Not to sound bitter or pessimistic or anything, but institutionalized racism has been a part of the American government since its founding. It’s terrible and inhumane, but it is no longer surprising. The egregious mistreatment of low income and black residents after Hurricane Katrina is therefore also not surprising, especially after watching Land of Opportunity, which touched upon the topic of public housing destruction justified by a natural disaster. Natural disasters are often thought of as levelers and unifiers. They do not discriminate what they destroy, and they bring communities together in the aftermath. Unfortunately, the wealth that is destroyed by a natural disaster can quickly be rebuilt,the housing and necessities of the poor cannot. Communities band together to rebuild those communities that are beloved, and low income housing is often not, save for those who live there.

Government always favors those who can pay. So given the chance to rebuild low-income, predominately black areas as middle-high income, whiter neighborhoods, they absolutely will.

I expect government to act in accordance to money, but I question why the public was never made away of these conditions in the post-Katrina headlines. Clearly people are upset by these actions, perhaps if more of these occurrences were widely known, racial and class discrimination would be less widely spread.