New Orleans native speaks on Hurricane Katrina

Three years ago Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, but its damage disappeared from America’s focus.

The problems of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast seemingly disappeared from the public forum, which leaves many unaware that severe problems still exist, particularly for the African-American community, said Beverly Wright, director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in New Orleans and professor of sociology at Dillard University in a speech Monday.

Wright’s speech was part of the Critical Issues Lecture Series held by the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center about “Race, Place and the Environment After Hurricane Katrina.”

“The reason we brought Dr. Beverly Wright here is because Hurricane Katrina was a critical issue for America,” said Audrey McCluskey, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. “It exposed class and race divide like no other event in the last 50 years. Dr. Wright has the history, culture and policy knowledge to help bring us up-to-date with the progress and failures of New Orleans.”

Wright is a New Orleans East native who lived through Hurricane Katrina. Since 1978, she has been a big part of the Environmental Justice Movement.
Wright also discussed the government’s efforts for rebuilding New Orleans.

“The building plan is obviously racist,” she said. “Hurricane Katrina displaced black people and did exactly what the government wanted. ... The government tore down housing projects. If you destroy housing projects, then poor people have no place to stay. They used Hurricane Katrina as an excuse, but no wind damage was even done to these facilities.”

The government rebuilt areas that were not severely affected by the hurricane, including the area around the University of New Orleans, a predominantly white area, which was rebuilt even though little damage was done.

Wright said the government showed blatant favoritism to the white community of New Orleans. New Orleans East, a population that is 85 percent middle class African-Americans, received zero inches of flood-level improvement while Lakeview, a predominantly white area, received 5.5 feet of flood-level improvement.  

The black community suffered immensely from Hurricane Katrina, Wright said. They lost the majority of their political structure, businesses, inherited wealth and black strength in votes.

“If you destroy the middle class, you destroy the fabric of the city,” Wright said.

To help rebuild New Orleans and its victims, Wright initiated projects to help the city get back on track.

The Katrina Survivors Project responded to people’s needs and helped people who were displaced.

Safe Way Back Home, awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency, was a project that made efforts to get people to move back to New Orleans and feel comfort in knowing their home would be safe from pollution.

The Healthy Rebuilding project trained volunteers and residents to build safe houses or how to build safe rooms because many people in New Orleans lived in mold-infested homes.

Demonstration Project was a clean-up effort in which Wright encouraged her neighborhood block to participate. About 180 student volunteers from Dillard University, Motiva Company, FEMA, EPA and the American Red Cross worked together to help rid the area of pollution.

Wright said she believes in the power of one and believes in young volunteers.

“A lot of the progress of Hurricane Katrina has been from the bottom up,” Wright said. “Young people can make a difference. We need more young people involved.”

Wright’s presentation inspired many audience members and made them frustrated with the government’s doings.

“I already went to New Orleans to help rebuild,” said freshman Stacsha Manning. “The presentation showed me that New Orleans was still in a bad state. Hearing this from a native was a rude awakening. Does the government really not care? How can we function as a nation if we don’t care about everyone.”