Katrina and the Second Disaster
"A Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New
Orleans" is the model analysis -- not always given credit -- for Americans who
conclude that the "oversight" on rebuilding low-and-middle income housing in New
Orleans ain't nothing more than Republikan redistricting.
Bush’s vision of Mother
Nature is still lily white and out of
date.As reconstruction and
rebuilding move forward in New Orleans and the Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Alabama Gulf Coast region, it is clear that the lethargic and inept emergency
response after Hurricane Katrina was a disaster that overshadowed the deadly
storm itself. Yet, there is a “second disaster” in the making-driven
by racism, classism, elitism, paternalism, and old-fashion greed. The following
“Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans” is based on trends
and observations made over the past three months. Hopefully, the good people of
New Orleans, Louisiana, the Gulf Coast, and the United States will not allow
this plan to go forward-and instead adopt a principled plan and approach to
rebuilding and bringing back New Orleans that is respectful of all of its
citizens.Dr. Bullard
is Ware Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Justice
Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. He’s served government, the
private sector and educational institutions as an expert on the environment. His
20 point program is painted with a broad brush and I doubt if he expects 100%
agreement from most; but, the questions raised are critical to the future of New
Orleans.Some
consider our government’s rebuilding plans to be nothing less than ethnic
cleansing — by ignoring low-and-middle income families who still are
refugees from Katrina. The model is easy. Mostly Black, mostly Democrat voters
have been removed from Louisiana — a state that still elects Democrats to
Congress. Most of them have “temporarily” relocated to Texas and
other southern states where their numbers aren’t great enough in any one
area to tip the electoral balance away from Republikans. But, keeping them from
returning to New Orleans would make a significant difference in the mid-term
elections and probably the 2008 presidential race, as
well.Rove
and Bush are expressing their thanks to Mother Nature — after the
fact.
Posted: Sat
- February 11, 2006 at 08:18 AM