| Since Hurricane Katrina, there has been shift in the racial profile of New Orleans. Today, thousands of African Americans cannot find or can afford housing to return to New Orleans. Ultimately, the hurricane created an opportunity to displace African Americans and poor residents as a result of housing policies that many leaders and politicians have wanted for years.In the city of New Orleans and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the number of African Americans residing in the city has declined. Thousands of low-income African Americans were displaced in the days and months after Katrina. Many of them received FEMA grants and evacuated and others were lodged in trailers supplied by FEMA which are now being "quietly" phased out 1. However, now, years after Katrina, many of the displaced cannot find permanent housing which they can afford. This is because in the years following Katrina, thousands of units of low-income housing were destroyed and were not replaced. It appears that years before Katrina, there were some leaders and politicians aimed at making demographic changes in New Orleans. Before the storm, these efforts were simply too offensive and difficult to effect.1Stephanie Stokes. FEMA quietly closing new Orleans trailer sites. November 4, 2007 Picayune/2007/11fema_quietly_closing_new_orlea.html... |
