Race has begun to take center stage in many of the discussions in the United States about poverty and fairness. In the years after Hurricane Katrina caused massive damage to New Orleans, the failure of the federal government to provide adequate assistance to the city has become one of the fundamental examples of the failures of federal government (Dreier, 2006). Some have suggested that the failure to respond on the part of the federal government is part of a larger systemic problem of racism and classism in American society; this racism and classism is a reflection of the political divisions that plague the United States (Strolovitch, Warren, & Frymer, 2006). Although natural disasters always hit economically disadvantaged groups much harder than wealthy groups—after all, the wealthy often have the resources to rebuild—Katrina devastated a city in a very serious, real way (Cutter, 2006).
Pulido (2000) suggests that racial minority groups are almost always more adversely affected by natural disasters because of their general geographic proximity to dangerous locations. The research suggests that spatial relationships between environmental hazards and racially disadvantaged groups is unusually high—and that these relationships reflect a societal push, so to speak, to move disadvantaged groups closer to hazardous locations (Pulido, 2000). The Katrina disaster demonstrated that the United States was remarkably unprepared for a disaster on such a massive scale, but it also posed the question of whether the magnitude of such a disaster could have been lessened if governmental organizations were more willing to and capable of working together to meet the specific needs of racially and economically disadvantaged populations. Although there is no guarantee that the prognosis would have been better for New Orleans, beginning the conversation about race, class, and access to safe living conditions is one that must be had in the United States today.
References
Cutter, S,. (2006).The Geography of Social Vulnerability: Race, Class, and Catastrophe. Retrieved 19 February 2016, from http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Cutter/
Dreier, P. (2006). Katrina and power in America.Urban Affairs Review, 41(4), 528-549.
Pulido, L. (2000). Rethinking environmental racism: White privilege and urban development in Southern California. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 90(1), 12-40.
Strolovitch,D., Warren, D., & Frymer, P,. (2016).Katrina’s Political Roots and Divisions: Race, Class, and Federalism in American Politics. Retrieved 19 February 2016, from http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/FrymerStrolovitchWarren/
