About this title: This work examines what Hurricane Katrina reveals about the fault lines of race and poverty in America - and what lessons we must take from the flood. When Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, hundreds of thousands were left behind to suffer the ravages of destruction, disease and even death. The majority were black, and nearly all were poor. The Federal government's slow response to local appeals for help is now notorious. Yet despite the cries of outrage that have mounted since the levees broke, America has failed to confront the disaster's true lesson: to be poor, or black, in today ...
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Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 2006-Hardcover----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 046501772X Book could have shelf wear, or a bump, or sunfade to edges. These are new unread books from the publisher with one of these conditions. See are feedback as customers are satisfied in how we grade our books. Fast shipping and customer service is our number 1 priority! read more
Edition: 2nd Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Civitas Books, New York
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780465017614ISBN:0465017614
Description: Fine in Near Fine jacket. This 6 x 8.5 hardcover has 258 pages. the federal governments slow response to the distruction of Katrina and what it means. read more
"Extremely interesting book that explores that failures in preparation and response to hurricane Katrina. The bottom line is that New Oreleans was obviously ill prepared to handle such a powerful hurricane for various reasons. There is plently of blame to go around, but Dyson places a significant amount of blame on the bungling Bush adminstration for being indifferent to blacks and the poor. Secondly, by placing unqualified people (Mike Brown) in the agencies (FEMA) supposedly designed deal with natural diasters or other catastrophes he only exaccerbated the pain, suffering and damaged, which hindsight shows, absoulutely could have been prevented. Lastly, and probably the most damning is his complete disregard for the well-being of African Americans and especially poor African Americans. He absolutely failed to even do a good job of diverting blame through his insincere public relations campaign. He basically didn't care what the perception of him was in regard to how he mismanaged and helped to create this calamity in the first plae."
By the end of the first chapter, I was thoroughly irritated with Dyson's analysis. He seemed to have an oversimplified perspective that saw black people as targeted victims of privileged whites, both ignoring the existence of impoverished people of other races and contradicting himself in acknowledging the existence of privileged blacks. I'm glad I kept reading, though: In Chapter 9, "Frames of Reference," he laid out exactly the kind of more nuanced analysis of the interrelationship of race and class that had been tumbling about in my mind for the last 150 pages or so.
Ultimately, though, this is a clear narrative of the failures both before and after the hurricane that led to the Katrina disaster. Race and class play inherent roles in the story, of course, but this isn't just another rant of victimization. It's a lucid, exhaustively footnoted account of an incident that revealed much of the truth of our current social structure, and also shines a bright light on the personal triumphs that emerged amidst so much anguish.
The last actual chapter (or penultimate chapter, if you count the long and preachy afterward), "Supernatural Disasters?" is a bit of somewhat narcissistic apology and exploration into God's role in the Katrina disaster. While so many of the publicly religious did interpret the storm in terms of God's wrath against the sinful or salvation of the pure, and many others sought answers to why a good, powerful God would send or allow such a storm, send or allow such a rotten human response to it, and so forth, this chapter was a pedantic waste of energy. Sometimes, a hurricane is just a hurricane, and no god or God gets the blame for the callous indifference of the powerful to the suffering of the powerless.
Even with the bookend disappointments of the book's opening and closing, it's still getting four stars for all the good narrative and analysis between them."
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