Protecting Diversity and Civil Rights in Emergency Response Allen Nickerson Kaplan University Protecting Diversity and Civil Rights in Emergency Response Upon looking back at the history of this great nation we have come to know and love living in known as the United States of America, there have been numerous battles for something citizens felt violated about. We think about the Civil War and numerous battles before and after this great war that have been fought in order to obtain the highest level of freedom, ownership, and status in this nation. Even more important, there has to be an account for all the lives that were lost and sacrificed to obtain something that is deemed to be as valuable as life itself. This would be equal rights …show more content…
However there was additional devastation and neglect to be found in the rescue of the citizens of New Orleans. The Un Human Rights Committee issued a report in 2006 that showed how our Government failed to make sure plans were in place to ensure that the black citizens of New Orleans were included in a plan to make sure they had adequate housing and healthcare available after the disaster. Not only were blacks affected, but people in the handicap group were also. New Orleans and the surrounding areas in the gulf coast region had plenty of warning, but yet there were numerous lives lost and more devastation with the people themselves than the property that could not have been saved. This toll does not include the losses suffered by those who are handicapped and depend on aids, such as service dogs, wheelchairs and the likes they need for everyday survival. These were losses they had to endure and yet no one knew where they were or even did enough to make sure that they were taken care of and placed in a safe place during and after the storm. This is a violation of civil rights and can be looked at as discrimination. Yes there were many people that got out of the city, and yet there were over 10,000 people housed in the New Orleans superdome. Plus there were others that were still stuck in their homes during the storm. This is a violation because there was not a clear cut …show more content…
One law that should be mentioned is the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Another big issue that is believed to have brought out the failures of emergency response would be that the government did not use the resources available for emergency response. In addition to this government actually took over the response, which limited their rescue efforts. This too eliminated much needed help for the disaster and hazard response needed from hurricane Katrina. The government was walking into situation that in essence, they had no knowledge or expertise about. Yes reports mentioned that the US Army did know that the levy system was not able to handle the storm surges experience from this storm. The government appeared to know that something of this magnitude was going to happen, yet they did nothing about it. They didn’t exercise the use of diversity by making sure the local and state authorities had a clear plan in place to help face the hazards from the potential of a storm like this. They didn’t use the knowledge the locals knew and could have put in to use in response with the knowledge the government already had about the structures in New Orleans
In the book A.D New Orleans After The Deluge, By Josh Neufeld is about Hurricane Katrina and how it affected the people of New Orleans. This book was about real people that escaped and lived through the storm. Most people lost everything including their houses, all personal belongings, and jobs. As I was reading the book was shocked that in the beginning most of the characters were not worried about the storm they just wanted to wait it out. No one was expecting such a big storm and thought it would turn east like they normally did.
In the Wake of Hurricane Katrina Dave Eggers in his non-fiction book Zeitoun tells the story of Hurricane Katrina from the eyes of a Syrian-American family, the Zeitoun, who were living in New Orleans during the storm. Zeitoun, who is a father of four and a contractor, devoted his life for his hard work by serving the community of New Orleans. Zeitoun showed tremendous bravery during the Hurricane Katrina. He rescued many lives, including abandoned dogs at the time of the hurricane. The government response to the storm was very slow at that time and there was a lack of preparedness at all levels.
The book “Zeitoun” written by Dave Eggers focuses on Zeitoun and Kathy a muslim couples point of view on Hurricane Katrina and how muslims were treated in the 21st Century. He expresses his feelings about how muslims were treated in the 21st century by appealing to ethos, pathos, and logos. Dave Eggers interviewed Kathy and Zeitoun and did research for years before he officially published the book “Zeitoun” which appeals to ethos because he is giving credit to himself by citing his resources and research. In the book “Zeitoun” Eggers persuades us that Abdulrahman Zeitoun was a hero during the hurricane katrina by giving credibility to what Zeitoun had done to help his community. Hurricane Katrina occurred on August 29th 2005, In New Orleans.
Additionally, scientists had been warning New Orleans and the government that climate change would lead to increased storm activity and that the city’s defenses weren’t strong enough for such a storm. However, these warnings were ignored by the government and no preventative measures were taken which has influenced the effects of the storm. The reason for the poor response of the government and their negligence of the warnings is arguable. However, it is positive that the reason for this is that the majority of the people affected were the poor, and mostly colored, citizen of New Orleans. The city is racially and economically segregated and these citizen lived in the lower parts of the city, which go down to 11 feet below sea level.
Katrina did the normal thing she got married and started a family Katrina has almost no economic support. Katrina uses food stamps and has access to a discounted childcare facility. However in the documentary a situation arises where she is not able to us her food stamps and has to ration for about a week and ask her ex husband for help. Katrina is extremely fortunate to have access to the discounted childcare facility because it has a wait list upwards of one hundred kids.
The book Zeitoun by Dave Eggers is not a completely accurate depiction of what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The book is an example of propaganda aimed at influencing the reader into viewing the government and police in America as ineffective and ignorant. In Zeitoun, Eggers characterizes all the police and National Guard members in New Orleans after Katrina as very abusive and ignorant. When Zeitoun is arrested the police take his and his friends belongings to examine them.
The topic of equal rights is still as relevant today as it was back in the late 1800's when women were fighting for their rights. Though today we are fighting on a different level for different reasons, it is fair to say that the women that fought for their right to vote had to put up a very long and hard fight. Not only were they fighting to be seen as equal to men, they were also trying to get the world to see the progress they had made when their husbands went away to war. They were very adamant in trying to prove that not only could women do everything men could do, but they could also do it better in some cases. When the women who voiced their opinions were scoffed at by the men they knew they equaled, they knew they had to keep fighting if they wanted to have a chance for a full opportunity at
The federal government was not prepared to handle this national emergency. There should have been more of an outcry to strengthen the levee. Many citizens assumed incorrectly that the government would fully pay for people to live safely below sea level. The population was increasing, the city was sinking and most of the city is below sea level. It is a recipe for disaster to live in such a place.
“Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice. suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Based on the Constitution, equality has the possibility of being achieved because amendments can be placed in order to get closer to it. Also the Constitution has shown no discrimination to a certain group of people, and instead has tried to push the idea of equality to the next level. Although people, in the past, have been through many harsh events, the Constitution has always made a way to repair its mistakes.
Lake Pontchartrain overflowed and caused flooding. Many bridges were demolished. The I-10 Twin Span Bridge was one of them. This bridge joins Slidell with New Orleans.
All people deserve equal rights, no matter what. African Americans who lived during the 1960’s were treated unfairly: They couldn’t use the same bathrooms at white people, they couldn’t swim in the same pool as white people, and they couldn’t even drink from the same drinking fountain as white people. African Americans even went to Vietnam to fight for the common good of their country, though they weren’t even well respected after they risked their lives for their country. After a long time of being treated unfairly, people realized they needed to fight for equal rights. Both adults and young people had to help to change the nation.
Following the tragic event, the Water and Sewage Board in New Orleans ordered taller levees to be constructed. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 caused leaders to redesign the levee system and the responsibility of levee construction was placed under the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Once again citizens of New Orleans started to reconstruct their city after another natural disaster. Only forty years later Hurricane Katrina, the unfortunate event that was due to the failure of levees to withhold water, left many homeless, dead and looting for survival. Not only did the levees fail the people of New Orleans, but their government also fell short of supplying the desperate citizens of the city with aid and support.
What is equality? Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Everyone tends to question what equality stands for and why does everyone fight for it. What people mean when they say “equality” is race, religion, and sex. The story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut gives examples of how our government created a way to represent equality to be able to stay in power.
Ultimately, the entire government failed the people affected by Hurricane Katrina and are still handling the terrible situation to this day. Had the captivation and focus not been so hard on terrorism, I believe that
Equality. It seems to be at the forefront of many people’s minds today. But what does it mean to be equal? A simple question, really, however, the answer always seems to elude the strongest advocates of equality. For example, in 1972, Nixon signed into law Title IX, a great victory for all people, a truly equal bill in theory and for the most part, in practice.