One Year After Katrina: Our Commitment
by Laura ManningYouth Ministry Associate
Today is August 29, 2006. This means that one year ago today, Katrina crashed ashore, causing unimaginable damage in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. If the storm had come alone, and that was all the wind and water damage that affected the Gulf Coast, it wouldn't have been so bad. The most heartbreaking damage was in no way caused by a natural disaster. The levees in New Orleans broke AFTER the storm passed, and neglect by all governments (city, state, and national) is what left folks in New Orleans to die. For the past forty years, every U.S. president has been advised that the levees needed to be fixed, that they were not in good enough shape to protect New Orleans if a major storm were to hit. So I don't want to play the "all blame is on Bush" game. After the levees broke, it was not an inability to bring relief and get people out, it was a choice not to, and hundreds of people who came to help were turned away.
This is something that is very easy to forget, especially when until a week ago, almost all major U.S. media outlets stopped covering anything happening in New Orleans, and on the Gulf Coast. I am writing today to say that it is not acceptable to pretend that things are okay now. Katrina was not unique. It was not a mistake that the system failed, as it was never set up to serve People of Color or folks who are poor. It is a powerful example of exactly what racism looks like when it's not so swept under the rug. I hope that people in Young Religious Unitarian Universalist (YRUU) will use Katrina and the levee break as a reminder to stay committed to undoing racism in all aspects of our lives, and in all of our communities.
I grew up in New Orleans. It is my home, and it always will be. I grew up in a neighborhood called Broadmoor, which is located in uptown New Orleans. My neighborhood was fairly diverse for the city, which overall is very segregated. Broadmoor is also middle class, and certainly better off than most other areas of the city that were seriously impacted by the levee break. In Broadmoor there was extensive flooding and damage caused by the levee break, one of dozens of neighborhoods to be affected similarly.
One of the clearest examples of the ways race and class had everything to do with the aftermath of Katrina is in the rates at which neighborhoods are rebuilding and folks are coming home. In my neighborhood, things are looking very different than they did a year ago. Many families have returned, most houses are gutted, and businesses are coming back to life. In many other parts of the city—the Upper and Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans East, Gentilly, etc., all of which were largely poor and black, things haven't changed much at all since last September. It's hard to imagine that a year after a "natural" disaster there are still countless areas of the city that look like wastelands. Less than a month ago, while driving through the Lower Ninth Ward, I saw a boat on top of a house, home foundations moved hundreds of feet away from where the house once stood, and areas where there are no street lights or traffic signals.
Another indicator of the vast race and class inequities in the city is that many upper and middle class white folks have returned to life as normal. I know people who choose not to go into any parts of the city where the damage is still evident. It is a choice that white people can make due to systemic privilege to simply ignore anything we don't want to deal with. And most of us have the class privilege to back that up. People of Color in the United States do not have that option. It is impossible to ignore something that follows you in every aspect of your life. I do not know a single black person in New Orleans who can go through a day without being reminded of the levee break, and blatant racism caused, not by Katrina, but by a system set up to do exactly what happened. Ensuring that white folks can live unaffected, while People of Color are torn down by racism is something that has been protected by the folks in power over the past five hundred years.
I want to make it clear that this is not in any way unique to New Orleans. What happened in New Orleans following Katrina simply brought into the light all of the systems that operate much more under the table in the rest of the U.S. A lot of the time, it really isn't even under the table, but as a white person, sometimes it is harder for me to see. It is easy to not notice something when you receive privileges from it. That is why it is my job as a white person to continually try to be aware of racism on all levels-personal, institutional, and cultural. Because if I do not constantly stay committed to being conscious, then I will slip back into working for the system that I am not actively fighting to dismantle.
Also, Canada is certainly not off the hook in this conversation. Canada's history is full of colonization and genocide, which set up the same systems that operate in the U.S. I have a lot more self-education to do about racism in Canada, and do not feel that I know enough about the history and context today to use examples.
I would like to announce that the Youth Social Justice Training (YSJT) will be happening this year in New Orleans. The YSJT is scheduled to take place from February 22-26, 2007. I want to be very clear that the YSJT is not happening in New Orleans so that a large group of mostly very privileged Unitarian Universalist (UU) Youth can go to the city, work for a weekend, see all the damage, and return to life as normal at home. This is the beginning of a long-term relationship between rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and YRUU. We are making a commitment that we will not forget about the folks from New Orleans still fighting to come home, and to ensure that the rebuilding happens in a just and equitable way. We are committing to stand alongside all the people who are working everyday in New Orleans to see that residents of each neighborhood pre-Katrina are the ones who are deciding the future of their own neighborhoods.
I think that holding the YSJT in New Orleans will allow an incredible opportunity for YRUU to work with community organizations trying to reform the education system, and make sure there is a place for every young person to learn, regardless of race or class. We can learn together how to take what we learn back to our communities, and continue to support the rebuilding of New Orleans from all over the continent. The theme of the YSJT will be Education Reform and Multiculturalism, the Working Action Issue of YRUU. I cannot think of a better place to remind us all about how important this work is, and truly build alliances with folks working for justice. I encourage everyone who's interested to apply to be on staff for the YSJT. Registration will be opening for the training soon, so keep your eyes open for that form. I encourage everyone to learn more about what is happening in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. There are lots of resources out there, and soon there will be a list of reading and ways to get involved in supporting the rebuilding on the YRUU website.
Laura Manning is a queer, white nineteen year old who grew up in New Orleans and is currently working as a Youth Ministry Associate in the Youth Office. You can reach her at 617-948-4353.
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Saturday, April 19, 2008.
