Hurricane Katrina In New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina was a disaster in 2005 that caused immense destruction in the city of New Orleans. Thousands faced the loss of their homes and loved ones. It is a regretful event that had many implications and shed light onto the underlying social pre-tense considered by the Bush Administration. The sense of urgency to offer aid was lacking. Former president Bush himself was still on vacation during the disaster.

The official narrative was depicted through media broadcasts and presidential scripted speeches. In a way, I think that it was biased towards the government and the image that they wanted to present to the public. They wanted to portray a sense of comfort, that everything was taking care of itself. But there were certain voices that were unspoken. narrators were the ones who had faced the hurricane. Black Americans and low income families in particular. The scenes after the cameras were off revealed a different story. Lights were turned on in one building, making one man excited that the lights were back on. In reality, the light was only turned on because the

president was having an interview. It was a ploy to make it seem that the city was improving. If one building could have power back on, why not the others? I believe that those lights could have been turned on, but the time and money towards the cause was not worth it according to FEMA and the government. Yet news coverage and publicity was always a concern.

As Barack Obama laments in the 10 year commemorative speech, New Orleans was "plagued by structural inequalities that left too many people, especially poor people, especially people of colour, without good jobs or affordable health care or decent housing” He essentially states that people of colour and low income families struggled the most.

No doubt that there should have been better action taken towards these citizens. He touches base on these people, the same  people that were derived of substantial help during the crisis. These types of people faced discrimination and a heavy burden upon the government. This acknowledgement was taken 10 years after the incident. For some, it was too late. They were left to fend for themselves; residents had to leave their homes and find shelter elsewhere. FEMA had stated that they would not cover the cost of hotel rooms, resulting in an outrage of

protests. 

One of the more underhand backlash was the news representation of the residents of New Orleans. They were referred to as “refugees”. From a glance, it may seem unimportant. Typical news broadcasts trying to exaggerate the situation to catch attention. But it was deeply personal to the residents. As one exclaimed, the storm “blew away their citizenship too?” Refugees

Certainly, the outrage was not unnoticed. Kanye West, an American rapper, bluntly stated on a news broadcast that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” It was a bold statement that left the newscaster speechless. It was a shocking claim, but the residents agree.