Three days after Hurricane Katrina struck, authorities blocked the road that connects the city of Gretna to New Orleans.

Evacuees Were Turned Away at Gretna, La.

Evacuees struggling to pass one of the only escape routes out of New Orleans directly after Katrina’s devastation were met with callous, inhumane, immoral, and ignorant behavior.  It seems Gretna police officers fired shots in the air and made comments like, “We don’t want another Superdome.”

We aren’t a nation with borders and checkpoints.  States run into one another without any noticeable change.  That doesn’t negate the fact that invisible class borders exist across the whole country.  Gretna is 2/3 white, New Orleans 2/3 black.  Just as 8 mile divides black Detroit from its white suburbs the Mississippi divides New Orleans from Gretna.  However, what really divide these places are not roads or rivers.  It’s wealth.

Gretna’s excuse, “We’re overwhelmed.” And the residents of New Orleans weren’t?  Most of the evacuees attempting the pass were misinformed about buses sent to transport them to Texas and elsewhere.  These people hadn’t eaten, drank any water, or had access to sanitary conditions in 3 days.  Yet, Gretna was so consumed with fear they decided to turn their back on life.

I realize officials have stated that they were worried about the conditions of their own constituents.  Having suffered from the same storm (without the flooding aftermath) the residents of Gretna had no power and was struggling to provide food and water to 4-5,000 that remained in the city.  But, Gretna’s population is 17,453 and the number attempting a cross numbered in the low hundreds.  I question the accuracy of Gretna’s assessment.  I also question the validity of their current comments when, as I stated before, the evacuees were simply trying to get a ride out of the area.

It’s too early to tell exactly what happened but I’m going to extend a guess that Gretna officials were frightened of media sensationalism and took it upon themselves to place the value of life below the value of their cities property.

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