Urban Vulnerability and Hurricane Katrina/?Institutional Discrimination, Individual Racism, and Hurricane Katrina?

After reading either of the two articles ?Institutional Discrimination, Individual Racism, and Hurricane
Katrina? by Henkel, et al. or ?In the Eye of the Storm: How the Government and Private Response to
Hurricane Katrina Failed Latinos? by Mu?iz, write a short essay that responds to the following:
Discuss some of the factors that increased the vulnerability of African-American residents (Henkel article)
or Latino residents (Mu?iz article) of New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina, including
their ability to anticipate and prepare for the storm, cope with the impacts, and eventually recover.
Your essay should be roughly 1-2 pages in length (single spacing). All essays should be clear, concise,
and well-organized, and demonstrate a solid understanding of the reading. All essays should be
proofread thoroughly for spelling and grammatical errors. Direct quotes (if used) should include page
numbers in the citation.
Submit your essay via the ?Submit Short Essay 6 Here? link, found under the ?Short Essays? tab on
Blackboard no later than 1:30PM (the start of class) on Thursday 9/29. NO late essays will be accepted.

Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2006, pp. 99–124
Institutional Discrimination, Individual Racism,
and Hurricane Katrina
Kristin E. Henkel*
University of Connecticut
John F. Dovidio
University of Connecticut
Samuel L. Gaertner
University of Delaware
Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, there have been accusations of blatant
racism in the government?s response, on the one hand, and adamant denials that
race played any role at all, on the other. We propose that both perspectives reflect
oversimplifications of the processes involved, and the resulting debate may obscure
a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the situation.