Katrina - Race Against Time - Nat Geo Documentary

[JustAnotherGen]

Cross Posted from the African American Group.

So we binged this on Hulu. My husband and I have a deep love for NOLA. I could go there ten times a year and always find something new and interesting – a new person to meet, a song to hear, a story to be listened to.

New Years 2018 we visited and went to the Katrina Museum. We thought we had absorbed all of the pain. Then Sunday and yesterday evening I had to explain something to my Italian Immigrant Husband: Refugees.

Well not really. He pointed out “They were ‘refugees’ because they were Black people”.

If you google Reddit Katrina Stories you will find threads from a decade ago where they were still referring to the displaced Americans as refugees.
They were still telling lies about sexual assault at the Dome.
They were still telling lies about rampant looting and theft.
I learned something new – that a Black man was shot by a NOLA Police Officer for asking a question. A question.

I think now we are able to see the full scope of the lies and worthlessness of the Bush Admin.

Having walked down by the WW2 Museum and crossing into the city from the airport – we’ve been over US 10 multiple times. The desperation of human beings – Americans – walking through those flood waters only to be met by guns at the other side. Reminders that where the levies broke had been leaking for some time.

The economy of poverty was a directly connected to those who died in their homes in the lower 9th. Their poverty was deliberately inflicted on them by Racism.

The economy of white supremacy allowed these Americans to be called ‘refugees’.

The economy of white supremacy also called people moving racks of meat to be GRILLED looters and thugs.

I shared with my husband a water cooler discussion I had with several people at my employer at that time. A woman I deeply admired said: “It’s bad, but I literally saw someone steal a rack of meat”. I was not at a loss for words.

“Sandra, there is no power and won’t be for a long time. There are hungry thirsty American children. It’s just going to go bad. Watch a few minutes longer and you will see they are having an ad hoc cookout. Don’t waste food.”

She looked at me and said – “I didn’t think of that.”

When it was all said and done – the removal of the lower 9th residents was by design. Even today – TODAY – you will see slabs on their lots that simply don’t exist in Uptown. It’s not a thing.

For the Black Americans, hundreds of years of living in that city: I know what it means to Miss New Orleans. I hope some day your families can return, and stake out their territory as the original inhabitants.

[malaise]

1. I have a copy of Spike Lee's

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

[lapucelle]

2. "I didn't think of that."

I didn't think of the most common sense and logical explanation because my brain defaulted to "must be looting".

SMH

[JustAnotherGen]

3. And it must be looting

Because of the ingrained default setting the dominant culture has about Black Americans. Not ALL - but a lot of folks.

That said, it's taken 20 years for people to get it through their heads: You were lied to by the Media, the Powers that Be and the white folks across the bridge and in Algiers.

[pattyloutwo]

4. The documentary is excellent

And so difficult to watch and learn what people went through, and how the US responded in this tragedy

[Solly Mack]

5. The gentrification of NOLA benefitted the white newcomers and not local black families displaced by Katrina.

White supremacy determined how those neighborhoods began, how they grew, and the lack of economic and necessary infrastructure investments.

It determined the response to the areas, like the 9th ward - before and immediately after Katrina.

It is the reason behind the gentrification of former all black neighborhoods.

Thank you for your OP.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. I feel like

With climate change and its disastrous impacts - it's going to get worse.

Between Oil and Gas - and Massive Data Centers - we are pushing it faster and faster.

ETA - the Army Corps of Engineers admitted that the fixes post Katrina did not include the rapid rise of ocean levels due to climate change.

[Solly Mack]

11. It is going to get worse.

A recent example would be the Trump Regime dropping the case below -

The Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to drop an environmental justice case against the Denka petrochemical plant in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.”

The Biden-era lawsuit sought to curb chloroprene emissions that are harming surrounding majority-Black communities like Reserve, Louisiana.

Filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the lawsuit stated that Denka’s chloroprene emissions posed “an imminent and substantial endangerment” to public health, reported The Hill.

“The endangerment is imminent because Denka emits chloroprene at levels that are producing unacceptably high risks of cancer to the people, including children, that are regularly exposed to the Facility’s emissions,” the lawsuit said. “Hundreds of children attend school near the Facility and currently breathe the air there.”

Marginalized people, due to white supremacy, have been forced into marginalized neighborhoods, also because of white supremacy, and those neighborhoods are further marginalized when industry is allowed to go unchecked and unregulated - and in fact shouldn't be allowed to be built where people live at all.

But it's cheaper to live where the quality of life is worse and marginalized people (because of racism and classism) have to live where they can - and it is by design. Keep those "undesirables" hidden away and if they die earlier, all the better.

The Trump Regime said it was part of their anti-DEI initiative -

The Justice Department on Friday celebrated its decision to drop a federal lawsuit against a Louisiana petrochemical plant accused of worsening cancer risks for residents in a majority-Black community, saying the dismissal showed that officials are “delivering on President (Donald) Trump’s promise to dismantle radical DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs and restore integrity to federal enforcement efforts.”

The dismissal Wednesday of the two-year-old case underscored the Trump administration’s commitment to “eliminate ideological overreach and restore impartial enforcement of federal laws,’' Justice said in a statement.

[JustAnotherGen]

14. Alabama

They ended this:
DOJ ends environmental justice agreement in Alabama county citing Trump
https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-environmental-justice-alabama-dei-1a47e990d804300229206feb01e44e27

They called it DEI.

[Solly Mack]

15. Yep. Another example of the afflictions that come with white supremacy.

If you deny the existence of white supremacy, then you have to deny all the examples of white supremacy.

They want to go back to being white with those invisible blinders on - back to when they could pretend inequality wasn't a problem, or discrimination wasn't a problem, or equity wasn't a concern because no one in their lily-white neighborhoods was worried about it.

Out of sight, out of mind.

All Sally, Dick, and Jane and Leave it to Beaver all the time.

[JustAnotherGen]

16. My hope

Is that when the Regime falls - we make things right. We don't HAVE to follow the rules anymore. Especially when we are recovering from a dictatorship.

[Solly Mack]

17. I agree. Trump has been a game-changer. We can and should forge a better way in the aftermath.

Truly rise from the ashes a better nation and not cling to hype that couldn't prevent Trump from happening.

[JustAnotherGen]

18. I'm truly radicalized

Now. Every day I find more and more people that think like me.

We don't have to reset the clock to January 19, 2025. God bless Biden and Harris. They did the best they could by setting us back to January 19, 2017. But now?

We can do better.

I'm terrified for folks in the Hurricane Zone this year. With cuts to FEMA? They aren't going to be able to recover.

[Solly Mack]

19. I'm in that zone and we're worried.

I've been considered a radical for a while now. I don't find my own views radical though.

[ITAL]

7. Did it talk about Mississippi?

New Orleans got 90-95% of the coverage, but I remember the scenes out of places like Waveland and Pass Christian were apocalyptic. Those beach communities got the full wrath of Katrina's 25+ foot storm surge.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. No

It focused on the lack of response due to the man-made disaster -

The levees breaking.

The Storm itself definitely did more damage in MS and AL.

It does an excellent job dispelling all of the myths about 'violent Black Americans' in the aftermath of the storm.

[ITAL]

9. I have to say that's a bit upsetting

Even back in '05 I was annoyed at how little coverage the coastal communities of Mississippi got in comparison to New Orleans. Twenty years later it's even more aggravating. It's like that part of the story has been completely forgotten.

[JustAnotherGen]

12. I'd like to see a documentary maker

Focus on it.

Producers:
Ryan and Zinzi Coogler

Episode 2, Worst Case Scenario, captures the terrifying moment the levees broke and the city began to flood “like a bathtub.” With emergency services overwhelmed, everyday people risked their lives to save neighbors and strangers alike.

Coogler, known for using his lens to amplify Black voices and lived experiences, said it was important that the story be told through the people who were there—not pundits or politicians.

“What happened in New Orleans wasn’t just a natural disaster,” Coogler explained. “It was the result of long-standing neglect, inequality, and abandonment. The people of New Orleans were left to fend for themselves.”

https://newsone.com/6330445/ryan-coogler-new-series-exposes-real-story-of-katrina-america/

That might be a project for a Brad Pitt type of Hollywood producer.

In the Documentary they quote Wolfe Blitzer (tool extraordinaire) -
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/27/hurricane-katrina-race-against-time-national-geographic-docuseries

I think in episode four that I remember watching in real time of Wolf Blitzer as images of masses of Black people [are on screen] and he goes, ‘They’re so poor. They’re so Black.’ And yes, there were a lot of poor, Black people – but it just felt so dehumanizing and just deindividuated Black suffering. I really wanted to dismantle that, like, no, these are individuals with a life, with a story, with family, with feelings, who experienced a loss.”

37 seconds of 45 seconds

I think for Black Americans, we look at Katrina as it relates to the narrative of Black Americans - as the first time the facade of 'equality' really cracked. Black Film Makers/Producers will tend to speak up for us, more than they will other folks.

[likesmountains 52]

10. I watched the first 3 episodes last night, will finish today.

My son lived there at the time ( and still does) so I watched a ton of Katrina coverage and read every book and study. I was still surprised by the events I saw unfold last night. I can't recommend this series enough. It's really a series on race and inequality in the US.

[JustAnotherGen]

13. Ryan Coogler

Hit it out of the ballpark.