The issues we face as a society in todays world are subject to an intimidating number of factors, factors whose subtlety at times require a nuanced approach in which intellectual creativity must be applied in order to truly asses all the catalysts and results of said issues. Racism is one such issue, and the recognition of environmental racism as a hurtful paradigm made apparent by the natural disasters of recent history proves to be a step in the right direction in the process of addressing the not so obvious connection between race and income, and the government protection received in the face of tragedy.The failure of protecting agencies to justly care for the victims, instead falling back on the institutional racism and classism, especially given the gravity of the situation these communities faced, is a blaring example of the country’s backward approach to race and the environment. The fact that organizations are using these tragedies as a crutch for their abusive city planning is inexcusable, as we should not as a society accept that profit in the face of disaster is an acceptable facet of capitalist opportunism. The Toxic Soup article was a clear summary of how this racism directly affected those who went through Hurricane Katrina, where as the New York Times article demonstrated how it is communities come together in the face of this injustice in order to make up for the lack of federal assistance.