BlackPerspective.net
Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
The Gulf Coast After Katrina…
August 29th, 2007
…A Study In Disparities and Deferential Treatment
Even though tomorrow is the official Day of Bogging for Justice it really starts today.
I’ve already recently given you my perspective on the current condition after taking my first trip back to Biloxi and New Orleans since Katrina, earlier this summer: Katrina Nearly Two Years Later. So you can check that out for the layout of the situation, and I can get straight to other issues here.
Katrina has highlighted many disparities, both micro and macro; which are racial, social and economic.
On the micro level, prisoners where left to wallow in flood waters in prisons; even minors. Elderly in nursing homes, who were of no particular means, were left to drown. And those who couldn’t afford transportation and or lodging if they were to leave; were left to fend for themselves - and for the most part those same type of people still are. My personal visit to the Lower 9th Ward, as documented in Katrina Nearly Two Years Later makes me certain of that. Not to mention that renters are getting almost no help, with rental units being 3 times what they cost before the storm.
On a micro level, politics is being played with this recovery effort. Mississippians lost much as well as New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana; and certainly needed grave financial assistance form the federal recovery legislation. But shouldn’t the amounts distributed be relative to the damage received, or something there about?
Mississippians often complain about New Orleans receiving an unfair amount of the Katrina and post-Katrina coverage. But it only counts were it counts and Mississippi has received, under legislation passed by the republican congress in charge for the first year and a half after Katrina; a disproportionate amount of the relief funding from congress over Louisiana. This Times Picayune article highlights the accusations by former FEMA Director Michael Brown that the response to Katrina was late partially because the White House wanted to upstage Democratic Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, but did not take the same approach towards Mississippi because it’s Governor Haley Barber is a Republican.
The power position of Haley Barber and the Mississippi Congressional Delegation that contains some powerful Republican legislators; including former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott who loss property during Katrina; has long been scene as causing the federal government to have lent Mississippi a more friendly and generous hand in funding and rebuilding.
But this article by Salon.com suggest that even within Mississippi, the deeper your pockets are the more money you get, as it claims that Haley Barber has focused much more of the recovery money on Casino Counties while allowing other counties to financially go under.
There are many of us around who are commenting on Katrina today and the effects on the survivors. But on a new website just launched last week, Voices From The Gulf, you can hear from those people themselves.
Also if you want to keep up with the recovery try Yahoo’s Katrina page. I used to read there every day, well at least every week day when I was at work, for most of the first year after the storm.
Popularity: 7% [?]
posted in Socio-Economic, Racial Injustice | | | View blog reactions | Print This Post
Related Posts:
Leave a Reply
About The Blog
Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
I created this site to give new voice to socio-political issues that are in need of thoughtful consideration and redress.
Click the "More About The Blog" link for rest of this statement.
Also, if you like what you see, subscribe for a once a day email to be sent on days when we post; by entering your email address in the feed burner subscription box below.
- More About The Blog...
Subscribe via email
Buy Obama
Blogroll
Site Meter
Meta
Subscribe Via RSS
Recent Posts
- Thabo Mbeki Accused of Responsibility for 330,000 AIDS Deaths
- Preliminary Thoughts on Jeremiah Wright’s ‘Africans Who Shaped Our Faith’
- Who Is Eric Holder, Obama’s Attorney General Pick
- World AIDS Day Is Coming
- Political Satire On Obama Victory
- Watch Outfoxed Video
- Video of 60 Minutes Interview With Barack and Michelle Obama
- Hillary Clinton For Secretary of State, Why
- William Ayers Speaks Out On Good Morning America (video)
- To The Black Woman
Podcast
Podcast Commenting
Taser Abuse Awareness
