Human Rights Issues: Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Efforts to Resolve the Problem and Lessons from Failures and Successes
Theoretical Foundation
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Hurricane Katrina is considered one of the worst calamities in the history of the United States. The storm caused more than 1800 deaths on the Gulf Coast in New Orleans and resulted in an estimated loss of $161 billion in terms of damage (Gibbens). The hurricane is still the costliest storm in U.S. history due to its impact. It influenced 90,000 square miles of the land after approaching Mississippi and Louisiana’s coasts as a category three storm. In the City of New Orleans alone, 80% of the landmass was flooded (Gibbens). It affected around 15 million people, destroying more than 850,000 homes; approximately 300,000 to 350,000 cars were wrecked (Gibbens). Fifty floodwalls and levees were overpowered by the storm, leading to intense flooding, particularly in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina caused a devastating impact on many people’s property. However, the cases of discrimination and evidence of human rights violations that occurred in New Orleans remain troubling events in America.

Violation of human rights became a significant issue in Hurricane Katrina following the unfair treatment of disaster victims. Unfortunately, the United States government failed to uphold federal rights in dispensing their civic duty to prevent the storm, protect the victims, and restore their livelihoods (The Associated Press). It was unable to defend its citizens’ liberties, such as the right to life, freedom from discrimination, and the right to have a safe reclamation and return to their property after the calamity (Kromm). The mentioned evidence reveals that the Bush Administration did not succeed in respecting human rights and protecting their citizens’ lives.

The law of the United States gives the government the responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens. Therefore, it stipulates that the government should do everything possible to protect its people against the loss of lives in the event of a natural disaster. In Hurricane Katrina, the state failed to save the lives of New Orleans people in several ways. For instance, it could not protect the citizens from a known flood threat by not evacuating the residents before it happened, putting their lives in danger (Vicino). The state did not fulfill its duty that involved ensuring the protective levels were in good condition. According to engineers who checked the levee system, there was incomplete construction, and the materials used were weak and susceptible to erosion. In addition, being unable to evacuate the residents, the United States government rejected some of the aid meant to benefit the affected population. Thus, the government did not succeed in providing enough humanitarian relief, food, water, and health resources during the aftermath.

After Katrina, there was discrimination, especially against the minority populations. The state failed to respect this right by formulating a discriminatory evaluation plan. The program to move the affected residents was biased based on owned property. For instance, it provided a policy for those residents who were owners of private vehicles (Vicino). Doing this would mean that victims who were not financially stable enough to own cars were not evacuated appropriately. Such treatment equated to racial discrimination since African Americans were twice likely to lack ownership of a vehicle as Caucasians (Vicino). Therefore, most vulnerable populations ended up in severe economic problems because the evacuation plan did not consider them appropriately.

Efforts to Resolve the Problem and Lessons from Failures and Successes

Following the structural challenge of human rights violations, there have been efforts to solve the hurricane’s negative impact. For instance, The U.N. Human Rights Committee was given the task of monitoring human rights policies implementation as an independent body (Kälin). The task force gathered information showing that low-income families, particularly African Americans, were less privileged in the evacuation plans. After reviewing the state’s practices and policies to rescue and evacuate the Louisiana residents, the organization gave some recommendations (Kromm). The government learned that it should increase its efforts to ensure minority groups’ rights are protected. This involves providing proper housing, healthcare, and education services to these victims.

There have also been lessons learned in terms of national preparedness levels when facing natural calamities. Following the failed readiness during the hurricane, the state has taken several steps to minimize the risk of fatalities in such events. Through homeland security, the federal government has built a response system that can handle the chances of an average hurricane season, tornadoes, wildfires, or any other catastrophic occurrences (Kromm). During Katrina, the government learned some lessons from the mistakes made in preparedness. They include command and control issues, hindrance of knowledge in preparedness plans, and coordination issues. All bodies involved in natural calamity response have learned that critical steps have to be taken in Defense response authority to impact positive change in coordinating emergency response (Kromm). By doing this, the state can put more value on its citizens’ right to life by protecting them more effectively.

The efforts towards restoring Louisiana’s original condition and other affected areas have made the government learn many lessons. The state should seek sustainable solutions in the management and coordination of the response. They should revisit the legal framework to ensure that discrimination does not hinder justice from being. The evacuation plans should be favorable for all the displaced persons in providing shelter, education, and proper healthcare.

Theoretical Foundation

Looking at the article “Where Black Lives Matter Began” by Jamelle Bouie, it is clear that there was unfair treatment of black families by the Bush administration following the disaster. The article mentions Reverend Al Sharpton’s words that show how black people face inequality even in Modern day America, “We have an incredible tolerance for black pain” (Bouie). There is a vivid indication of how there was a violation of the freedoms from discrimination against minority groups, especially black people. Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath provided a better picture of the racial injustices in America.

The YouTube Video Two Years after Katrina and Thousands are still Without Homes shows the violation of human rights to have a home. The video presents the devastating condition of displaced people that are still homeless (“Two Years after Katrina”). The grieving residents say that the government has never fulfilled its promise of providing shelter for them after the hurricane. There is suffering in those families, making them work overtime to sustain themselves. The federal government ought to ensure that all homeless people find a place to live (“Two Years after Katrina”). All people affected by the hurricane have the right to get sustainable housing facilities as compensation from the government. Keeping them homeless is a human rights violation.

Conclusion

Hurricane Katrina will be remembered as the worst storm that hit the United States. It portrayed the level of racial discrimination that existed in America at the time. Although disaster unpreparedness played a role in the consequences of Katrina, the government failed to act swiftly, leading to high casualties and the destruction of property. Human rights were violated due to the unequal treatment of people of color which shows the imperfectness of the international laws provisions. It is advisable to revise a set of policies to ensure the implementation of a fair system of actions destined to protect human rights, lives, and property.

References

Bouie, Jamelle. “If You Want to Understand Black Lives Matter, You Have to Understand Katrina.” Slate Magazine. 2015. Web.

Gibbens, Sarah. “Hurricane Katrina, Explained.”Environment, 2019. Web.

Kälin, Walter. “A Human Rights Perspective for Major Natural Disasters.”Brookings, 2016. Web.

Kromm, Chris. “Remembering Katrina As a Human Rights Disaster.”Facing South, 2015. Web.

The Associated Press. “U.S. Government Accused of Katrina-Related Human Rights Abuses by Amnesty International.” Daily News, 2010. Web.

“Two Years after Katrina and Thousands Are still w/o Homes.”YouTube, uploaded by Brave New Films, 2017.

Vicino, Thomas J. “The Human Rights Impact of Hurricane Katrina.”College of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2015. Web.

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Human Rights Issues: Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

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