News coverage of  t he af t ermat h of  Kat ri na showed us i mages of  a ci t y devast at ed and dest royed.  Yet  t he CNN repor t s l ef t  l arge gaps of  underst andi ng bet ween t he i mages f l ashi ng across t el evi si on screens ever ywhere,  and t he experi ences of  t he peopl e on t he ground i n New Orl eans.  The medi a cer t ai nl y got  s ome t hi ngs ri ght :  FEMA’s f umbl i ng and i nef f ect i ve response,  t he unf at homabl y hi gh deser t i on rat e of  Orl eans Pari sh pol i ce of f i cers,  t housands of  peopl e homel ess,  hundreds of  l oot ers rampagi ng t hrough t he st reet s,  chaos t aki ng hol d of  t he ci t y.  The medi a cer t ai nl y got  s ome t hi ngs ri ght :  FEMA’s f umbl i ng and i nef f ect i ve response,  and t hei r unf at homabl y hi gh deser t i on rat e of  Orl eans Pari sh pol i ce of f i cers.  Thousands of  peopl e homel ess,  hundreds of  l oot ers rampagi ng t hrough t he st reet s,  chaos t aki ng hol d of  t he ci t y.  It’s t r ue – -  t he vast  maj ori t y of  t hose l i vi ng i n pover t y are bl ack.   No st at i st i c I’ve f ound on t he pover t y l evel  of  bl acks compared t o t hat  of  whi t es i n t he ci t y do j ust i ce t o how i t  real l y f eel s when you’re t here.  Many Af ri can- Ameri cans were l i vi ng i n absol ut e and abj ect  pover t y bef ore Kat ri na hi t  New Orl eans.

It’s also no coincidence that the rich, white people owned the biggest houses with the sturdiest walls. If you look at a topographic map of the city, the richest neighborhoods are all on the highest land.  Those who were swept away in the storm were people who lived in the poorest neighborhoods.  In the middle of the city, a low income neighborhood known as the Ninth Ward is gone with almost no chance of repair. This isn’t just a matter of not having the money to rebuild houses; the houses are literally gone, and only flat ground remains where the Ninth Ward once stood. Most of those who stayed did so because they didn’t have the means to leave. People who lived in the poorer neighborhoods didn’t have cars.  The ones who did have cars were forced to stand in hour-long lines at gas stations moments before the storm was expected to hit. An impossible situation for people who barely had the money to live their ever yday lives.

There i s no doubt  t hat  t he syst em New Orl eans l i ved by was i nherent l y di vi ded by race,  and t hi s was made much of  i n t he news coverage f ol l owi ng Hurri cane Kat ri na.  To some i n our nat i on,  t he t housands of  bl ack f aces pl ast ered across t el evi si on set s represent ed cont i nued raci sm i n t he af t ermat h of  t he st orm.  The process of  evacuat i on and rel i ef  was charact eri zed by t he seven el oquent  words of  Kanye West ,  “George Bush doesn’t  care about  bl ack peopl e.”

But  t here are ot her st ori es t hat  are begi nni ng t o be t ol d,  t hat  hi ghl i ght  a di f f erent  si de of  New Orl eans.  Wi t h so much specul at i on as t o what  act ual l y happened duri ng t he st orm,  i t  wi l l  no doubt  be necessar y t o l ook at  event s on a case- by- case basi s.   Yet  ever y st or y t hat  I have been t ol d has rei nf orced t he not i on of  col orbl i nd behavi or by t he rescue t eams t hat  ent ered New Orl eans.

Take f or exampl e,  a st or y t hat  was recount ed t o me by one of  my nei ghbors.   Mr.  John Sanf ord,  a resi dent  of  Orl eans Pari sh.  He deci ded t o ri de out  t he st orm wi t h hi s wi f e and daught er,  but  l i ke so many ot hers,  got  st uck i n t he Ameri can Veni ce f ol l owi ng t he st orm.   Af t er t he l evees broke,  he and hi s f ami l y were f orced t o evacuat e t hei r house on a boat .  They ended up on a hi ghway r unni ng t hrough New Orl eans ent i t l ed Causeway Boul evard.  Many new st at i ons capt ured t he horri f yi ng i mages of  t hese el evat ed roads i n t he cent er of  New Orl eans,  and t he Sanf ords were st uck i n t he mi ddl e of  one of  t hem.

Al t hough t hey had managed t o escape t he wat er,  t hi s was j ust  t he begi nni ng,  f or soon Sandy,  Mr.  Sanf ord’s daught er,  needed medi cal  at t ent i on due t o t he condi t i ons af t er t he f l ood.  But  t here were many ot hers who had al so f al l en i l l ;  accordi ng t o Mr.  Sanf ord,  when t he ambul ances came,  “t hey t ook t he si ckest  peopl e,” and “t hey di dn’t  l ook at  col or.”  From Causeway,  t he Sanf ords were pl aced on an ambul ance wi t h t wo ot her pat i ent s,  bot h bl ack,  each on di al ysi s,  and nei t her weari ng anyt hi ng but  t hei r hospi t al  robes.   They were bei ng t ranspor t ed t o Loui s Armst rong Int ernat i onal  Ai rpor t ,  whi ch had become a t emporar y hospi t al ,  as one of  t he f ew remai ni ng bui l di ngs wi t h power.  Upon arri vi ng,  t hey wai t ed i n a l i ne t o ent er.  As t hey wai t ed,  t hey not i ced a si gn whi ch read,  “One Fami l y Member per Pat i ent .” Mr.  Sanf ord was wi l l i ng t o be t he one t o st ay out si de,  whi l e hi s wi f e accompani ed hi s daught er i n t he hospi t al .  When one of  t he di al ysi s pat i ent s real i zed what  was happeni ng,  t hough t hey had never met  bef ore,  t he pat i ent  t urned t o Mr.  Sanf ord,  and sai d “ You’re my brot her.” I t hi nk Mr.  Sanf ord’s response charact eri zed t he mi ndset  of  al l  i n New Orl eans when he sai d,  “I’m gl ad t o be your brot her.” Ever yone who st ayed f or t he st orm was i n t he same si t uat i on;  each j ust  t r yi ng t o get  out ,  and f or a f ew bri ef  weeks,  t he col or t hat  had di vi ded New Orl eans f or so l ong became i rrel evant  i n t he f ace of  much more si gni f i cant  chal l enges.

In essence,  t he probl em was not  wi t h t he rel i ef  ef f or t  or t he “raci sm” of  publ i c of f i ci al s.  The probl em was and st i l l  i s t he code New Orl eans has l i ved by f or so many years.   Some anal yst s t hi nk t hat  t he ci t y i s goi ng t o come back even st ronger because t he l ong t i me bui l d- up of  l ocal i zed probl ems wi l l  be el i mi nat ed.   Al l  t he peopl e who l i ved i n hi gh cri me,  l ow i ncome nei ghborhoods were f orced t o l eave and are i n al l  l i kel i hood not  comi ng back.  They have no where t o come back t o.  Thi s i s a sad t hi ng f or al l  of  t he honest ,  hardworki ng peopl e t hat  are st uck at  t he bot t om of  a syst em st acked agai nst  t hem.  However,  as much as t hi s i s a di sast er f or t he ci t y,  i t  i s a cl ean sl at e and a chance f or change.

New Orleans, although in shambles right now, will rise again. This is a chance for the city to take the spotlight that has been placed on it and use it in the right way.  The concentration of poverty seems to have been dispersed and with a chance to rebuild high crime neighborhoods, the city also has a chance to improve itself.  The corrupt political histor y of New Orleans will now come under more intense scrutiny than ever before.  Why wasn’t there a better evacuation plan? Why didn’t the levees hold? Why did the pumps break?  With the opportunity to look back on mistakes from as far back as fifty or even a hundred years before, maybe things can change. It is time for New Orleans to take a hard look in the mirror and learn from her mistakes.