Race Blog : What is the matter in New Orleans?

What is the matter in New Orleans?

by Mia G.

April 12, 2007 4:14 PM

How is it that we're rounding the corner on almost two years since Katrina, and my recent trip to New Orleans shows me that this city is still a colossal mismanaged mess? How is it that, some 19 MONTHS after the storm (not days, not weeks, MONTHS), there are still significant portions of the city that are completely without power? This is not Baghdad, or some other war-torn city that is just in the throes of catastrophe. The flood receded, the convention center got rebuilt, the French quarter still sells beignets, and yet the lower 9th ward didn't have power enough to see the Saints go marching into the playoffs? Talk about an uplifting Cinderella story. The city's residents couldn't even see the game.

And yes, people are getting back to work there. But do you know where they live? Not in New Orleans, because except for the tourist district, the city is almost uninhabitable. Entire neighborhoods are abandoned. Water lines still show on the outsides of buildings that have long been evacuated. People come in from Metarie, Slidell, and even as far out as Baton Rouge. Not only is the city worn down and a hot mess, but the cost of housing is outrageous. One-bedroom apartments that were $350 on August 15, 2005 are now $1,100+, owing to the price of insurance. The local economy cannot support those kinds of housing prices.

And speaking of insurance - why aren't the companies paying up? What do people pay the premiums for, if they can't get a hand up when the unthinkable happens? I asked my cab driver. He told me it's because no one is making them. And who can? Not the Feds. They're too busy paying their share in Mississippi (a Red State) and avoiding the whole state of Louisiana (you guessed it, Blue).

It is embarrassing and disgusting to consider how horribly wrong so much of this has gone. This used to be a city I was excited to visit, and yet now, the people there have begun to believe that it will never be the same. The hope for a return to former glory is lost. This is one part of the South that appears to have no clear strategy to rise again.

Comments

Olivia M said on April 12, 2007 5:16 PM:

I think its atrocious. I think this nation has turned its eyes on Black poverty, and we're happier to just forget about it, or chalk it up to the kind of struggles people face every day. The fact is, if this had happened in Seattle, the city would look a whole lot better by now. but it's a predominantly Black city, and not even like new york, where at least a lot of Whites go there to work - it's just Black. And being Just Black is certainly not good enough to get much attention two years later. Besides, it's sexier to talk about Imus the Ignorant.

Esteban M said on May 1, 2007 12:22 PM:

Yes it is true that the amount of money in a city controls what can happen with reconstruction and toher things but it does not have to do with race. It has to do with the kind of people that live in that area and the fact that most of the people lost their jobs and all their money and property so they can not pay for reconstruction

Liz W said on May 1, 2007 12:37 PM:

Being a 15-year-old white girl, I spent my spring break with the United Methodist Church traveling from Washington DC to New Orleans. I know that places like the lower 9th ward will just about never be replaced, and much of the wealthier population was able to get back on their feet, but I believe in hope and in home. Many organizations like FEMA (which is actually disliked - but is trying to help) and Habitat for Humanity are trying to help the people of New Orleans best they can. I think that many people need to open their eyes to what is really there. Yes, there is a lot of ignorance to the area, but I personally do not think that it has anything to do with race.

KaterinaKakaletri said on May 17, 2007 2:49 PM:

I think that a long way has to go still, before coloured people are perceived as not a victim; politics, & political will usually crashes bias though some innovative laws/strategies for the sake of their public image, NGOs help through some capital they concentrate befor public spending, but rarely people get what they deserve; & chaos usually prevails before order;

I met Americans & I have got the impression that they act more efficiently abroad, in any campaign they take upon, than at home;

New Orleans is an American State with roots which go very deep in people's councious; a storm as any storm will always destroy in a great distance, I hope it doesn't destroy your will to survive against the harsh policies of any insurance company;Money has to come from somewhere

Tom said on June 13, 2007 4:13 PM:

It will be rebuilt but not acording too culture but money.How sad this is that we still have along way to go.Let's face it,any one who made less than $ 25,000 didn't have a way out.That's the cold hard fact folks and I make well below $25,000.

Anonymous said on June 26, 2007 2:55 PM:

I believe that things that are not being taken care of in New Oreleans is all a big mess. The Government, and I will not only blame Bush, knows that there is a problem still going on here but they still want to continue to ignore it and deal with other problems in other countries that has nothing to do with us. I understand that they want to help other countries to develop but you have to continue at home to continue to make your country the developed country that it is. I honestly think if something was to happen here in the United States again and it continued to be ignored just like the New Oreleans situation it will make our country to continue to go down.

wanbligi said on June 29, 2007 5:04 PM:

Reasonable minds can see the difference between the more rapid response in Florida than Louisiana by the federal government. There is a more significant Black population in Louisiana than in Florida. They are treating the Blacks differently because of the lack there of by the federal government in the slow and methodical progress in Louisiana from the devastation of Katrina.

AviateNvestigate said on August 4, 2007 7:45 PM:

They got to Pakistan in one day after an earthquake. They got to Minneapolis in one day after a bridge collapsed. When the levees broke, they couldn't find New Orleans for a week and then claimed they didn't even know about it. Give me a break. If New Orleans was 95% white, they'd have been there before the first drop of water got through the broken levees.

Stacy said on September 11, 2007 12:17 PM:

I feel that Bush dont care about black people cause i f he did New Orleans would of been fixed so black amercians that lived there could come back to there homes. Geroge Bush do not like black people period.

Jon (white boy) said on September 18, 2007 5:08 PM:

Please people stop making this a racial issue. the city is still below sea level and they have said that another hurricane would potentially do the same thing...why would you rush back to rebuild the 9th ward? I live in NC and eastern NC was hit hard by 2 hurricanes in the same year, flooding much of the farm land (pig and chicken farms mostly run by "white" families). Many farmers could not afford to rebuild, the government did not come in and help them, nor did they expect them too.

This was MOTHER NATURE...the government did not do this to hurt the black race. At some point you need to stop looking for handouts and stop pointing the finger and start rebuilding your own lives. More money was raised for Katrina than any other nature disaster in the US...have you seen how individuals used the money they were given? Let's educate the people before we start given them any more.

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