Class and Location, Not Race, Decided Katrina Aid

Most Americans view their society through the prism of race. Given American history, that is hardly surprising, but it can lead to misinterpretation of events that, in turn, can lead to the wrong solutions to problems. Nowhere was this more evident than in the “analysis” of America’s relief efforts to help those harmed by Hurricane Katrina. Race was not the deciding factor in whether one got prompt help; class and geography were.

First, the urban population received better treatment than the rural population. That is a function of modern society; rural populations are harder to serve because of the distances. Moreover, all of the infrastructure in a modern society centers on urban areas. They are the hubs through which everything is run. And it is easier to access the hub than the outlying areas. The rural parts of the South that were hardest hit are not mostly black. The truth is that help still hasn’t arrived in many parts of Louisiana outside New Orleans.

Second, not every black person in the South is dirt poor, not even in New Orleans. W.E.B. DuBois’ talented tenth is alive and well and had airfare or a car in which to leave on August 28th. A simple mathematical proof will illustrate the point. Approximately 2/3 of the population of New Orleans is black, and some 27% lives below the poverty line. Now, presuming that every person below the poverty line is black, that still leaves 40% of the population black and above the poverty line. Estimates are that up to 1/3 of the 450,000 residents of New Orleans couldn’t or wouldn’t leave when the mayor said to get out. That is to say, 34% of those who left before the hurricane at a minimum were black.

There is an underlying assumption in that proof – that those with the means to leave by car, train, bus or plane chose to do so. More than a few stayed on, but not enough to undermine the basic argument. Wealthier black people got out of New Orleans along with well-heeled white folks.

It was those who lacked private transportation who got stuck. In future, the authorities need to create a plan for getting the poor out of Dodge – something that they failed to do. Also, it is going to be vital in future to pre-position supplies much better. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, the nation had a couple days’ warning. Had Al Qaeda bombed the levees of New Orleans (if there is any Al Qaeda cell in the US, which one doubts), no amount of money would have helped. And there seems to be no plan to deal with that kind of disaster for any American city. Four years after 9/11, the country still can't get people to safety in any significant numbers without plenty of warning.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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