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America's Forgotten City
By Max Kantar
28 March, 2007
Countercurrents.org
On the eve of another annual earth rotation around the sun, my friend, Matt and I made a new years resolution to make the drive from Michigan down to New Orleans when spring break rolled around to do whatever we could to help our brothers and sisters in the gulf.We volunteered through "emergency communities", a totally non-corrupt and non bureaucratic organization, who built a makeshift community center in the middle of arguably the hardest hit section of New Orleans, the lower 9th ward, to provide free meals thrice daily, along with washing machines, internet, and phone service. Emergency communities also sends out all of its
volunteers each morning to work on specific projects that people from the community have requested help for, such as: rebuilding homes, constructing additions, gutting houses, cleaning up debris, etc. When we arrived in New Orleans, I couldn't believe what I saw. An American city, once so rich with diversity and home to a culture that was internationally unique, had, in many parts, resembled closely what you would imagine to be Baghdad or any other third world middle eastern habitat that our military bombs and invades. In the Lower 9th ward, once a highly
populated and vibrant working and poor community, the majority of houses were abandoned while those who still lived there were either homeless, 'living' in their completely desecrated homes, or tentatively inhabiting FEMA trailers, from which they will soon be evicted.People live without electricity, plumbing, and any kind of economic stability; Black, White and Hispanic people, all multi generationally indigenous to New Orleans. Virtually all businesses, corporate and mom and pops stores alike, remain vacant ruins. Throughout America, people suffer serious ailments from the lack of job availability, but this gave unemployment a new meaning. Many good people, law abiding by nature, have turned to the only market available; drugs, to either psychologically escape their despair or to earn even the littlest of funds to secure food for themselves and their loved ones.
I met many residents of the Lower 9th ward, as I listened to many heart wrenching tales of despair, poverty, and survival. One man's personal story stuck with me the most. This man, whom I'll call, William, held his own dear 80 year old mother in his arms as her heart permanently ceased to pump blood through her veins, a consequence of her injuries suffered from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This man, who also lost his Aunt during Katrina, was separated from his wife and two kids during his family's displacement during the hurricane. After reuniting, they spent the first six post-Katrina months moving across the country trying to find living stability and refuge amongst family and friends. But they had left their home in New Orleans, and decided they'd return and try to rebuild their lives.
When I met William, who I learned was a skilled heavy equipment worker before the hurricane, he had wandered down to the Emergency communities center, in an attempt to reach out, and ask someone for help, any help, to find a job. I realized very quickly, that William so desperately wanted someone to hear his story and understand his pain. William had been living in a FEMA trailer outside of his ruined home in what used to be a nice working class neighborhood with his wife, two beautiful children, 11 and 13, and a dog, for the past several months. In the past month, his wife, like so many others, had fallen victim to the epidemic that is crack-cocaine and was working for a street pimp to feed her parasitic addiction.
Always a hard working man, William's savings had completely deteriorated as he only had nine dollars to his name and no income or aid to speak of. While trying to stay strong and optimistic for his children, he was internally devastated, not knowing how to answer his childrens' hunger or their inquiries about their recently absent mother.
In what felt like a miracle, we saw a 'now hiring' sign at a local Rally Burger. After turning in William's application, we returned to check up on it, to see if they could hire William. While listening to the vague, but telling words of their manager, all of a sudden it hit me: Rally Burger's Corporate bosses ordered the "now hiring" sign to be put up in a sick attempt to appear as though they were helping the community, producing jobs when nobody else was, and 'keeping morale high' when in reality, they were never going to hire anyone, and only exploiting the people who were already working there for the lowest wages they could get away with. I think William knew it, too. That's when everything began to make sense.
Although initially natural disaster, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina exposed the inhumanity of federal and state government and corporate powers. Lumber suppliers, such as Lowe's, built stores, and in sync with market principles, have driven prices through the roof simply because they can. Government programs to feed and economically stabilize the remaining population are nearly nonexistent, with FEMA due to expire their assistance in ensuing months, leaving the people to completely fend for themselves. Insurance companies such as State Farm, are eluding from rightful compensation to homeowners who have lost everything. New Orleans has essentially become America's forgotten city.
The inhabitants of New Orleans expressed such distinct and unparallel social alienation from the rest of the country. So many people constantly urged and pleaded with us to go back home and tell the rest of the nation of their forgotten plight. "Send lumber orders, send food, send camera crews!" They spoke of their beliefs and witness to the levee breaks, which they unanimously attributed to a controlled demolition (in an attempt to sacrifice the poorer and darker neighborhoods and people instead of big business and affluents) rather than constructional defects. The people feel as if the world has turned their backs on them and their children. A government that, at best, just doesn't care about its New Orleanian citizens, and a media that so unfairly portrays their city as one of criminal chaos. A city whose government responds to their constituents' desperate poverty with 300 National Guard troops to further suffocate and police the remaining indigenous victims of natural disaster and governmental neglect. Their city is also undergoing a cultural, political, and ethnic transformation attributed to the displacement of the many poor and working people (who happened to be darker skinned) who will not be economically or realistically able to return home.
During my one week in New Orleans, Matt and I were able to help rebuild the home of a working class family of 8 who were all currently living in a FEMA trailer not fit to hold three people. But I left the city with a sobering emptiness in the pit of my stomach, feeling as powerless as the people trapped in their unforgiving poverty. What would become of all the people who were not on spring break volunteering, who had to grind it out for a lifetime just trying to survive? What would become of William and his family?
I learned in New Orleans that, contrary to post Katrina popular belief, the people there are friendly, honest, and hard working Americans. They are by no means criminally inclined as the media and the so called 'looting' accusations would imply. These people are clinging to the bottom fringes of survival, left to fend for themselves with no productive resources to do so.
Although my time in New Orleans was limited, I felt a strong social connection to the city and its people who were all so welcoming. On the risk of sounding cliche, I left a part of myself in New Orleans. And I can't wait to go back and get it.
--Max Kantar is an undergraduate student of Sociology at Ferris State University. For questions or comments he can be contacted at, [email protected]
For further information on Emergency Communities (donations, volunteer, news) please visit: www.emergencycommunities.org
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