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Poverty & Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina exposed the shocking extent to which poverty and income disparities exist in our country. For many Americans, the tragedy made visible the unfinished struggle to achieve racial equality and economic justice. Appalled at the government's inability to respond in a timely and competent manner to the evacuation needs of those affected by the hurricane, Americans from across racial, economic and political spectrums saw Katrina and its devastation as an opportunity not only to examine what went wrong, but also to take preventive measures.

The inequities so glaringly exposed in Katrina's wake provide a rare window of opportunity to address policy priorities that have resulted in two Americas.

Report: The World After Katrina: Eyes Wide Shut?

• The World After Katrina: Eyes Wide Shut? - LCCREF Report - 12/1/05
• Video highlights from a panel discussion of the report 
• LCCREF Panel Explores Interrelationship between Race and Poverty - 12/19/05

Forum: Rebuilding the Gulf Coast Region: The Civil and Human Rights Implications

• Video highlights from the October 28, 2005 forum
• LCCREF Forum Participants Testify About Hurricane Katrina and Rebuilding Efforts in the Gulf Coast - 11/4/05

Reports

• For Rent - Unless You're Black: An Audit Report and Study on Race Discrimination (pdf) - GNO Fair Housing Action Center - 4/24/07
• The Race to Rebuild: The Color of Opportunity and the Future of New Orleans - The Center for Social Inclusion - 8/31/06
• Envisioning a Better Mississippi (pdf) - NAACP, Mississippi State Conference - 8/24/06
• The Faces of Hurricane Katrina: A Portrait of Poverty Throughout America - LCCR - 8/22/06
• Abandoned & Abused: Orleans Parish Prisoners in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina - ACLU - 8/10/06
• A Continuing Storm: The On-Going Needs of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees (pdf) - Appleseed Foundation - 8/1/06
• And Injustice for All: Workers' Lives in the Reconstruction of New Orleans (pdf) - Advancement Project - 7/6/06
• Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared- Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - 5/11/06
• In The Eye of the Storm: How the Government and Private Response to Hurricane Katrina Failed Latinos - National Council of La Raza - 3/1/06
• Bringing Katrina's Poorest Victims Home: Targeted Federal Assistance Will Be Needed to Give Neediest Evacuees Option to Return to Their Hometowns - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - 11/3/05
• Lessons of Katrina: America's Major Racial and Ethnic Groups Find Common Ground After the Storm - New American Media - 10/27/05
• Employment and Training in the Response to Katrina: Some Principles for Ensuring Access to Jobs and Training (pdf) - Center for Law and Social Policy - 10/25/05
• Changes Needed in Katrina Transitional Housing Plan to Meet Families Needs - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - 10/13/05
• Rebuilding Homes and Lives: Progressive Options for Housing Policy Post-Katrina - Center for American Progress and New Vision: An Institute for Policy and Progress - 10/13/05
• New Start New Orleans: Good Jobs for a Better Gulf - Center for American Progress - 10/12/05
• Ending Concentrated Poverty: New Directions After Hurricane Katrina (pdf) - The Enterprise Foundation - 10/12/05
• The Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: Multiple Disadvantages and Key Assets for Recovery (pdf) - Institute for Women's Policy Research - 10/1/05
• Addressing the Health Care Impact of Hurricane Katrina - Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Unisured - 10/1/05
• Essential Facts About the Victims of Hurricane Katrina- Center on Budget and Policy Procedures - 9/19/05
• Lessons from History: A Blueprint for Revitalizing the Gulf Coast - Center for American Progress - 9/15/05
• Meeting the Basic Needs of Hurricane Katrina Victims: Recommendations to Federal Policymakers (pdf) - Center on Budget and Policy Procedures - 9/9/05
• Who Are Katrina's Victims? - Center for American Progress - 9/2/05
• Survey of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees September 2005 - The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - 9/1/05

Fact Sheets

• Voice: Voting and Political Expression in the Gulf (pdf) - The Opportunity Agenda - 8/23/06
• Child Poverty in States Hit by Hurricane Katrina - Center for Children in Poverty - 10/25/05
• Shared Sacrifice, Stronger Leadership Needed in Aftermath of Katrina (pdf) - Center on Budget and Policy Procedures - 9/19/05
• Katrina Relief and Federal Spending and Deficits - Center on Budget and Policy Procedures - 9/19/05
• Katrina: Demographics of a Disaster (pdf) - The Urban Institute - 9/9/05
• Assessing the Number of People with HIV/AIDS in Areas Affected by Hurricane Katrina - The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - 9/1/05

LCCR/EF Resources

• Post-Katrina, Every Day Is Still a Challenge - Civil Rights Monitor Fall 2006
• Lessons of Katrina: America's Racial and Ethnic Groups Find Common Ground After the Storm - Speech by Wade Henderson - 11/17/05
• Civil Rights Groups Call White House Response to Hurricane Katrina a Trojan Horse - Press Release - 10/21/05
• Letter to Congress Regarding Hurricane Katrina Response - Advocacy Letter - 10/20/05
• The Present Administration's Response to Hurricane Katrina - Advocacy Letter - 10/21/05

Feature Stories

• Three Years after Hurricane Katrina, Rebuilding Continues on the Gulf Coast - 8/28/08
• U.N. Criticizes U.S. Discrimination toward Black Katrina Victims - 3/14/08
• New Orleans to Washington: 'We Want to Go Home' - 10/9/07
• Katrina Panel Highlights Important Steps to Recovery - 3/23/07
• The Gulf Coast One Year after Hurricane Katrina: Residents Still Putting Lives Back Together - 8/22/06
• Civil Rights Groups Protest Upcoming New Orleans Municipal Elections - 4/5/06
• NFHA Releases Report on Housing Discrimination against Katrina Evacuees - 3/24/06
• Interfaith Delegation: Inadequate Government Response Post-Katrina Left Religious Community "Holding an Empty Bag"  - 12/29/05
• CBC's Comprehensive Katrina Relief Bill Applauded - 12/7/05
• New Post-Katrina Poll: Ending Poverty Should Be Number One Priority - 11/21/05
• Federal Wage Protection Law Reinstated for Workers in Gulf Coast - 11/15/05
• Groups Call for Investigation of Relief Efforts' Failure to Comply With Civil Rights Protections - 10/24/05
• Briefing Highlights Katrina's Toll on Asian American Communities in the Gulf - 10/19/05 

Other Websites

• Yearbook 2006: Post-Katrina diaspora through the lens of high school students
• The New Orleans Agenda: Your Alternative Newsletter
• Health Care and Hurricane Katrina - Kaiser Family Foundation