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Recalling How Katrina Made Us Examine Race
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Katrina flooded New Orleans Aug. 29, 2005
Saturday, August 29, was the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina breaching the levees of city of New Orleans. That catastrophe caused Americans and people all over the world to re-evaluate not only the nation's readiness for disaster but also its race relations. From media video reports it was obvious that the majority of the people left behind in the city were African-American, and many observers of all races and colors felt the slow response indicated racism in action.
New Orleans is recovering but the city remains a complex gumbo of class, race, and political struggle. Here's a short list of blog posts and articles that on the 4th anniversary looked back to examine the progress of recovery and potential lessons learned. In particular the following blogs and articles acknowledge not only recovery over the last four years but also touch on the role of race in Katrina's aftermath.
Ten Talking Hurricane Katrina in NOLA
- Katrina Four Years Later at Electronic Village.
- Remembering Katrina at Womanist Musings
- The Secret History of Hurricane Katrina at Mother Jones
- 4 years at Black Voice News
- 4 Years Later at The Intersection of Madness and Reality
- An Unhappy Anniversary at This So-Called Post-Post-Racial Life
- Take Me Back to New Orleans at The Root
- Lest We Forget at My Brown Eyed view
- Katrina Nation at Huffington Post
- The Long Road Home at The Defenders
We should not ignore or deny the racial tensions that rose to the surface with the flooding of New Orleans; however, it is also important to remember that the entire city suffered, people of all backgrounds and even greater challenges came as the survivors returned. The pain and resilience of New Orleanians are beautifully explored in this post, How I Celebrate Katrina's Fourth Anniversary. The writer shares his personal battle to overcome emotional devastation.
The levees still need work, and you can read about that at CBS or educate yourself further via Rising Tide. You may also study why the levees failed at this site. In addition, we must remember how much work is left to be done not only in New Orleans but also the entire Gulf Coast region. And while we think on these things, may we remember Galveston, Texas, and other areas recovering from last year's hurricanes.
Finally, at the New Orleans Literature Examiner is a list of books to help anyone understand New Orleans more as recommended by Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell. In addition, here is a story from a New Orleans website about what, for some, would seem like a simple task, re-opening a historic grocery store in a less affluent section of New Orleans.
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