Hurricane Katrina

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Description

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana and Mississippi. The storm devastated the region and its citizens. But its devastation did not reach across racial and class lines equally. In an original combination of research and advocacy, Hurricane Katrina: America’s Unnatural Disaster questions the efficacy of the national and global responses to Katrina’s central victims, African Americans.

This collection of polemical essays explores the extent to which African Americans and others were, and are, disproportionately affected by the natural and manmade forces that caused Hurricane Katrina. Such an engaged study of this tragic event forces us to acknowledge that the ways in which we view our history and life have serious ramifications on modern human relations, public policy, and quality of life.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• Misisipi
• Luisiana
• Ethnic studies
• Louisiana
• États-Unis
• Mississippi

Informations

• Publié par: Nebraska
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780803224636
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

H U R R I C A N E K AT R I N A

J U S T I C E A N D S O C I A L I N Q U I R Y

S E R I E SE D I T O R S Jeremy I. Levitt Matthew C. Whitaker

Hurricane Katrina AMERICA’S UNNATURAL DISASTER

E D I T E DA N DW I T HA NI N T R O D U C T I O NB Y J ER E MY I . L E V I T T A N D M AT T H E W C . W H I TA K ER

U N I V E R S I T YO FN E B R A S K AP R E S S — L I N C O L N & L O N D O N

©2009by Jeremy I. Levitt and Matthew C. Whitaker All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data

Hurricane Katrina : America’s unnatural disaster / edited and with an introduction by Jeremy I. Levitt and Matthew C. Whitaker. p. cm. — (Justice and social inquiry) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8032-1760-7(cloth : alk. paper) 1Katrina,. Hurricane 2005. 2. Disaster relief—Louisiana—New Orleans.3. African Americans—Louisiana—New Orleans—Social conditions.4. Social justice—Louisiana— New Orleans. I. Levitt, Jeremy I.,1970– II. Whitaker, Matthew C. hv636 2005 .n4 l48 2009 976'.044—dc22 2008045278

For the victims of Katrina’s unnatural disaster, and for the hope

of a better tomorrow

In loving memory of the benevolent Donda West, her son Kayne

West, and ten others whom Jeremy Levitt led on a three-day hu-

manitarian mission to visit, support, and lift the spirits of thou-

sands of Katrina victims housed in the Houston Astrodome, Reli-

ant Center, George R. Brown Center, and several churches shortly

after the storm in September2005

C O N T E N T S

List of Figures . . ix Acknowledgments. . xi

i n t ro d u c t i o n. “Truth Crushed to Earth Will Rise Again”: Katrina and Its Aftermath . .1  . . J E R E M Y I L E V I T T A N D M A T T H E W C W H I T A K E R

1. Letters from a Native Son: Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? . .23  . M I T C H E L L F C R U S T O

2. After Katrina: Laying Bare the Anatomy of American Caste . .35  . B R Y A N K F A I R

3. Hurricane Katrina and the “Market” for Survival: The Role of Economic Theory in the Construction and Maintenance of Disaster . .50  . . C H A R L E S R P P O U N C Y

4. The Internal Revenue Code Don’t Care about Poor, Black People . .81  . A N D R E L S M I T H

5. Judging under Disaster: The Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the Criminal Justice System . .105 P H Y L L I S K O T E Y

6. From Worse to Where? African Americans, Hurricane Katrina, and the Continuing Public Health Crisis . .132  . A L Y S S A G R O B I L L A R D

7. Failed Plans and Planned Failures: The Lower Ninth Ward, Hurricane Katrina, and the Continuing Story of Environmental Injustice . .156 C A R L T O N W A T E R H O U S E

8. “Still Up on the Roof”: Race, Victimology, and the Response to Hurricane Katrina . .183  . K E N N E T H B N U N N

9. Governmental Liability for the Katrina Failure . .206 L I N D AS . G R E E N E

10. Katrina, Race, Refugees, and Images of the Third World . .226 R U T H G O R D O N

11. “Been in the Storm So Long”: Katrina, Reparations, and the Original Understanding of Equal Protection . .255 D . M A R V I NJ O N E S

Epilogue . .277  . . J E R E M Y I L E V I T T A N D M A T T H E W C W H I T A K E R

Bibliography . .281 Contributors . .307 Index . .313

F I G U R E S

1. Total infant mortality by race/ethnicity,2004. .135 2. People estimated to be living withhiv/aidsin Katrina-affected disaster areas . .145

TA B L E S

Life expectancy (years) at birth, United States,2004. .136