The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought about significant social, political, and economic shifts in New Orleans, especially for certain underprivileged groups. I will be discussing how two papers—“Why Katrina's Victims Aren't Refugees: Musings on a ‘Dirty’ Word” by Adeline Masquelier and “Who Dat?: Race and Its Conspicuous Consumption in Post-Katrina New Orleans” by Marc D. Perry—both deal with these developments. More specifically, I will discuss how they each examine the concept of “otherness” in New Orleans within the context of Hurricane Katrina. These two articles are similar in that they both delineate certain groups in New Orleans that are considered “other” by those in power (and are essentially talking about the same group), and describe similar ways in how the “other” are dealt with; they are different in that Perry’s article focuses on the changes post-Katrina, while Masquelier’s article uses Katrina to show how previous institutions were amplified. The original article, “Who Dat?: Race and Its Conspicuous …show more content…
The Perry article shows the distinction between the cultures of black New Orleanians and white New Orleanians, how one was exploited for profit, and how certain groups were judged on their abilities/functions in society and placed into two categories—useful or expendable—based on their being African American. In Masquelier’s article, she emphasizes that the victims were attempting to cling to the categories as part of their identities when everything else they had known had been swept away. This was part of the reason they rejected the term “refugee.” They felt that it was not part of their identity, and that being classified as such stripped them of their culture and specific history (Masquelier, 2006). In both cases, the classification of these groups based on certain categories was instrumental in making them the “other” in
Donald Worster introduces a framework for analyzing environmental history along the three dimensions of culture, social organization, and nature, which can be used to investigate how the ‘levees only’ approach to managing the waters of the Mississippi River set the scene for the disastrous effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana (4-5). The ‘levees only’ approach grew from and promoted certain cultural, social, and natural conditions in New Orleans, and each of these elements critically interacted to contribute to the human and environmental destruction unleashed by Katrina. Cultural, social, and natural elements of Worster’s framework individually shaped the essential preconditions of the Katrina disaster. Culturally, New Orleans’s
Rankine also shares the horrible tragedy of hurricane Katrina experienced by the black community, where they struggled for their survival before and post the hurricane catastrophes. She reports that the lives of black people in the disaster were of no cost for white administration and they delayed the help. She expresses this by writing, “I don’t know what the water wanted. It wanted to show you no one would come” (Rankine 94)(11).
“Water is the driving force of all nature.” Leonardo Da Vinci simply stated that everything we experience in the natural world could be thought of as a result of water. This idea carries over to society as well. In man’s attempt to control nature, he must control water. This problem seems evident in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. As New Orleans grew, the water management infrastructure led to racial segregation and a disproportionate exposure to risk being distributed to people of color. Campanella’s article “An Ethnic Geography of New Orleans” provides specific details attributing the city’s water management as the source of these problems related to racial inequality.
Wilson, William J. More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City. New York: Norton & Company, 2009. Print.
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
In the essay, I answer the question “What are some of the inherent cultural barriers and challenges that the refugees faced when coming to Clarkston? Are these challenges unique to this story or do they reflect the broader concerns and anxieties about immigration in America?” with supporting evidence from the book and outside sources.
Mann, Eric. “Race and the High Ground in New Orleans.” World Watch (2006): 40-43. Academic OneFile. Thomson Gale. Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile. 28 Nov.2006
Nearly 10 years after hurricane Katrina ravaged through the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas in southern Louisiana, the city is still struggling to recover from the $108 billion caused by damage. Nominated for Academy and Emmy awards, the captivating documentary Trouble The Water analyzes the consequences played both during and following the disastrous events during hurricane Katrina. Such events are displayed using the sociological perspective —the perspective on human behavior and how it connects to society— to understand how poverty, social class, and racial issues are valued in different areas of the United States, especially in these troubled areas. Trouble the Water explores these issues of race, class, and the relationship of
According to Hurricane Katrina At Issue Disasters, economic damages from Hurricane Katrina have been estimated at more than $200 billion… More than a million people were displaced by the storm… An estimated 120,000 homes were abandoned and will probably be destroyed in Louisiana alone (At * Issue). For this perspective, “Hurricane Katrina change the Gulf Coast landscape and face of its culture when it hit in 2005” (Rushton). A disaster like Katrina is something the victims are always going to remember, for the ones the lost everything including their love ones. Katrina became a nightmare for all the people that were surround in the contaminated waters in the city of New Orleans. People were waiting to be rescue for days,
The point of view Ira Berlin presents is of great significance to the comprehension of the New World. There is regularly a supposition that when slaves were brought over, they were dependably pariahs, that they needed to work hard to get even the slightest bit of opportunity, and that there was next to no trust. This circumstance was genuine yet numerous overlook that there was a period in American history when the racial strains were not very good. The Atlantic creoles fit in exceptionally well in the early New World and the sanction eras framed America and the slave exchange. Berlin's record of the contract eras additionally permits the peruser more understanding to the improvement of racial pressure; generalizations changed from tricky,
News of the devastating hurricane Katrina and its economic, political, social, and humanitarian consequences dominated global headlines in an unprecedented manner when this natural catastrophe struck the region of New Orleans in mid August 2005 (Katrinacoverage.com). As a tradition, large-scale disasters like Katrina, inevitably, bring out a combination of the best and the worst news media instincts. As such, during the height of Hurricane Katrina’s rage, many journalists for once located their gag reflex and refused to swallow shallow and misleading excuses and explanations from public officials. Nevertheless, the media’s eagerness to report thinly substantiated rumors may have played a key role in bringing about cultural wreckage that may take the American society years to clean up.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating tragedies to ever hit North America. It claimed the lives of over 900 people from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Unfortunately, that is not why a majority of people in America remember. As many know, these three states in the heart of the Deep South represent some of the poorest in the country. After the storm, the government was disgracefully slow to respond to the cause. Health care was in an overwhelming shortage. Depending on where people lived, determined their chances for survival. Race and class are believed to be the main factors in determined who was put at the top of the priority list. The purpose of this essay to explain how these factors contributed to the pitiful response
Pictures keep on flowing onto every TV, phone, and tablet screen. At first glance, one might see pictures of boats zipping through the streets and think they are of a port city like in Venice. Then, pictures of roofs sticking out from insanely high water levels not present weeks ago pop up. Pictures of wreckage come up. It turns out to be pictures of Texas after one of the costliest hurricanes hit the area. Hurricane Harvey turned hundred of thousands of people’s lives upside down. As I heard about it over the summer, I was shocked. Every time I fly to and from Caltech, I usually make a stop in Texas. There are several people in my house that I’ve become close to throughout the years that are proud Texans and were affected by Hurricane Harvey. I even added Texas to my list of places to travel to after hearing stories of the amazing sites, people, and culture. So this natural disaster hit me a lot harder than some of the other natural
Kay, Joseph. "Hurricane Katrina: a calamity compounded by poverty and neglect." World Socialist Website. N.p., 31 Aug. 2005. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Hurricane evacuation is strongly enforced by police power and whether or not the governor or president puts the state on as state of emergency where people from all over and the military are called in to help. After katrina, it is now a crime to refuse because of lawsuits that arose. A big issue is getting the resources to help those that can’t evacuate. The issue with the superdome was their was no order so people fled there and were overcrowded which led to hazardous conditions. States change building codes,require that some places reopen as quickly as possible after a storm has passed, and have laws put into place about animals. Also some coastal states enforce curfews if bad weather is approaching.