New Orleans Essay

Trying to segregate the environment from the progress of industrialization and attempting to control nature’s often random and powerful forces has been a historical theme in New Orleans. Beginning in the twentieth century, New Orleans implemented an extensive system of water management infrastructure to try and protect the city from flooding. This system was decided upon and controlled by the federal government, and therefore by extension, by the wealthy, white male elite which disproportionately compromises it. Because of this unequal representation of political and cultural power, water management techniques like levees, pumps, and reclamation of land often favored European Americans and ultimately shaped spatial patterns of segregation between

Even where neighborhoods had similar risks for flooding, black neighborhoods were at a much greater risk of damage. Contrasting the primarily black neighborhood of the Lower Ninth Ward and the primarily white neighborhood of Lakeview clearly illustrates this point, as Campanella points out. The Lower Ninth Ward is a reclaimed swamp that sits much lower than sea level on which the federal government built cheap housing primarily for blacks. This neighborhood was underwater after Hurricane Katrina hit. However, Campenella also points out that Lakeview, a rich, white neighborhood, was also low-lying and was severely flooded as well. Campanella also points out that Lakeview, a rich, white neighborhood, was also low lying and completely flooded as well. However, as we saw in lecture, people in Lakeview were less severely affected because they were more informed about the impending storm and had the means to evacuate, indicating once again the imbalances of power at play in disadvantaged black communities. In addition, it should be noted that the geography of Lakeview was not typical for most white neighborhoods. The artificially raised areas near the river where whites mainly lived was not hit nearly as