Michael Eric Dyson, an acclaimed author of black social literature and professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke in Page Auditorium Sunday about the plight of the black residents of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Dyson's speech, titled "Come Hell or High Water: Race Relations After Katrina," focused on racial stratification in the areas devastated by the hurricane that hit the Gulf Coast in late August 2005. The event was sponsored by the Black Student Alliance as a part its Black History Month program.
"New Orleans represents such a unique slice of America because it is, as its mayor suggests, 'chocolate,'" Dyson said, referring to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's widely criticized public comment on his wish to rebuild a "chocolate" New Orleans. "New Orleans was 67.9 percent black. I don't know about you, but I think that is pretty chocolate."
Dyson also discussed the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Big Easy's demography.
"Now New Orleans is smaller, richer and whiter," Dyson said. "The battle over New Orleans is not about geography. It is about the geography of race."
Dyson continued on to discuss how the the "vanilla" suburbs of New Orleans-wealthier, predominately white residential areas-were on elevated ground and not as severely damaged by the hurricane as lower-lying areas.
He referred to these areas, which are predominately black, as the poor "chocolate" parts. The lower geography of the regions resulted in increased exposure to the wrath of the hurricane's aftermath once the levees of Lake Pontchartrain were breached.
"The truth is, those who were wealthy and white truly were 'higher,' while those who were poor and black were 'lower,'" Dyson said.
He also discussed the poverty of the residents most severely affected by Katrina.
"[The] 134,000 people in New Orleans didn't own a car. They weren't stupid. They weren't stubborn. They were stuck," Dyson said. "These people were abandoned long before [Hurricane Katrina struck]."
While commenting on the poverty of the Katrina victims, Dyson also criticized President George W. Bush's response to the disaster.
"What did the government have to offer people in crisis?" Dyson asked. "We all saw the ineptitude, saw the inexperience and saw the ignorance when it came to helping [the Katrina victims]. It was the whole triumvirate. Now Michael Brown is shooting back because he has nothing to lose."
Michael Brown, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was held responsible by many Americans for what they deemed a slow and weak federal response to Katrina victims.
Brown criticized the Bush White House Feb. 10 for failing to heed his warnings about the potential destruction that Katrina could cause.
Many have criticized Bush for giving Brown the position of FEMA director because of Brown's lack of experience in the field.
In his speech, Dyson also praised rapper Kanye West, who in the days following the impact of Katrina said on a nationally televised broadcast that the president does not care about black people.
"Kanye West turns out to be the hardest man in hip hop," Dyson said. "When Kanye said, 'George Bush doesn't care about black people,' he didn't mean 'George Bush' as an individual. He meant 'George Bush' as in the face of the government.... And when he said 'care,' he meant the timely distribution of resources to those who needed them."
Dyson also told the audience about his experience meeting a young boy who was displaced from his home because of Katrina. The boy asked him if the storm had been sent by God.
"Some people are saying that God drowned New Orleans because of its gay people... because of its abortion clinics... because the poor black people were addicted to welfare," he said. "I thought we got over that before the Age of Reason."
Dyson, who has authored several social commentary books including Holler if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur and Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind, also talked about other instances of government discrimination, such as what he sees as biased drug laws.
Focusing on cocaine and crack-cocaine legislation, Dyson said the penalties for possessors of cocaine, an expensive drug usually used by wealthier people, are much less severe than those for possessors of crack-cocaine, an inexpensive and impure version more common in urban areas.
Dyson was critical of the drug-law enforcement disparity between wealthier neighborhoods and poorer urban ones.
"Most [blacks] in prison are there for non-violent drug offenses," Dyson noted.
"I'm not saying its all right to smoke a joint-all the time," he added jokingly.
Throughout Dyson's roughly hour and a half lecture, the audience applauded several times and often broke into laughter at his jokes.
Many members of the audience shouted out in agreement with Dyson's statements.
"[Dyson] said a lot of things that opened my mind to what was going on before the storm and not just what happened afterwards," said Lisa Pepin, a high school junior from the nearby North Carolina School of Science and Math.
Pepin and some of her fellow classmates are planning to travel to New Orleans later this semester to see if they can volunteer to help with the city's reconstruction.
The Chronicle
Michael Eric Dyson, an acclaimed author of black social literature and professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke in Page Auditorium Sunday about the plight of the black residents of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Dyson's speech, titled "Come Hell or High Water: Race Relations After Katrina," focused on racial stratification in the areas devastated by the hurricane that hit the Gulf Coast in late August 2005. The event was sponsored by the Black Student Alliance as a part its Black History Month program.
"New Orleans represents such a unique slice of America because it is, as its mayor suggests, 'chocolate,'" Dyson said, referring to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's widely criticized public comment on his wish to rebuild a "chocolate" New Orleans. "New Orleans was 67.9 percent black. I don't know about you, but I think that is pretty chocolate."
Dyson also discussed the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Big Easy's demography.
"Now New Orleans is smaller, richer and whiter," Dyson said. "The battle over New Orleans is not about geography. It is about the geography of race."
Dyson continued on to discuss how the the "vanilla" suburbs of New Orleans-wealthier, predominately white residential areas-were on elevated ground and not as severely damaged by the hurricane as lower-lying areas.
He referred to these areas, which are predominately black, as the poor "chocolate" parts. The lower geography of the regions resulted in increased exposure to the wrath of the hurricane's aftermath once the levees of Lake Pontchartrain were breached.
"The truth is, those who were wealthy and white truly were 'higher,' while those who were poor and black were 'lower,'" Dyson said.
He also discussed the poverty of the residents most severely affected by Katrina.
"[The] 134,000 people in New Orleans didn't own a car. They weren't stupid. They weren't stubborn. They were stuck," Dyson said. "These people were abandoned long before [Hurricane Katrina struck]."
While commenting on the poverty of the Katrina victims, Dyson also criticized President George W. Bush's response to the disaster.
"What did the government have to offer people in crisis?" Dyson asked. "We all saw the ineptitude, saw the inexperience and saw the ignorance when it came to helping [the Katrina victims]. It was the whole triumvirate. Now Michael Brown is shooting back because he has nothing to lose."
Michael Brown, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was held responsible by many Americans for what they deemed a slow and weak federal response to Katrina victims.
Brown criticized the Bush White House Feb. 10 for failing to heed his warnings about the potential destruction that Katrina could cause.
Many have criticized Bush for giving Brown the position of FEMA director because of Brown's lack of experience in the field.
In his speech, Dyson also praised rapper Kanye West, who in the days following the impact of Katrina said on a nationally televised broadcast that the president does not care about black people.
"Kanye West turns out to be the hardest man in hip hop," Dyson said. "When Kanye said, 'George Bush doesn't care about black people,' he didn't mean 'George Bush' as an individual. He meant 'George Bush' as in the face of the government.... And when he said 'care,' he meant the timely distribution of resources to those who needed them."
Dyson also told the audience about his experience meeting a young boy who was displaced from his home because of Katrina. The boy asked him if the storm had been sent by God.
"Some people are saying that God drowned New Orleans because of its gay people... because of its abortion clinics... because the poor black people were addicted to welfare," he said. "I thought we got over that before the Age of Reason."
Dyson, who has authored several social commentary books including Holler if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur and Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind, also talked about other instances of government discrimination, such as what he sees as biased drug laws.
Focusing on cocaine and crack-cocaine legislation, Dyson said the penalties for possessors of cocaine, an expensive drug usually used by wealthier people, are much less severe than those for possessors of crack-cocaine, an inexpensive and impure version more common in urban areas.
Dyson was critical of the drug-law enforcement disparity between wealthier neighborhoods and poorer urban ones.
"Most [blacks] in prison are there for non-violent drug offenses," Dyson noted.
"I'm not saying its all right to smoke a joint-all the time," he added jokingly.
Throughout Dyson's roughly hour and a half lecture, the audience applauded several times and often broke into laughter at his jokes.
Many members of the audience shouted out in agreement with Dyson's statements.
"[Dyson] said a lot of things that opened my mind to what was going on before the storm and not just what happened afterwards," said Lisa Pepin, a high school junior from the nearby North Carolina School of Science and Math.
Pepin and some of her fellow classmates are planning to travel to New Orleans later this semester to see if they can volunteer to help with the city's reconstruction.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.