Ten years ago, the United States suffered one of its worst natural disasters ever when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. A mandatory evacuation order came late, with the highways out of New Orleans already jammed with traffic and many residents unable to leave. The city's levees failed, and the nation was horrified by images of residents trapped in a flooded city.
Ten years later,
black residents of New Orleans see significantly less improvement than white residents.
Recovery has badly lagged in the Lower Ninth Ward. The natural disaster was used to accelerate a human-made disaster in
the city's schools—a disaster
lauded by policymakers like Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Head below the fold for more.
On Friday:
While the hurricane hit, then-President George W. Bush did not seem concerned:
A couple days later, he put on his serious face, but it was too little, too late:
America had seen enough.
Bush visited New Orleans to mark the anniversary, but no word if he stopped for cake first.