Stephen Forchielli
“Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans."
EditorandPublisher.com - Information Authority for the Newspaper Industry. Web. 14
Mar. 2010. This short article describes the comments made by the first lady, Barbara
Bush, when she toured hurricane relief centers. The article gives several quotes from the
first lady that make it seem as if she and the President thought those who were less
fortunate were now better off because of the storm. These quotes will help me develop
my opposing view, that President Bush does not care as much for the poor, and if those
affected by Katrina had been more financially significant, he would have done more.
"Desperation in New Orleans; Interview With FEMA Director Mike Brown." Interview by
PaulaZahn. Paula Zahn Now. CNN. 1 Sept. 2005. Television. This interview of FEMA
director Mike Brown by CNN’s Paula Zahn took place on September 1, 2005. During the
interview it is revealed that Brown and FEMA had just discovered that refugees were
staying in the Convention Center. This information is useful in supporting my argument
that failures on all levels, including the local level, were the main reason for the failure
that was the relief effort. The fact that there were many miscommunications and a general
lack of leadership in FEMA are made apparent by this interview.
Giroux, Henry A. "Reading Hurricane Katrina: Race, Class, and the Biopolitics of
Disposability." College Literature 33.3 (2006): 171-96. JSTOR. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
Henry A. Giroux’s article discusses the economic situation of the people in New Orleans
as well as their race and age. He notes that most of the people are elderly, poor and black.
Giroux gives many facts about the city’s wealth and financial situation, like “New
Orleans had the third highest rate of children living in poverty”. I can use this to develop
my opposing argument, that Bush neglected New Orleans because the city and its people
were “insignificant”.
Nigg, Joanne M., John Barnshaw, and Manuel R. Torres. "Hurricane Katrina and The Flooding
of New Orleans: Emergent Issues in Sheltering and Temporary Housing." Annals of the
American Academy of Political Science 604 (2006): 113-28. JSTOR. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
“Hurricane Katrina and The Flooding of New Orleans: Emergent Issues in Sheltering and
Temporary Housing” is an article which overviews the actions of FEMA and others
agencies during Hurricane Katrina. The author, Joanne M. Nigg, goes over the protocols
of these agencies as well as giving information on how these organizations run internally.
This information can be very useful in my paper to provide the reader background
information on FEMA. Because FEMA played such an important role in the relief effort,
it is especially important that the reader has a solid understanding of what it is and how it
runs.
Sylves, Richard T. "President Bush and Hurricane Katrina: A Presidential Leadership Study."
Annals of the American Academy of Political Science 604 (2006): 26-56. JSTOR. Web.
22 Feb. 2010. Richard T. Sylves article, "President Bush and Hurricane Katrina: A
Presidential Leadership Study," will provide me with a majority of my information. The
article discusses how President Bush has been criticized for his handling of Hurricane
Katrina and Sylves breaks down the disaster from several different points of view. He
also provides a timeline of the President’s actions, giving updates every few hours. The
timeline will be very useful for my paper, as it will allow me to show that the President
was not neglecting New Orleans post-Katrina, and that the failures in the relief effort
were more towards the local level.