The Black Eye of Hurricane Katrina's Post Jim Crow Syndrome is a Basic Human Dignity Challenge for America

• Author: L. Darnell Weeden
• Position: Associate Dean and Roberson King Professor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University
• Pages: 93-117

THE BLACK EYE OF HURRICANE KATRINA’S

POST JIM CROW SYNDROME IS A BASIC HUMAN

DIGNITY CHALLENGE FOR AMERICA

L. DARNELL WEEDEN*

I. INTRODUCTION

When Hurricane Katrina landed in New Orleans on its path of

destruction in the early morning hours of August 29, 2005,1 I immediately

assumed that it was just another major natural disaster, and that public

officials had an ad equate plan to hel p anyone who n eeded help in Ne w

Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. My assumption was that the

government’s recovery plans would be race-neutral, similar to the

destructive path of Katrina, and that the government’s recovery efforts

would soon help my fellow Ameri cans in need in Alabama, Louisian a, and

Mississippi. I had every reason to believe that America, as the sel f-

proclaimed only remaining superp ower i n the world,2 was unquestionably

prepared to help any group of Americans su ffering from a major natural

disaster on American soil, r egardless o f their race. However, when the

television pictures of Katrina’s aftermath showed that most of thos e left

behind in New Orleans were black and probably poor as well,3 I began to

wonder whether ra ce was a substantial factor in the lack of relief for

Katrina surv ivors. The race card entered into my African-American frame

of mind when needed govern mental s ervices for food , water , cloth ing and

shelter were not provi ded to a predominan tly b lack, econo mically

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Copyright © 2008, L. Darn ell Weeden.

* Associate Dean and Roberson King Professor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law,

Texas Southe rn University; B .A., J.D., Univ ersity of Mi ssissippi. I extend a special word

of thanks to my wife and my children for their support. I would li ke to thank my research

assistants Monique A lexander and Nykela Johnson, both of the class of 2008 as well as

Andreaus Boise-Toure, C areer Services Coordinator, all of Thurgood Marshall Schoo l of

Law for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.

1 S. REP. NO. 109-322, at 21 (200 6).

2 See, e.g., Harold P. Southe rland, The Ca se for Am erican History in the Law-School

Curriculum, 29 W. NEW. ENG. L. REV. 661, 72 0 (2007).

3 ALAN BERUBE & BRUCE KATZ, THE BROKINGS INSTITUTION, KATRINA’S WINDOW:

CONF RO NTI NG CON CEN TRA TE D POV ER TY ACRO SS AMER IC A 2 (O ct. 20 05) ,

http://www.brookings.edu/m etro/pubs/20051012_Concentratedpover ty.pdf.

94 CAPITAL UNIV ERSITY LAW REVIEW [37:93

disadvantaged group in New Orleans during t he initial response to Katri na

survivors.4 Initially, as Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans and

the Gulf region, my African-American mindset did not eng age in any

thoughts about the racial impact of Kat rina. I did not think of race becaus e

“natural disasters as a rule do not discriminate on the basis of race, color,

gender, o r wealth, an d Katri na, i n th is regard , was no different from most

natural disasters.”5 Although Katrina did not discrimi nate on the basis of

race, the television pictures info rmed my African-American state of mind

that the harmful and negative impact of Katrina would fall

disproportion ably on black people in New Orleans – primarily because

they were disprop ortionately poo r.

This article discusses in Part II how the images of Katrina’s failed

rescue efforts in New Orleans had a Jim Crow Syndr ome effect on many

African Americans, and conclu des that de facto Jim Crow racial

stereotyping was probab ly very active in Katri na’s afterm ath i n New

Orleans. Part III of this article asks wheth er the African-American Jim

Crow media effect in Katrina was based on ste reotypical p ublic percept ion

rather than facts. In Part IV, the article examines whether e conomic

segregation in Ameri ca has created a disadvantaged Jim Crow att itude

toward the poor an d other survivo rs.

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4 Sherrie Armstrong Tomlinson, Note, No New Orleanians Left Behind: A n

Examination of the D isparate Impa ct of Hurricane Katrina on Minorities, 38 CONN. L.

REV. 1153, 1167–68 (2006).

5 Maria Isabel Medina, Con fronting the Rights Deficit at Home: Is th e Nation Prepared

in the Afterma th of Katrina? Co nfronting the Myth of Efficiency, 43 CAL. W. L. REV. 9, 11

(2006). Medina drafted h er remarks primarily as a person who was affected by Katrina:

To an extent, I am going to take off my law professor hat, bu t only to an

extent, because I must make cle ar at the outset that I am not th e typical

Katrina refugee—I am one of those with resources that mo st persons

affected by Katrina lacked. I am also one of those whose house, fo r the

most part, survived.

Id. at 9.