A requiem
can be defined as a ceremonious remembrance for a passing; a memorial of sorts.
In my opinion, Spike Lee’s choice of naming this documentary “A Requiem in Four
Acts”, serves to recognize the devastation caused not only by the Hurricane
Katrina, but by what many saw as negligence by federal and local authorities in
regards to preparing for the storm and evacuating people before its landfall.
Lee collects firsthand accounts from residents, authorities and family members
that detail the destruction that ensued and also includes footage of news
coverage and analysis of weather and emergency experts to provide objective
evidence for why much of the human loss could have been avoided. This requiem
could also been seen as a way to provide a form of justice for the affected
residents who for decades have felt distrust against the state and federal
governments during times of natural disaster.
There
was some blame put on many residents who believed that they could ride out the
storm citing previous hurricanes such as 1965’s Hurricane Betsy, which had also
directly hit the area. The government, however, must be held accountable for
not enforcing the mandatory evacuation that was declared. Many were trapped for
days on the streets and the roofs of their homes and also held at the Super
Dome convention center with no signs of any impending release in terms of
evacuation. Many did not have the funds, transportation or a location to
evacuate to so they had no means to follow the evacuation orders. It is the job
of the government to assist those who were not able to evacuate in time, which
was not properly done. State officials prioritized business districts and
communities first in terms of aid and evacuation, protecting their economic
interests while neglecting the citizens who would have needed help the most (When
the Levees Broke, 2006).
The major downfall of the storm was not
necessarily the damaging winds, but the massive flooding that took place
throughout the Gulf and especially the city of New Orleans. Two major flood
events immediately after the initial hit were the flooding of the Florida
Avenue and 17th street areas as water from Lake Pontchartrain
swelled over embankments and flooded the streets (When the Levees Broke, 2006).
Emergency officials addressed the crisis by relocating residents to shelter of
last resort, areas that were capable of housing individuals for a short amount
of days before more resourceful help arrived in the form of the federal
government. Unfortunately such response was neither immediate nor speedy, as
the city received no true signs of federal assistance for at least four days. The
images from the aftermath of Katrina were devastating. Many compared the
conditions to those of a region at “a time of war” (Levees, 2006).
In the
weeks following the storm, most of the victims had relocated to neighboring
states with reports of 12,000 moving to Tennessee, 20,000 to Arkansas, and
150,000 to Texas with numbers rising each day (Levees, 2006). In major cities
with concentrated urban areas such as Houston, a rise of violence perpetrated
by small groups of degenerate evacuees took place leading to law enforcement to
increase resources and manpower in response. Reports of over a dozen Louisiana
evacuees being suspects in murders in Houston intensified the rift between
migrants and Texans as well as strengthened racial tensions in the city
(Levees, 2006). The evacuees were dispersed indiscriminately which led to
broken homes and missing relatives being a constant narrative. For months,
thousands of people had no way to contact missing friends and relatives or to
find out information on the state of their homes and communities. Tensions and
levels of distrust between the black community and the federal government
increased as no suitable explanation for the President or members of his
administration were ever reached. This tension was expressed to a worldwide
audience infamously by Kanye West who, while giving a speech for a fundraiser
for Katrina relief, decided to go off script saying, “George Bush doesn’t care
about black people” (Levees, 2006). His statement represented the voices of
many who felt betrayed and believed that because the areas affected by the
storm were primarily black, the federal government did not distinguish the
crisis as a priority.
The
President did not visit New Orleans until two weeks after Katrina, further
offending the victims who would never forget his negligence to the crisis. I
believe that the federal government and the Bush administration should be
primarily held at fault for unnecessary lost of life and illness following the
storm. State officials have gone on recorded expressing their repulse at the
lack of timely federal response (Levees, 2006). The Federal Emergency
Management Agency, FEMA, was established to provide relief to the nation in
times of disaster but was not present for days and once the evacuees were
displaced, redacted funds that aided victims in paying for rent and food.
Residents of Louisiana have stated that “the aftermath [was] worse than the
actual levees breaking” (Levees, 2006). The victims were not properly aided
once evacuated and could not establish themselves in the new states they found
refuge in. The evacuees were essentially left without a home and away from
families with their deep-rooted cultural ties to New Orleans left unsatisfied. The
delegation of the evacuees as “refugees” by major news networks further
established them as strangers in their new communities making them feel as if
they were not taxpaying American citizens. Reverend Al Sharpton, representing
the Congressional Black Caucus, would go on to address the press calling for an
end to the insensitive classification of the evacuees as refugees (Levees,
2006).
Documentaries
are often made with political intentions; however, a good documentary takes its
content from objective sources and firsthand accounts and images. I believe
that documentaries are useful for teaching history because they are a medium
that can reach a variety of audience in many cases more than a collective
research document would. Historians should be wary of documentaries that do not
include all forms of sources, especially primary accounts. When the Levees Broke was done effectively because the information
was presented and collected from primary sources that were directly affected by
the events. Rather than only using news coverage or official reports after the
fact as sources, Lee includes the voices of the victim, the evacuees, local law
enforcement and analyst to create a true interpretation of the events
proceeding, during and after Hurricane Katrina.
Works Cited
When
the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Director Spike Lee. HBO
Documentary Films/ 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, 2006. .avi File.
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