How to Read

At the turn of the millennium, hurricanes, tropical storms, and dramatic temperatures ruled planet Earth. In the 2004 Hurricane season, four storms affected Florida which is the only time in recorded history a catastrophe like this has happened. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in the New Orleans area, bringing over one hundred billion dollars of damages; making thousands of people homeless, mostly minorities, and killing many others. The Federal Government, unprepared for this unforeseen tragedy, was slow to respond, leaving people on rooftops begging for help, with no sustenance for survival. Shelby Steele, a research fellow and political commentator, from “Witness: Blacks, Whites, and the Politics of Shame in America,” The Wall Street Journal, doesn’t blame the Federal Government for the catastrophic results the hurricane had on minorities, mostly African Americans. Steele believes the hurricane exposed the underdevelopment of African American people as a society, and should take this as an opportunity to believe them. Other people, such as professor of Political Science, Adolph Reed, and professor of sociology Stephen Steinberg, at the University of Pennsylvania and Queens College respectively , believe Hurricane Katrina did expose racism in the America. I, personally agree with Reed and Steinberg, Hurricane Katrina did expose racism in America based on the responses from people high in power, the slow response of the U.S. Federal, government, and future projects for the New Orleans area. To begin with, based on information in the text, Hurricane Katrina did what the political powers wanted to do for a long for the city of New Orleans, which is to clear up public housing, to uplift the city of New Orleans. For example, 10-term Republican from Baton Rouge, Richard Baker, was quoted saying “God did” what “we [Republicans] couldn’t do” … clear up public housing. When the hurricane struck New Orleans, houses flooded, leaving the people homeless. Most