When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

I didn't think of the most common sense and logical explanation because my brain defaulted to "must be looting".

SMH

Because of the ingrained default setting the dominant culture has about Black Americans. Not ALL - but a lot of folks.

That said, it's taken 20 years for people to get it through their heads: You were lied to by the Media, the Powers that Be and the white folks across the bridge and in Algiers.

And so difficult to watch and learn what people went through, and how the US responded in this tragedy

White supremacy determined how those neighborhoods began, how they grew, and the lack of economic and necessary infrastructure investments.

It determined the response to the areas, like the 9th ward - before and immediately after Katrina.

It is the reason behind the gentrification of former all black neighborhoods.

Thank you for your OP.

With climate change and its disastrous impacts - it's going to get worse.

Between Oil and Gas - and Massive Data Centers - we are pushing it faster and faster.

ETA - the Army Corps of Engineers admitted that the fixes post Katrina did not include the rapid rise of ocean levels due to climate change.

A recent example would be the Trump Regime dropping the case below -

They ended this:
DOJ ends environmental justice agreement in Alabama county citing Trump
https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-environmental-justice-alabama-dei-1a47e990d804300229206feb01e44e27

They called it DEI.

If you deny the existence of white supremacy, then you have to deny all the examples of white supremacy.

They want to go back to being white with those invisible blinders on - back to when they could pretend inequality wasn't a problem, or discrimination wasn't a problem, or equity wasn't a concern because no one in their lily-white neighborhoods was worried about it.

Out of sight, out of mind.

All Sally, Dick, and Jane and Leave it to Beaver all the time.

Is that when the Regime falls - we make things right. We don't HAVE to follow the rules anymore. Especially when we are recovering from a dictatorship.

Truly rise from the ashes a better nation and not cling to hype that couldn't prevent Trump from happening.

Now. Every day I find more and more people that think like me.

We don't have to reset the clock to January 19, 2025. God bless Biden and Harris. They did the best they could by setting us back to January 19, 2017. But now?

We can do better.

I'm terrified for folks in the Hurricane Zone this year. With cuts to FEMA? They aren't going to be able to recover.

I've been considered a radical for a while now. I don't find my own views radical though.

New Orleans got 90-95% of the coverage, but I remember the scenes out of places like Waveland and Pass Christian were apocalyptic. Those beach communities got the full wrath of Katrina's 25+ foot storm surge.

It focused on the lack of response due to the man-made disaster -

The levees breaking.

The Storm itself definitely did more damage in MS and AL.

It does an excellent job dispelling all of the myths about 'violent Black Americans' in the aftermath of the storm.

Even back in '05 I was annoyed at how little coverage the coastal communities of Mississippi got in comparison to New Orleans. Twenty years later it's even more aggravating. It's like that part of the story has been completely forgotten.

Focus on it.

Producers:
Ryan and Zinzi Coogler

Episode 2, Worst Case Scenario, captures the terrifying moment the levees broke and the city began to flood “like a bathtub.” With emergency services overwhelmed, everyday people risked their lives to save neighbors and strangers alike.

Coogler, known for using his lens to amplify Black voices and lived experiences, said it was important that the story be told through the people who were there—not pundits or politicians.

“What happened in New Orleans wasn’t just a natural disaster,” Coogler explained. “It was the result of long-standing neglect, inequality, and abandonment. The people of New Orleans were left to fend for themselves.”

My son lived there at the time ( and still does) so I watched a ton of Katrina coverage and read every book and study. I was still surprised by the events I saw unfold last night. I can't recommend this series enough. It's really a series on race and inequality in the US.

Hit it out of the ballpark.