Government aid to Katrina residents often helped the most affluent, Lower Ninth Ward: Still Recovering, they rebuilt the New Orleans they wanted not the one we had
Census Finds Hurricane Katrina Left New Orleans Richer, Whiter, Emptier What a surprise huh? NOT!
New Orleans population nearly 30 per cent lower than before Hurricane Katrina It has been 5 years but we were right on!
I thought it appropriate to resurrect a blog I posted 9/25/05 in order to put a couple recent stories into perspective. To start with, it was surprising to me to find out that New Orleans even had a levee board especially in light of the damage incurred. You would have thought their job would be to secure the levees.
After Katrina: A tale of two recoveries
Government aid to Katrina residents often helped most affluent
Lower 9th still recovering There is good reason for it and as you know, it was on purpose.
We know now how sad a state of repair some of them were in. Instead they established an Airport and a marina. They also played a role in establishing a floating casino, top of the line fiber optic system, and spent 2.4 million on a Mardis Gras fountain and left the 9th street levee in the poorer area of the city in particular in a state of disrepair.
This was all nice for businesses and the elite whose areas suffered relatively light damage. The poor did suffer the brunt of Katrina and Rita. The devastation to these people in the first place occurred because of criminal neglect by authorities and local officials on every level. I contended that this natural disaster was allowed to clean out New Orleans of what the elite thought of as undesirable elements and failed for years to do it themselves.
Now the are largely out with many choosing to stay out. I contended that the wealthy elite, largely white, and the politicians will now be able to rebuild for their own interests. We thought New Orleans might now become a Republican city. This all seemed a distinct possibility especially with the French Quarter, the Convention Center, and the Garden District, were all largely high and dry and largely intact.
It seemed obvious that the poor sections were now cleaned out and the housing projects gone compliments of Mother Nature and not God as Mayor Nagin ridiculously stated, and supposedly not from any design of mans. Along with these areas went much of Mayor Nagin's ill mentioned chocolate aspect of New Orleans.
We knew that enough of the poor and the blacks if you will, will be back for whatever reason primarily to service the needs of industries, the wealthy elite and politicians, and various business interests. then reading a story in the NY Times that New Orleans might be rebuilt whiter and smaller it looks like the thoughts expressed more than 5 years ago were right on target.
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
2 comments:
This was a foreclosure sale plain and simple. I recall some of our haz mat people going down there and they were finished getting the oil companies back on line in two weeks!
What ever happened to the $200 billion that Bush promised for the area? I know lies, lies, and more lies.
I know it's sick! They took care of the wealthy and this was our first lesson of many that we the average American are on our own. In this case nature was allowed to do what Republicans had tried and failed to do for years.
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