Katrina’s city? New Orleans, race, myth, forced migration and return

Abstract

Hurricane Katrina was responsible for the displacement of the entire city of New Orleans. This article will consider the forced migration of the city’s inhabitants, focusing specifically on poor African Americans. In the aftermath, families were separated and relocated all across the United States, controversially referred to as ‘refugees’. This problematically evokes Harold Cruse’s idea of ‘domestic colonies’ as it aligns black identity with the notion of foreignness. The imposed dislocation of black American families cannot be divorced from the historical context of slavery; the image of the migrant wading through the water evokes stories of fugitive slaves taking to the Mississippi River in an attempt to escape capture. The evacuation was in part due to an inherently racist infrastructure, primarily and irrefutably based on class. Yet, in spite of this, many citizens chose to return. The article will consider the homecoming experience in relation to the mythical status of the city and its rich cultu al heritage; how the ‘pull’ factors outweighed the political and socio- economic realities. Using the documentaries, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (Lee, 2006), and Trouble the Water (Deal and Lessin, 2008) along with the HBO series Treme (2010–2011), this article will explore forced migration and intransigence, the image of the migrant, and the narrative of return in relation to African American identity, mythology, history, race and class.