, she stated to media outlets who support those stereotypes that “until they really walk in our shoes, they don’t really know.”

After the storm, Bradley went back to work and school just as she did in New Orleans. Phylicia Bradley believes that the survivors of Hurricane Katrina should get educated and get jobs to help others if nothing else in order to gain overall stability.

In recent news, the federal appeals court ruled that Hurricane Katrina survivors whose homes and businesses were destroyed could not recover money from their insurance companies for the damages. Taking personal responsibility and making independent economic choices are no longer optional.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 8:49 pm and is filed under Issue.3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.