Katrina: Too Much Blame, Not Enough Responsibility

Abstract

Like many others, my response to reports of hundreds of thousands of mostly black people stranded in a flood was shock and outrage. My anger grew as I learned of the horrific conditions many of these people endured for days in the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center—conditions that Jesse Jackson likened to the "hull of a slave ship." Anger is not an inchoate emotion, but rather directed. Being angry means being angry at. Justified anger usually seeks culprits—the individuals and organizations who should be blamed for the wrongs people suffer. In the aftermath of Katrina, much public discussion focused on whether anyone was to blame for the suffering, and if so, who. Some suggested that "the blame game" is unproductive, and that we should accept that when disaster hits, no humans are to blame for the hurt that follows. A few, such as a senator from my state, Barack Obama, argued that blame is indeed unproductive, but that all of us should think about the responsibilities our government and citizens have to people vulnerable in the face of natural disaster.