Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster

From the removal of the funds needed to shore up the levees, the willful ignoring of severe hurricane warnings, the destruction of the wetlands to the deploying of the National Guard to Iraq and the incredibly slow response time from FEMA, Hurricane Katrina was a disaster waiting to happen. Michael Eric Dyson, in COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, lists all the reasons that this natural disaster did not have to be as devastating as it was. Even as people were ordered to evacuate, the government had to know that many would be unable to leave because they had no private transportation, yet no means were offered to these urban poor for escape. For those who did manage to leave the Lower 9th Ward and get to the Superdome, even more horror awaited them as they lived without food or water, in their own bodily wastes while the hurricane blew two large holes in the roof. Still rescue was not imminent. As the citizens sat atop their roofs begging for rescue, ugly rumors spread that they were shooting at their rescuers. When the real story came out, they were simply attempting to attract the attention of the circling helicopters. The elderly, the infirm, and the poor were trapped in attics and on roofs for days with nothing as bodies floated in the water or sat propped in chairs in public. For those black citizens who attempted to get food, water or clothing from abandoned stores, accusations of 'looting' abounded while white citizens who were doing the same were pictured as 'finding' these items. Even the local officials helped pass on stories of degradation, murder and mayhem, yet most of these stories were untrue. Dyson connects the New Orleans disconnect to the sometimes blatant, but mostly hidden racism that consciously or unconsciously rules American society. This is a well-documented book that is needed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. So many have already forgotten or at least pushed it to the back burner. There are also those, both black and white, who want to blame the victims of this hurricane. Dyson is having none of it in this book as he chronicles how help from other states, other countries and even the Coast Guard hospital ship was turned away by FEMA. It is well written and a must read for those interested in the politics of racism in this country. Reviewed by Alice Holman of the RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

This book has the ability to make us think deeply about the situation not only in the Gulf Coast, but with the people of that territory, their condition, and the way we treat them. He had a lengthy critique of the federal government and their response to Katrina (or lack thereof). The book also forces us to look at ourselves and ask what we could have and what we can do to do a better job of being "our brother's keeper" so to speak. I say this because the general public has done a tremendous job of raising money, providing resources, and our time to the victims, but we must continue to do so. We cannot do it temporarily; the people need our help and it is our duty and responsibility to be there for those in need. Don't get me wrong; it certainly does not excuse the government of their poor and horrendous response to the hurricane, but we must bear some responsibility for our treatment of them. This book clearly states that and much more.

All of the 'unity' and 'homeland security' jargon aside, when Hurricane Katrina made landfall, America's homeland was proven both divided and unsecured. Barbara Bush and Kane West's comments were uncomfortable because they were honest. Louisiana remains a very racially divided state. After integration people with the economic means to do so; sent their children to private schools (which did not have to comply with the order) and the Louisiana public school system remains pathetically under funded today. Although many private schools are today integrated, the stigma against provision of adequate public services (for the public good) remains firmly entrenched. Little wonder that the state government itself only cared about the evacuation of people with private automobiles. I watched in amazement as Governor Kathleen Blanco ordered people to evacuate the area, blissfully unaware that mass transit (or what exists of it) itself was not running. Were only people who own private automobiles supposed to leave the city? What was happening to the people needing to use mass transit? Listening to Blanco gave the impression that anybody without a private auto elected their fate---a completely callous and irresponsible idea. I met many of those survivors after they transferred to Houston. Their faces illustrated human misery and the betrayal of equal protection. I also recognized that since I am a southerner dependent upon mass transit and our entire region alternately derides it as 'burden' or 'extra' that very little separated me from enduring a similar plight. Dyson is rightly critical of Bush because of the premium his own administration placed on 'security'--that is until they were caught bungling things after Katrina. Now, they drag feet, shuffle responsibility, but it does not change their incompetent response. Homeland security ultimately means very little if the government cannot (or *will not*) effectively respond to a large scale disaster. It cannot morally choose what grand-scale disaster the homeland will be protected and/or recover from. After all of the warning and hand wringing the Bush administration had performed over 'preparedness' against 'attacks', Dyson's assessment is very reasonable. Thousands of people were unable to receive timely and appropriate help only because they were not 'important' to this administration and its cronies-in charge of the homeland security and disaster relief itself; the then-director of FEMA lacked any directly related experience in disaster management. 'Brownie' since resigned, but Chertoff also lacks directly related experience--the hallmark of bureaucracy itself.

Half of my family, my mother's family came from New Orleans. My grandmother's house was flooded. All people are my people, but these people are truly my brothers and sisters,those in New Orleans. My family comes out of the French plantation system of New Orleans.We come from many generations of slaves raped by slaveowners. In the same way some of my ancestors used the others and cast them aside, these modern New Orleanians were cast aside again. Its wrong. Somebodyneedstospeakup! Dyson does. This (...)Bush and his ban of thugs ignored the black people of New Orleans with criminal neglegance. He deserves to be impeached. Dyson wrote this book with great speed representing his passion for the people of New Orleans. He's turning into a reliable voice of sanity, reason, and conscience for the US. I thought that in his last book, "Is Bill Cosby Right" Dyson was right but he was taking on one man. Now he's finding a better target, the US Government. King George and his band of criminals need Dyson's laser like gaze. He speaks for millions. Despite his own rise in academia he keeps focus on those who are impoverished and suffering. Dyson did a wonderful job in this timely work. Thanks, Mike.

"If we are to have a national debate about race and class as a result of the revelations brought by the storm, this book is a fine place to start. It is also a useful platform for a discussion of what citizens have a right to expect from local and federal government...In COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, his forceful analysis of the issues of race and class revealed in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, `hip-hop intellectual' Michael Eric Dyson recreates in words those powerful visual images of people abandoned in attics, on rooftops, wading through floodwater, suffering in the Superdome...That it was, and that the situation was such an outrage is behind the righteous anger that fuels Dyson's fast-paced narrative...As we begin the painful process of rebuilding, COME HELL OR HIGH WATER provides a stirring exhortation not to fall into the traps of the past." -Susan Larson, The Times-Picayune