Bohn 1
Introduction
Hurricane Katrina brought death and destruction to Southern Louisiana in 2005. The
destruction of property, infrastructure and the deaths of over 1800 people were a result of long-
term neglect of infrastructure, a natural disaster, and the governmental mismanagement of the
event. Additionally, relief and aid were often distributed unevenly between various races of
people and socio-economic classes. Due to the crisis, many people were forced to migrate to
other parts of the United States to begin new lives. As a result, even the racial make-up of the
New Orleans communities have changed. There are many factors that led to the disaster that
followed Katrina. These include economic inequalities in the region, racial inequalities, as well
as the mismanagement of the environment. In the book, Come Hell or High Water by Michael
Dyson, the author examines what Hurricane Katrina and the events that followed reveals about
race and poverty in the US. Since the majority of those people who stayed in New Orleans and
suffered greatly as a result of Katrina were both poor and black, does the history of their
sufferings through this event teach us anything? How can we help those left behind or neglected
in our society? Dyson explores the tendency of America to ignore those who they see as other or
not financially worthy. In addition to racial differences, Dyson focuses on economic disparities.
Similar to neo-marxist thinking, Dyson sees the US economic system creating a wealthy class of
owners and a poor class of workers. Racial and economic differences have created the division
between the powerful and the powerless. Through the lens of neo-marxism, Dyson explains the
many factors that played into the disaster that took place after Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana
including economics, culture, and mismanagement of the event. This paper will explore these
areas in light of neo-marxist theory in an attempt to analyze this cultural text.
Bohn 2
Economic Inequalities in Louisiana
The economic inequalities and racial inequalities that were present in southern Louisiana were an
important factor in the devastation that took place after Hurricane Katrina. Dyson spends much
time in his book analyzing the socio-economic inequalities through the lens of traditional
Marxism. Marxist cultural analysis and anti-capitalist cultural critique specifically looks at those
aspects of culture that are profit driven and mass-produced under capitalism. The majority of the
victims of Katrina were part of a culture that was not profitable in our capitalistic system. In
Chapter 1 of Come Hell or Water, Dyson says that Louisiana was one of the poorest states in the
US with many having a yearly income of around $10,000. Many of New Orleans’ residents
made barely above $20,000 a year. New Orleans was ranked 7/290 of the poorest states of the
US and even still blacks had a income of 40% lower than their white counterparts (Dyson #).
