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href="http://blackagendareport.com/freedom_rider_katrina_white_imagination"
id="reader-domain" class="domain"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://blackagendareport.com/freedom_rider_katrina_white_imagination">http://blackagendareport.com/freedom_rider_katrina_white_imagination</a></a></small></small></b>
<h1 id="reader-title">Freedom Rider: Katrina in the White
Imagination</h1>
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<div class="content">August 18, 2015<br>
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<h3><strong>by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret
Kimberley</strong></h3>
<p>“<em><strong>New Orleans became the face of disaster
capitalism and ethnic cleansing.”</strong></em></p>
<p>On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New
Orleans, Louisiana, and the entire Gulf coast. More than
1,800 people died and thousands more were permanently
displaced. In the years since, that city regained only
two-thirds of its pre-hurricane population. But this
tragedy for multitudes was a gift to powerful people who
wanted to turn New Orleans into Exhibit A for
neo-liberalism.</p>
<p>A <em>Chicago Tribune</em> op-ed column <u><a
href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/Katrina-Chicago_Tribune.pdf">originally
titled</a></u>, “In Chicago, wishing for a hurricane
Katrina” began with these words. “Envy isn’t a rational
response to the upcoming 10-year anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina.” The author then proceeded to
demonstrate that she did in fact fantasize about a
Katrina like catastrophe for her city.</p>
<p>In 2005 the ruling elites were over overjoyed because
nature gave them the chance to do what they could not
get away with easily. Overnight, New Orleans lost a huge
portion of its poor, black population. The state
legislature used the crisis to arbitrarily declare
public schools as “failing” and <u><a
href="http://www.alternet.org/media/most-evil-op-ed-ever-writer-wishes-katrina-storm-hit-chicago">converted
them</a></u> into charters. They fired 7,500 public
school employees who won decisions in lower courts but
were undone when the U.S. Supreme Court <u><a
href="http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2015/05/supreme_court_denies_katrina_t.html">declined
to hear</a></u> their case. In short, New Orleans
became the face of disaster capitalism and ethnic
cleansing.</p>
<p>While millions of people watched in horror as the
levees broke and homes were flooded, some watched with
glee and, as Kristen McQueary of the <em>Tribune</em>
editorial board admits, with envy too. They wondered why
they could not have been fortunate enough to have a
black population swept out of town in a matter of days.</p>
<p>“<em><strong>People who couldn’t evacuate were blamed
for their fate.”</strong></em></p>
<p>McQueary veils her racism by expressing concern about
deficit spending and pension costs. But she also gives
herself away with these age old code words. She says
nothing about sweetheart deals that stole public money,
the tax cuts or other corporate welfare scams. It must
be pointed out that the black misleaders aid and abet
the crimes committed against that city’s population.
When Walmart wanted a toe hold in a large northern city,
black aldermen and women on the city council provided
the votes. When <u><a
href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/black-misleaders-re-elect-rahm">Rahm
Emanuel</a></u> faced a serious challenge from Jesus
“Chuy” Garcia, the misleaders threw in their lot with
“mayor one percent.”</p>
<p>But these are the facts and they have little to do with
McQueary’s sick vision for the future. After much
criticism she reposted the column with a <u><a
href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-chicago-katrina-financial-disaster-landrieu-new-orleans-mcqueary-emanuel-pers-20150813-column.html">new
title</a></u>, “Chicago, New Orleans and rebirth”
and omitted that she was “praying for a real storm.” If
she were really honest she would have written, “We need
a hurricane to wash the black people away” or words to
that effect.</p>
<p>She is not alone in longing for post-apocalyptic
disaster capital triumphs. In 2010 her fellow Chicagoan
<u><a
href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/obama-secy-education-says-katrina-best-thing-happen-education-new-orleans">Arne
Duncan</a></u> said that the hurricane was “the best
thing to happen to education in New Orleans.” As
education secretary his goal has been to undo public
education as we know it and expand the control of
charter schools throughout the country. Parents have no
rights in the charter school system but that is why they
are desirable to people like Duncan and McQueary. There
is no public input, no permanent employment. This
dystopian hell is perfect in their eyes.</p>
<p>“<em><strong>Post-Katrina New Orleans has provided no
‘rebirth’ for black people.”</strong></em></p>
<p>The racism directed at black New Orleans was present
from the moment the storm came ashore. People who
couldn’t evacuate were blamed for their fate. They were
falsely accused of raping children in the Superdome
shelter, and shooting at helicopters. The press called
hungry black people looters while white people were
given the benefit of the doubt and were said to have “<u><a
href="http://www.salon.com/2005/09/02/photo_controversy/">found</a></u>”
food.</p>
<p>The theme hasn’t changed any in ten years. Black people
are still seen as undeserving of anything other than
being voiceless cogs in the system’s wheels.
Post-Katrina New Orleans has provided no “rebirth” for
black people and McQueary knows it. Not only did people
lose their homes, but they were forced out of town and
given no right to return. If they were employed and made
it back to New Orleans their jobs may have been
destroyed by the rising water too. Of course these are
not calamities in McQueary’s twisted world view. She
would love to see their fate replicated in Chicago.</p>
<p>In a strange way, we should be grateful when people
like McQueary lose their filters and speak their minds.
She is not alone in wanting to see big cities cleansed
of their black populations and leaving those who remain
without citizenship rights. It is an ugly dream but it
is shared by millions of people.</p>
<p>The <em>Chicago Tribune</em> isn’t alone among major
newspapers in extolling the virtues of post-Katrina
life. The <em>New York Times</em> raved about that
city’s food scene in a post on <u><a
href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/628751295801901056">twitter</a></u>.
“Decade after Katrina, New Orleans is a better place to
eat than it was before the storm.” Perhaps they should
have said, “Everything tastes better when black people
are gone.”</p>
<h5><em><strong>Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column
appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted
elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog
as well as at </strong></em><u><a
href="http://freedomrider.blogspot.com/"><strong><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://freedomrider.blogspot.com">http://freedomrider.blogspot.com</a>.</strong></a></u><em><strong>
Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be
reached via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.</strong></em></h5>
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