New Orleans Racism & Climate Injustice: 20 Years After Katrina
NEW ORLEANS – Twenty years after Hurricane katrina ravaged teh Gulf Coast, killing over 1,800 and displacing hundreds of thousands, the scars remain deeply etched in the heart of New Orleans. As the city reflects on the anniversary of the devastating storm, the focus shifts to the long-term consequences, notably for the Black community, and the systemic failures that exacerbated the crisis.
“it felt like attacks on everything, on democracy, on the social safety net,” recalls independent journalist Jordan Flaherty, who was in New Orleans when Katrina hit and returned to report on the aftermath.”We were facing the issues people face everywhere - housing, education, criminal justice – but it was like on hyperspeed.”
The numbers paint a stark picture. Pre-katrina, New Orleans boasted a population of approximately 480,000. Today, that number hovers around 360,000, with the Black community bearing the brunt of the loss. The city is home to roughly 120,000 fewer Black residents than before the storm.
The immediate aftermath saw 80% of the city’s housing rendered uninhabitable. The public housing infrastructure was largely shut down, even undamaged units. The city’s free hospital was shuttered, and the entire school system staff, 7,500 teachers, were fired overnight. The teachers’ union lost recognition, and the schools transitioned from electoral control to a mostly charter system.Amidst the chaos, then-Governor declared the arrival of National Guard troops, “locked and loaded,” with orders to “shoot to kill.”
flaherty emphasizes that the voices of Black New Orleanians were often marginalized during this period. He credits activists, artists, organizers, and scholars like Norris Henderson, Monique Harden, Tracie Washington, and Sunni Patterson for fighting for justice in the city.
In the wake of katrina, the federal government allocated over $140 billion for recovery efforts, the largest post-disaster domestic recovery effort in U.S. history. However, the impact on the ground was questionable.
“It felt in that period as if, like, the sky was filled with money,” Flaherty explains. “it was like it flew over our heads and then got redirected, so we didn’t actually get to – the people most in need didn’t actually receive it.”
Much of the funding, he alleges, whent to well-connected corporations like Kellogg Brown & Root and Halliburton. A critically important portion of the aid was channeled through nonprofits based outside the Gulf coast, further diverting resources from the communities most affected.
As New Orleans commemorates the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,the focus remains on addressing the systemic inequalities that continue to plague the city and ensuring that the voices of its most vulnerable residents are finally heard.