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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 10 page research paper that uses Spike Lee's HBO documentary as a springboard to discussing the implications and social ramifications of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in the devastated city of New Orleans. This comprehensive assessment suggests that an overemphasis on the focus of white priorities resulted in marginalizing the poor black population of the city. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Page Count:
10 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khleeno.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
The film focuses on personal stories of survival, as it defines the destruction on a very human level. The film also pictures the courageous people of New Orleans as they
rebuild, causing their city to reemerge from the devastation. However, also included in the film is coverage of how the disaster was addressed on both the local and federal levels
of government (Synopsis). The film has been described as an "encyclopedic look at the chronology of events, and the lack of action that followed" (Synopsis). This comprehensive assessment suggests that
an overemphasis on the focus of white priorities resulted in marginalizing the poor black population of the city. Act I pertains to the storm itself and what it was
like to live through the fury of a category 4 hurricane. Act II reports on the appalling failure of the federal emergency response. Act III portrays New Orleans communities coming
to grips with their experience and their loss, and Act IV addresses the "halting, haphazard effort to begin again" (Samuels 94). While many of the people interviewed are black, Lee
does not turn this film into a racial polemic, as he sees the tragedy of New Orleans as a "national betrayal rooted in class, not skin color" (Samuels 94). To
Lee, what the victims share is that they had little before Katrina and now have nothing (Samuels 94). It should be noted, however, that Lee does not "carve out
a pie chart of accountability," but takes the stance that the failure in New Orleans were systemic and not limited to any one level of governmental response (Samuels 94). Nevertheless,
Lee does picture the Bush administration as responding in a less than adequate fashion. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice is particularly castigated for being in Manhattan shoe-shopping while New Orleans
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