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Bill Quigley's presentation on Katrina, Racism, and Catholic Social Teaching
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Katrina, Racism, and
Catholic Social Teaching
Goal is Justice not Guilt
Racial JusticeEconomic JusticeGender JusticeAre Intertwined
Brothers and Sisters to Us
U.S. Catholic Bishops
Pastoral Letter on Racism
Racism is a sin
Racism is a sin:
a sin that divides the human family,
blots out the image of God among specific members of
that family, and violates the
fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same
Father.
Not Just White and Black
Isn’t Racism Over?
Because the Courts have eliminated statutory racial discrimination and Congress has enacted civil rights
legislation, and because some minority people have achieved some measure
of success, many people believe that
racism is no longer a problem in American life.
Racismis
Prejudice Plus
Power
Distinguish BetweenPersonal Prejudice and Personal Acts
versus
Systemic and InstitutionalPreferences for Whites
What is Structural Racism?
The structures of our society are subtly racist,
for these structures reflect the values which society upholds.
They are geared to the success of the majority and the failure of the minority. Members of both groups
give unwitting approval by accepting things as they are.
Importance of Structure
Can You Restrict With One Wire?
Depends on How You
Arrange the Wires
Structural Racism Directs Us to Examine the Way the Wires
(Institutions) Are Interconnected
Movement toward authentic justice
demands a simultaneous attack on
both racism and economic oppression.
The continuing existence of racism becomes apparent
when we look beneath the surface of our national life.
Look beneath the surface
Bishops point to 5 areas that illustrate continuing racism:
EmploymentEducationHousing
Criminal JusticeOpposition to Affirmative Action
But First,Who Was Left
BehindWhen Katrina Hit?
Race & KatrinaGender & KatrinaClass & Katrina
(Property Ownership)
Cannot understand KatrinaWithout Analysis
25% of New Orleans Do Not Own Car
Officials already knew that:
100,000 people,
27% of New Orleans,
Lived below poverty line
Who was left behind?
8300 Prisoners Left in Cells
Many Never Made It Out 1,700 direct deaths
One Million Displaced
Employment
204,000 People Lost Their Jobs September
2005
People Have Lost Jobs, Health Insurance, Hospital, Doctor, Dentist,
Pharmacy, Records
June 2006, Black evacuees nearly 5 times more likely to be unemployed than white evacs,
- U.S. Department of Labor.
Women Louisiana lost 180,000 workers after
Katrina, 103,000 were women.
In New Orleans after Katrina, men’s median annual income rose to $43,055
while women’s fell to $28,932;
Two-thirds of single mothers have not returned to New Orleans;
In Mississippi only one of the state’s women crisis centers remained open – covering four counties in the disaster
area.
Dramatic Reduction in Public Education, Healthcare, Housing,
Transportation, & Childcare Equals
Reduction in African American Women Workers in NO - From 51,000 to 17,000
Education
110 Public Schools Destroyed or Severely Damaged
Pre-K - 56,000 students in over 100 public schools
Katrina hits -public schools put in receivership-Best schools converted into charters
2006-2007 - 25,000 students -69% in Charter Schools
September 15, 2005School Board Converts
First Schools to Charters –Meeting in Baton Rouge
September 30, 2005
U.S. Department of Education
Gives $20.9m to Louisiana
Charter Schools Only
LA Legislature Strips NO School Board of 102 Schools
Largest Union in LouisianaUnited Teachers of New Orleans
DECERTIFIEDafter 35 years
7500
people
lose
jobs
Spring 2006-FEMA trailers
More than one-fifth of the school-age children who were
either not in school, or had
missed 10 days of school in the past
month
Pre-K - 56,000 students in over 100 public schools
Katrina hits -public schools put in receivership-Best schools converted into charters
2006-2007 - 25,000 students -69% in Charter Schools
School Daze
• Disaster in RSD public schools
• Charters looking good
Non-Charter Public Schools Failing
• John McDonogh, a public high school November 2006• 775 students - teachers, textbooks and supplies
remained in short order months after school opened. • Students described the school as having a “prison
atmosphere.” • No hot lunches and • Few working water fountains. • Girls’ bathrooms did not have doors on them. • Library had no books at all, not even shelves for books.
• “Our school has 39 security guards and three cops on staff and only 27 teachers,” one McDonogh teacher reported in fall 2006.
High School Entrance
Fight for public schools
continues
Housing
300,000 homes uninhabitable
Black & Poor NeighborhoodsSuffered Disproportionate Damages
Lower Elevation
Who ended up in shelters?
September 10, 2005 in Shelters
• 64% Renters
• 55% Did Not Have a Car
• 93% African-American
• 67% Employed
• 76% Had Children under 18 In Shelter Too
• 57% incomes of Less than $20,000/year
“We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it, but God did.”
Richard Baker, U.S. Congressman (R-La) Days after Katrina
St. Bernard Parish:
September 2005
Rent Only to Blood Relatives
Ordinance
Jefferson Parish Council Passes Resolution Opposing
Tax Credits for Housing. Member
Chris Roberts: "With the number of jobs out there,
nobody should be
on public housing unless you're ignorant or lazy." October 2005
We do not want “thugs” and “trash” from New Orleans
public housing projects.
Everyone with dreadlocks or che-wee
hairstyles will be stopped by law enforcement.”
Sheriff Jack StrainSt. Tammany Parish
Noose Around New Orleans for African-American and Moderate Income Renters
New Orleans isMajority Renters
Rents Soar – 39% - 70%
Pre-Katrina, 5000 families lived in public housing
June 2006 - 1040 families allowed to return to public housing
HUD Announces
Demolition of4500
Apartments
Lower 9th Ward No Drinkable Water For One Full
Year
1 Year After - 298,000 people living in FEMA trailers on Gulf Coast
Over 65,000 Families on Gulf240 sq ft. Trailers – Oct 07
Demolition of 4500 affordable apartments by government will give
clear message to private sector about who is welcome back
Criminal Justice
Surviving or Looting?
Criminal Courthouse Closed
No Jury Trials
No Witnesses
No Victims
Accused Still Lost in System
6000 criminal case backlog – May 2006
• Judges only in courtrooms part-time• Insufficient #s Public Defenders• Problems with Jail Facilities• Absent retired or quit NOPD officers• Evidence problems• District Attorney problems• Displaced victims, witnesses• Backlog cut to 3000 by October 06;• Backlog cut to 2000 by December 06;
Seven Police Officers Charged with Murder
National GuardStill Patrols New Orleans
Opposition to Affirmative Action
Opposition to Immigrants
Migrant Workers Abuse
June 7, 2006 – UCAL Berkeley & Tulane Report
on Migrant Workers. Half the reconstruction
workers in NOLA is Latino; 54% of group is
undocumented – 87% already living in us at time
of KatrinaRoutinely mistreated.
Migrant WorkersAbuse (cont)
INJUSTICE FOR ALL
Report byAdvancement
Project
Where did the money go?
Tens of billions of $ to be made
2% Rule of Gulf Coast
• 98% of the money distributed in a disaster ends up enriching corporations
• 2% gets to the people.
Example #1 – Blue Tarps on Roof
Example #1 : Blue Tarps – 2%
• SHAW GROUP 1st got $175 a square to put on the tarps.
• Shaw subcontracted the work out to A1 CONSTRUCTION for $75 a square.
• A1 subcontracted the work out to a WESCON corporation for $30 a square.
• Who in turn subcontracted it out again to guys who did the work for $2 a square.
Shaw Group got contract for$175 a square (100 sq ft)
-subcontracts for $75/square earns $100 each square-
average roof is 1500 square feet – 15 squares
X 15
Per roof!
A1 Construction gets $75/square subcontracts out for $30/square
X 15
Per roof!
Roofers get $2 per square (of original $175)
Example #2: Ashbritt Inc of Florida• Received no-bid contract
for $579 million to pick up trash in Mississippi
• Miami Herald reports company does not own a single dump truck!
• MH also reported the company gave $40,000 in previous 12 months to GOP lobbying firm
Example # 3: Circle B Enterprises - Georgia
• Awarded $287 million no-bid contract to build FEMA trailers
• Company filed for bankruptcy year before• Company does not have a website• Company had no license to manufacture
trailers in GA.
Analysis&
Lessons Learned
St. Augustine’s Church
Self-Reliance
Value every single life equally
Don’t Wait for a Leader-Become One
Lesson: Prepare for Love-Hate Relationship
with Government
If government works for corporations before
the disaster,why different after?
After disaster is a hyper
corporate friendly environment.
Privatization of New Orleans
• Public Schools to Charter Schools
• Public Housing to Private Developers
• Public Healthcare to Private Providers
• Public Oversight to• Private Oversight
If there is no
struggle,
there is no progress.
Disaster can be a lens to reveal structural injustices in our community
race gender class
Educational opportunity for us to learn about ourselves, our institutions,
and our communities
Justice-based Reconstructionwill NOT be funded
Radical Revolution of
Values
“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution,
we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.
We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society.
When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and
militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967.
Love is the answer
Justice work is a commitment
for the long haul
Signs of Hope
Our Hearts Must BeTotally Open
to Injustice and Painand
Totally Opento Hope and Love
Wherever you find tragedy and injustice
You will also find
resistance and
inspiration
People Keep Fighting to Come Home
Church Groups Organize e.g. Jeremiah Group
“This is why we joined the service – to help people!”
Those Left Behind When Katrina Hit
Are Being Left Behind Again
How start to combat racism?
Start with the understanding that racism is “hard-wired” into our society
and institutions.
It is like the electric wires in the walls,or the plumbing,
or the air and heat ductwork.
Invisible. Important. Always There.
It is a life-long struggle for justice.
Be willing to move beyond your comfort zone
Transformative Education
Educate Self and Community about history and reality
of the barriers of structural racism
How it affects us,How it affects others.
CREATE a safe environment for open and honest discussion
Study Bishops Pastorals
“Brothers and
Sisters All”
Listen to People of Color
There are resources for
training & expert help
If you have come to help meyou are wasting your time.
But if you have comebecause your liberationis bound up with mine,
then let us struggle together.
Solidarity
Lila Watson – Aboriginal Activist Collective
Justice Challenge? Never Again!
www.loyno.edu/~quigley/