Katrina Survivors Cite Racism

WASHINGTON —  Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina said Tuesday that racism contributed to the slow disaster response, at times likening themselves in emotional congressional testimony to victims of genocide and the Holocaust.

The comparison was inappropriate, said Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.). “Not a single person was marched into a gas chamber and killed,” he told the Katrina survivors.

“They died from abject neglect,” said community activist Leah Hodges. “We left body bags behind.”

Evacuees described being trapped in temporary shelters where one New Orleans resident said she was “one sunrise from being consumed by maggots and flies.” Another woman said troops focused machine gun laser targets on her granddaughter’s forehead. Others said their families were called racial epithets by police.

“No one is going to tell me it wasn’t a race issue,” said evacuee Patricia Thompson, 53, who is living in College Station, Texas. “Yes, it was an issue of race. Because of one thing: When the city had pretty much been evacuated, the people that were left there mostly was black.”

Not all lawmakers seemed convinced.

“I don’t want to be offensive when you’ve gone through such incredible challenges,” said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.). But referring to some of the victims’ charges, like the gun pointed at the girl, Shays said: “I just don’t frankly believe it.”

The hearing was held by a special House committee, headed by Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), investigating the government’s preparations and response to Katrina. It was requested by Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney (D-Ga.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.