Connie Tang
Weekly Reflection 4
In this essay I argue how the effects of Hurricane Katrina resulted in a perfect representation of structural racism as shown through the lack of structural and economic improvement as well as through the colossal gentrification issue that occurred in the aftermath.
Before I explain how structural racism was perpetrated since Hurricane Katrina, I will first define the term structural racism. As described by President Obama, the federal government’s response to the disaster as a ‘continuation of passive indifference…’ rather than ‘evidence of active malice.’ Also, notable writer, Carl E. James, described society as a structure that excludes substantial numbers of people from minority backgrounds from taking part in social institutions. I agree with both explanations and want to restate it as how structural racism in the U.S. is also the normalization and …show more content…
New Orleans’ police force has long been known to be corrupt by preventing black people from working. In the documentary GRITtv with Laura Flanders, one of the speakers retaliated that police have a pre-existing idea that black life or black rights don’t exist. Meaning that the blacks are automatically criminalized so much so that the first thing job recruiters ask is “have you been conflicted of a felony?” leading to unemployment. Another point is the construction of makeshift housing to deal with the homelessness that occured after the disaster. Thousands of people were displaced and the government only helped 7% of the homeless in these new developments. Not only was this ineffective, but society barely did anything to support the lack of food and resources once government funding had passed. If the ethnic group were not of people of color, many more communities would have rallied together to get the disastrous effects dealt
Weekly Reflection 4
In this essay I argue how the effects of Hurricane Katrina resulted in a perfect representation of structural racism as shown through the lack of structural and economic improvement as well as through the colossal gentrification issue that occurred in the aftermath.
Before I explain how structural racism was perpetrated since Hurricane Katrina, I will first define the term structural racism. As described by President Obama, the federal government’s response to the disaster as a ‘continuation of passive indifference…’ rather than ‘evidence of active malice.’ Also, notable writer, Carl E. James, described society as a structure that excludes substantial numbers of people from minority backgrounds from taking part in social institutions. I agree with both explanations and want to restate it as how structural racism in the U.S. is also the normalization and …show more content…
New Orleans’ police force has long been known to be corrupt by preventing black people from working. In the documentary GRITtv with Laura Flanders, one of the speakers retaliated that police have a pre-existing idea that black life or black rights don’t exist. Meaning that the blacks are automatically criminalized so much so that the first thing job recruiters ask is “have you been conflicted of a felony?” leading to unemployment. Another point is the construction of makeshift housing to deal with the homelessness that occured after the disaster. Thousands of people were displaced and the government only helped 7% of the homeless in these new developments. Not only was this ineffective, but society barely did anything to support the lack of food and resources once government funding had passed. If the ethnic group were not of people of color, many more communities would have rallied together to get the disastrous effects dealt