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Katrina Exposes The ‘Invisible Poor’By Theodore M. Shaw Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Even before Katrina ripped a path of destruction through the Gulf Coast the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and other civil and human rights advocates were advocating for more enlightened policies affecting class and race. Then came Katrina. The nation watched as New Orleans was evacuated- or so we thought. Those who could left by the tens and hundreds of thousands. Those who could not – the “invisible” poor, stayed. As the hurricane hit, most people thought that a relatively small number of people who could not or would not leave were safely ensconced in the Superdome to ride out the storm. The ugly reality, that those who were too poor to own cars and who had no place and no means to go numbered in the hundreds of thousands, only became apparent as New Orleans descended into a hellish nightmare that most Americans like to think could happen anywhere but here. Yet it did. As the faces of the “invisible” poor were revealed, they were overwhelmingly black. Once again, race exploded openly into the national conscience. The issue of race is always a major sub-text in American life, but we like to deny it or treat it as if it were one of those nineteenth century diseases that had been largely eradicated by twentieth century medicine. Periodically there might be an isolated case or two among the uninoculated, but for the most part, the disease had been wiped out. The truth is that race has always been and continues to be this nation’s great affliction, and we know it. We choose to live in denial about the truth of race precisely because our nation’s history of racism still holds so much power and explosiveness that we think we are better off if we make race the “third rail” in American life. Even, even if we acknowledge the continued realities of race and racism – we are tired – bone weary tired- of it. So we live in this carefully constructed denial of race and racism in which we prefer to soothe ourselves with the pabulum of fictional color-blindness. Katrina exposed the issue of race once again, as it did the issue of class. While the news cycle is short and this momentary candor is already fading, the underlying realities of race and class remain. The Legal Defense Fund is bringing its expertise and resources to post-Katrina relief. First response needs of Katrina victims obviously are basic and immediate concerns involving saving lives, and providing food, shelter and medical care. Second wave issues will include a thicket of legal questions, civil and criminal, of staggering proportion. LDF has reached out to lawyers across the nation in civil rights organizations, bar associations and law firms in order to begin coordination of pro bono legal services. And we are moving to represent New Orleans residents facing various criminal charges, including looting baby clothes for their one year old child. Black elected officials from Louisiana are seeking LDF’s assistance in legal matters that they see on the horizon affecting the African-American community. LDF had clients in various cases pending when Katrina hit; we are finding our clients and ascertaining next steps on their behalf. And we are examining a range of legislative and regulatory issues that Congress and federal agencies must address. Katrina has brought out the best and the worst in people in New Orleans, the Gulf Coast region, and around the nation. Just as it is true on an individual level adversity tests character, it is true for our nation. We believe that this is a time to articulate and pursue a better vision of our nation. This is not a time for Congress to further cut programs that provide health care for poor people, or to enact further tax cuts for the wealthy. It is time for a “paradigm shift”, in which we as a nation commit ourselves to the adoption of priorities and policies which leave no person in this nation behind, mired in poverty and shackled by racism. What happened in New Orleans after Katrina was a warning that we ignore at our deepest peril.