Disscussion Based On The Article By AbBy Phillip
In the feature article “White People in New Orleans say they’re better off after Katrina. Black people don’t” by Abby Phillip, the author explains numerous reports and surveys about racial differences in lifestyle and how it affected the residents of New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina hit. I will summarize the article by Abby Phillip and offer my opinion on the topic.
In this article, the author describes the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and how the population of the region felt discriminated. Both the whites and the blacks have a different perspective on the situation. First of all, the author states that approximately 80% of white residents don’t just think but also believe that they have it better than others and that they’ve mostly recuperated after the disaster happened. Blacks on the other hand, say they were treated very unequally compared to the white population and have not improved from the tragedy. For example, according to the LSU survey Manship School of Mass Communication’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs that Phillip references, almost all of the city’s newest residents are 56% white, are receiving a better education, and have higher pay than the African Americans do. In fact, “The National Urban League study said the gap between the median income of African Americans and whites grew by 18 percent after the storm, and the number of black children living in poverty jumped from 44% to more than 51%”. And that isn’t the only factor that they have experienced. The author also mentions that the white population of the city has an increase in their community’s access to health care and also education.
In response, I will propose my opinion about the article. Truly I think the article is all based on predominant studies and surveys done by the LSU, and it deals with the random people’s opinions. However, her statistics show opinions rather than the actual facts that dealt with racial injustice. In fact I do believe that we all should be treated equally, but to my knowledge I think we are witnessing a social, cultural, and psychological phenomenon. Are the newly arrived whites truly races or do they perceive things in life differently than the blacks do or vice versa? The report does not delve into deeply rooted cultural differences. In fact cultural phenomena has taken a big role in African Americas lifestyle, as it does with white Americans, but in many diverse ways. I also think that our own government should have done at least something, if not everything. It wasn’t very mature of them to take this case light-hearted. Last but not least, I also think that everyone should have taken a responsibility not only of their own needs but others. We need to help each other by lifting our spirit up physically and emotionally, especially during the crisis that we experienced and will always experience in future. Even though Phillips’ statistics were opinions and not facts, everyone suffered this devastating moments. We the people of this nation should’ve done something or more to help our country instead feeling pity for ourselves.
By concluding this article, I would like to restate my main point that in today’s society, racial inequity is common everywhere, but it doesn’t mean that it’s morally right. Treating humans with disregard because of their uncontrollable race is very wrong in so many ways. I truly feel so sorry for what happened in New Orleans in 2005. I am very glad that the city is making great progress throughout the difficult times, but I do not approve of racial inequalities that are still going on.
