The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities
Robert D. Bullard and Beverly Wright
Abstract
When the images of desperate, hungry, thirsty, sick, mostly black people circulated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it became apparent to the whole country that race did indeed matter when it came to government assistance. This book places the government response to natural and human-induced disasters in historical context over the past eight decades. It compares and contrasts how the government responded to emergencies, including environmental and public health emergencies, toxic contamination, industrial accidents, and bioterrorism threats and show that African Americans are dispropor ... More
When the images of desperate, hungry, thirsty, sick, mostly black people circulated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it became apparent to the whole country that race did indeed matter when it came to government assistance. This book places the government response to natural and human-induced disasters in historical context over the past eight decades. It compares and contrasts how the government responded to emergencies, including environmental and public health emergencies, toxic contamination, industrial accidents, and bioterrorism threats and show that African Americans are disproportionately affected. It argues that uncovering and eliminating disparate disaster response can mean the difference between life and death for those most vulnerable in disastrous times.
Keywords:
government assistance,
Hurricane Katrina,
disasters,
disaster response,
government response,
African Americans,
emergencies,
industrial accidents,
bioterrorism,
toxic contamination
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780814799932 |
Published to NYU Press Scholarship Online: March 2016 |
DOI:10.18574/nyu/9780814799932.001.0001 |