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Introduction
That racial discrimination has been a significant mark in the history of America has never been in doubt. Undoubtedly throughout the history of the American south, racial discrimination has played a significant part. There is the existence of sharp and deep differences between the predominantly white and affluent North and the poorer south particularly New Orleans which acted as Hurricane Katrinas epicenter. Here descendants of African slaves and immigrants are the dominant groups. Indeed several events have confirmed that the south is indeed treated as a different part of the expansive country. Although life in the south has improved significantly since segregation was outlawed, the south still endures more challenges than the north. The differences between the south and the rest of the nation have been best manifested in the preparedness, and response to disasters, and their impact on the people of the south. This paper focuses on how the media portrayed Hurricane Katrina in relation to the north-south historical differences. The paper will assess to what extent the response from the government, and from the wider society of how the south still attracts a special view from the rest of the USA.
Hurricane Katrina
Beginning August 28, 2005, a vicious Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, ravaging an area of approximately 90, 000 square miles and marking one of the greatest natural catastrophes in the history of the United States (Forgette et al 671). In its wake, the monster storm destroyed parts of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, leading to approximately 1,836 human deaths and losses amounting to an estimated $81.2 billion. The economic cost was nearly twice as high as the cost of Hurricane Andrew, which was the most costly recorded natural disaster before Katrina (Forgette et al 671).
Thousands of people lost their homes, jobs, property and vehicles. However, the most memorable part of Hurricane Katrina was defined by the hundreds of victims who, for one reason or the other, had not evacuated by the time the storm hit. In search of the highest points to escape from the raging waters, the victims scaled to their rooftops from where they signaled for help, or just waited for days to be rescued.
Thanks to the media, the world watched as thousands of helpless Americans underwent harrowing experiences through the effects of the hurricane. While part of the world attributed the slow rescue operations to the US governments inability, many still feel that the US government was unwilling to rescue the victims because they were predominantly poor African-Americans. The then first lady believed the government was not delaying rescue operations and described suggestions that President Bushs administration was partisan as disgusting (Roberts).Those who attributed government unwillingness to rescue the victims have observed that the US government has also been reluctant to help rebuild the black-dominated neighborhoods which were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and which are still reeling under the impact of the storm (Robertson 393). Not even New Orleanss historically black colleges of Dillard and Xavier, which were damaged badly by the storm, received reconstruction aid to reconstruct, meaning that their students had to either transfer to other colleges, or to terminate their education (Robertson 393).
Media Coverage and Peoples Response to Katrina
Though many other hurricanes and disasters have hit the US in the past, none had attracted more media attention than Hurricane Katrina during which TV cameras rolled 24 hours a day, updating the whole world as the events happened real-time (Gilman). As the disaster unfolded, the media carried reports which were to awaken the world to the reality in the USA attracting the attention of millions of people from all corners of the world.
Hurricane Katrina was an uninvited reminder to all African-Americans of the day gone by; the days of slavery. One scholar noted that, youd have to go back to slavery or the burning of black towns, to find a comparable event that has affected black people this way (Roberts).
In the article the world witnessed to the fact that although legally-sanctioned discrimination had been abolished, African Americans were still miles behind their white counterparts and were in fact, regarded as inferiors to the whites. As was evident in the aftermath of the storm, race and class &explained the social vulnerability in the South (Cutter).
The mainstream media had made attempts to tone down the depth of the racial dimension of the coverage of the aftermath of the storm, but it was too prominent to escape anyones notice. US rapper Kanye West sparked off an uproar while on a fundraising drive for the victims of Hurricane Katrina when he said on live TV that, George Bush doesnt care about black people. West had confirmed what the African American population of the south thought all along, and attracted loud and vehement denials from part of the white population (Gilman). Questions still arise as to whether the government reaction would have been the same had many white Americans been patched on rooftops struggling to stay alive and waiting desperately for help (Molotch).
On the other hand the question of unpreparedness also arose, the United States administration was accused of not only not putting in place proper flood control infrastructure, but had also been too slow, or unwilling, to deploy rescue teams and resources when the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast (Molotch). Long before Katrina hit, environmental justice campaigners had voiced their discomfort with the countrys environmental policies which exposed poor African-American populated localities to higher risks of natural disasters in the form of hurricanes, heat waves and flooding as had been evident in the 1995 heat wave which swept over Chicago killing 700 people most of whom were poor blacks (Kaiser et al 192).
It is through the media that people are able to frame and make sense of events happening in locations away from their stations. How the media portrays an event plays a crucial role in shaping the wider societys view of the same occurrence.
Hurricane Katrina provided a classic case of convergence of the media, race and the world. New Orleans was hit hardest by the deadly hurricane. As accusations and counter-accusations flew in all directions over the delays and inefficiency of rescue operations, it was noted that as is wont to happen after such disasters, crime increased, as the victims were more vulnerable than ever and could not manage to protect their property as they normally would.
The media recorded the looting and carried the photos in their news reports. Both black and white Americans took part in what could be described as looting. A glaring difference on two photo captions was that while a black man was recorded looting, the white couple was finding food. According to one caption, the Black male was walking through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store while the two whites were wading through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store (Sommers et al 40). Given that the people depicted in the photos were involved in the same activity, and in more or less the same circumstances, it would baffle anyone as to why one would be committing a crime while the other was not. Views differ over whether this prejudice played a role in the delayed response to the hurricane.
As more and more pictures of black victims calling for help from rooftops where they had no access to food, water or connection to the outside world were televised there was more uproar. Racialized explanations took hold and to African- Americans, this was a particularly tragic moment where the traditionally white leadership was exercising its power to decide whether the victims died or lived (Kaiser et al 194). Nationwide surveys confirmed sharp differences between the views of black and white Americans on the efficiency of government response to the hurricane. Surveys conducted by CNN and The Pew Research Center weeks after the disaster showed that between 60 and 70 percent of black Americans believed that race had contributed to the delayed response, and the response would have been faster faster if most victims had been white. Only a small minority of whites shared the view (Forgette et al 672).
It was not surprising therefore that black Americans responded differently to the disaster. The African-American population felt neglected and insignificant in the eyes of their rest of the nation. The feeling among black Americans was explained by Roberts, who posed, We are a population in this country of black people, but do we feel like a community? (Roberts). To the African-Americans, the disaster was being mishandled and only quick action on their part could save the victims and help the survivors get their lives running again. As Roberts asserted African-Americans rallied to the cause with an unprecedented outpouring of activism and generosity (Roberts).Thousands of African- Americans donated money, food and supplies, and made time to head south to the New Orleans and the neighboring areas which had been devastated by the storm. Churches and business organizations collected donations, sponsored volunteers to deliver the aid and help the victims, and offered such services as transport to ferry the donations and the volunteers to the disaster-devastated south. Famous African-American sports, arts and media personalities including Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Tavis Smiley, Timbaland and P. Diddy spearheaded the efforts (Roberts).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hurricane Katrina once again brought to the fore the difference in the way the United States regards the relatively poor and predominantly black south in comparison to the way it regards the rest of the country and rest of Americans. Denials by government officials and administrators were not enough to convince the African-Americans otherwise. It is evident that Washington had been warned of the increased number and gravity of risks to which the residents of the south were exposed to, but took no interest or measure to mitigate the risk. Thus, while the hurricane was natural, the destruction it caused was largely the result of the USAs disregard of the south and its people. Though views may vary as to what extent the rest of the USA treats the south differently, it is evident that the region is indeed treated differently from the rest of the country as Katrina proved.
Works Cited
Cutter, S.: The Geography of Social Vulnerability: Race, Class, and Catastrophe. SSRC, 2006. Web.
Forgette, R., King, M. & Dettrey, B. Race, Hurricane Katrina, and Government Satisfaction: Examining the Role of Race in Assessing Blame. Publius; Fall (2008); 38(4): pp 671-691.
Gilman, N.: What Katrina Teaches About the Meaning of Racism. SSRC, 2006. Web.
Kaiser, C., Eccleston, C. & Hagiwara, N. Post-Hurricane Katrina Racialized Explanations as a System Threat: Implications for Whites and Blacks Racial Attitudes.Soc Jus Res (2008) 21: pp 192-203.
Molotch, H : Death on the Roof: Race and Bureaucratic Failure. SSRC, 2006. Web.
Nolan, B. Remembering Katrina. The Times-Picayune, 2006. Web.
Roberts, J. Hurricane Inspires Record Outpouring of Aid in Black America. CBS News, 2005. Web.
Robertson, C. Hurricane Katrina through the Eyes of African American College Students: The Making of a Documentary. The Journal of African American History; Summer 2008; 93(3): pp 392-402.
Sommers,S. et al.: Race and Media Coverage of Hurricane Katrina: Analysis, Implications, and Future Research Questions. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, Vol. 6, No. 1: pp 39-55.
Sze, J. Toxic Soup Redux: Why Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Matter after Katrina. SSRC, 2006. Web.
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