Did Hurricane Katrina Expose Racism in America?

In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated thousands of families in New Orleans and contributed to the social issue of class division and race within the communities of this city. When this storm hit many people didn't think that it would be as dangerous or harmful like Hurricane Andrew, so just to be on the safe side, most did take precaution and prepared for the storm responsibly. Hurricane Katrina caused a lot more damage than expected. Homes and buildings were destroyed and flooded out, people on top of buildings needing desperate help and attention and even death. This natural disaster caused an economic uproar with the African American inhabitants not having government assistance at a justly manner to shelter themselves at a time when everything was lost. Rev. Al Sharpton called the government's lack of response "inexcusable" that President Bush delayed the National Guard to come help evacuees out of the aftermath of the storm. Many black and white leaders agreed racism and class factored into Hurricane Katrina's displacements and deaths, but why is racism playing such a big role in this epidemic? Wilfred M. McClay's "The Storm Over Katrina" in contrast argues that public officials upon race and disparities in the rates of death didn't materialize (Commentary, 2005). Being that New Orleans is predominately black and suffering from poverty, politically, it would be a waste to help those who didn't help themselves or their community because of how rundown the city already became with the drugs, violence and unemployment that consumed New Orleans as a city.
Overcoming this phenomenon is the way to withdraw from this racial contradiction that Hurricane Katrina had exposed in New Orleans (Issue 11, 2). Adolph Reed, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Stephen Steinberg, professor of sociology at Queens College in New York City stated their thoughts in the article "Liberal Bad Faith in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina". They