When_the_Levees_Broke

T.J. Mruz 11/10/10 Josh When the Levees Broke, a film documenting the many troubles and hardships that were endured by the citizens of New Orleans during hurricane Katrina was cleverly put together by Spike Lee, to not only display the mere facts of the damage that was inflicted but to also get inside the heads of those who witnessed it firsthand. It would be easy and much more bearable for our conscience to look at the events in plain black and white terms, turning on the newscasts and looking at the trashed homes, flooded streets, and helicopter rescues. Or perhaps tuning in to see what sort of damage control plan the government is implementing to make sure that the situation does not escalate. This is what many average Americans were doing on a daily basis to keep up with the current events immediately after the hurricane struck, and to their credit they were well informed on the logistics of the story. From a sociological perspective however, the story is much deeper as there are countless pieces of information that can be put together to get a better sense of what happened and how it was impacted by the society that we live in. When talking about the lower ninth ward, in particular, a sociologist would try and make sense of why there is a higher concentration of African Americans in the area, and how is it that they have a harder time finding employment. They would immediately see how diversity is intertwined with the news story, and would be able to theorize how the situation could potentially have been different had any of the components of the equation been different. Along with looking at the area of focus, they would also be monitoring the general morale of the nation as a whole, and would try and decipher how the media and other channels of communication affected the population’s beliefs. The sociological perspective has the ability to shed more light on issues that are already accepted to be generally understood. To fully comprehend Hurricane Katrina and the devastating aftermath that ensued, it is critical to observe the social conditions in New Orleans that pre-existed the storm. In the film, the socio-economical status of the city is discussed at nausea, and for good reason. With the unemployment rate at twelve percent, double the national average, before the storm, it makes good sense to question whether it had an impact on how the situation unraveled. With a high amount of people out of work, the economy in turn suffers. In order for those with little money to have housing, a cheaper living area needed to emerge. For example, the lower ninth ward was a particular area in the city that was discussed at great length. From an economical point of view there has be a reason for why the housing was cheaper in that area, whether it be higher crime rates, less appealing houses, or even for a stretch lower quality levees. Unfortunately for these residents, they were warned that they were going to get the worst of the storm, and were advised to evacuate. Having very little money, many of the residents simply could not afford to move and adequately prepare for what was to come. When the hurricane finally hit, these poor people were literally left at the mercy of the rescue team. Had a natural disaster been predicted to hit a wealthy area, there would have been without question less casualties, as those with money would have paid the expense to be in a safe area at the time of the disaster. Another talking point that was widely discussed in the documentary was the ethnicity of those who were affected, and even those who were responsible for bringing relief. New Orleans has historically had a higher black population relative to other American cities, and when the storm hit an almost exclusively black area, race was bound to come up in the conversation. With our government being comprised of mostly well off, white politicians, it made sense for blacks to question whether race played a part in how the government responded with their relief plans. When the plan implemented got less than stellar reviews, and criticism was high, many made the correlation between the weak actions being taken by the government and the blacks who were suffering from the disaster. The mass media served as a catalyst for these feelings with many prominent public figures criticizing the efforts. Kanye West, a famous black rapper was famously quoted proclaiming that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”. These comments gained a lot of steam as little progress was made immediately following the storm. Once again had the storm struck a different area the issue would have been avoided, or perhaps if the current president Barack Obama, an African American himself, had been in office the issue would have been avoided completely. In my sociological opinion I would say that the Hurricane Katrina disaster was just as much a natural disaster as it was an effect of the social conditions that existed prior to the storm. The storm itself brought a lot of grief and sorrow to many people, but part of the reason it should be considered a disaster can be attributed to societal conditions in which we live in. By chance we received a perfect storm, one that hit in one of the least prepared places imaginable, and when that area was shaken up it only made sense for all the problems of our society to come to the forefront of our minds. I would say that the primary target of the storm was not selected by random or by race, but by social class. With the poor who tried to wait out the storm, it is by coincidence that their race was a uniting factor, which inevitably sparked the outrage that many blacks felt towards the government.