Climate Injustice and Hidden Race War in the Aftermath of Katrina
Here’s a pretty grim look at the racial violence that came in the aftermath of Katrina. White militias in Algiers Point, a white enclave in New Orleans, declared war on African-Americans. They viewed African-Americans venturing into their neighborhoods as “fair game” and many homicides resulted.
Many of my friends and comrades in anarchist and anti-authoritarian communities immediately put their mutual aid where their mouths were and went to New Orleans to form Common Ground Relief and provide solidarity not charity. Part of their response was self-defense against these white militias.
This article makes a great case for why we need to transform ourselves from a climate movement to a climate JUSTICE movement.
Lately, when I hear climate activists talk about numbers and percentages in stemming emissions and stopping climate change through legislation and governmental intervention I don’t hear enough about stemming the effects of global warming on the most impacted. Poor and marginalized communities are already suffering the worst effects. While super-hurricanes and erratic weather patterns are a top threat to them, so are reactionary and racist elements that target them in the post-storm chaos.
Video by the Nation Institute of African-Americans describing post-Katrina violence and white vigilantes defending their actions.
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