More than two years after Hurricane Katrina caused a mass displacement of Gulf Coast residents, thousands of people, predominantly low-income Blacks, still struggle to return home.
Government policies at all levels have effectively barred low-income residents from returning to New Orleans; the city's homeless population has doubled since the hurricane. Residents are still facing the impending demolition of low-income public housing, rent hikes, and, most recently, dangerous levels of formaldehyde in the temporary housing trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The federal response to Katrina continues to be widely criticized within the international community as a flagrant violation of international law. The most recent scrutiny comes from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which monitors compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
The treaty obligates state parties "to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists." Every two years, treaty member countries are required to submit reports to CERD that chronicle their efforts to eliminate racial discrimination.
Despite undeniable evidence of the disparate impact that Hurricane Katrina continues to have on low-income Black residents, the U.S. makes only one reference to the hurricane's aftermath in its 124-page report -- to congratulate itself for its commitment to helping "all victims." However, the U.S. government denies that race was a factor in the federal response, claiming that "the post-Katrina issues were the result of poverty…rather than racial discrimination."
The government report highlights Operation Home Sweet Home, a 2006 fair housing initiative "inspired by victims of Katrina, who lost their homes and were seeking new places to live,." which it called "a major new civil rights initiative." But two years after the initiative, tens of thousands of New Orleans residents still do not have permanent or safe housing.
Immediately following the U.S. defense in Geneva, CERD called on the U.S. government "to halt the demolition of public housing" and protect the rights of Katrina victims. In its concluding observations handed down on March 7, the committee further expressed its concern "about the disparate impact that [Katrina] continues to have on low-income African American residents." It recommended that the U.S. consult with Hurricane Katrina victims who have been displaced in order to guarantee access to adequate and affordable housing.
Other reports submitted to the committee by Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and other civil and human rights organizations provide a critical assessment of U.S. adherence to ICERD mandates and emphasize the minimal progress made by the U.S. toward eliminating racial discrimination.
According to LCCR, the U.S. defense that it is adequately addressing racial discrimination "effectively allows the Bush administration to exempt itself from complying with crucial provisions of the CERD treaty at a time when U.S. prestige abroad is already at an all-time low. The government's cavalier attitude toward compliance with this critical international treaty can only be expected to further undermine U.S. standing around the world."
LCCR's report also offers recommendations to enhance the government's ability to comply with ICERD. These include the enactment of legislation to end racial and ethnic profiling, a commitment to helping schools racially integrate, the elimination of predatory lending practices, and the restoration of the right to sue for pay discrimination.
