Forming a Human Levee for Human Rights in New
Orleans
by BAR contributing editor Jeffrey
Buchanan
"They had
been told their community was not a priority."
Nearly two hundred New Orleans residents and their
supporters assembled on a Saturday morning along the Monticello Canal to do
something their government had refused to do: build a levee. Louisiana
ACORN, a community-based association fighting for the rights of low and
moderate income families, organized the demonstration forming a "Human Levee
for Human Rights" demanding residents' right to equitable flood protection.
A reinforced levee and floodwall protects Jefferson Parish,
a demographically whiter and wealthier neighbor of Orleans Parish, from the
Monticello Canal. Despite defenses reaching twelve feet above the ground on one
side, the predominantly working class African American neighborhood of
Carrollton-Hollygrove bordering the Orleans Parish side of the canal stands
unprotected. This inexplicable disparity provides a shocking view into
environmental injustices faced by numerous African American neighborhoods in
New Orleans.
"This neighborhood has always flooded during heavy rains,"
longtime resident and ACORN neighborhood chair Joe Sherman told protesters as
rain clouds loomed ominously overhead. "Our community is left vulnerable while
the state, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Water and Sewerage Board keep
pointing fingers."
Sherman, who worked for twenty years in the engineering
department of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, explained how he and
his neighbors have been fighting for years, even before Hurricane Katrina, for
flood protection but had been told their community was not a priority. During
the New Orleans recovery planning process, residents set flood protection as a
top priority but planners determined it would not be addressed for five years
or more in Carrollton-Hollygrove.
"Despite defenses reaching twelve feet above the ground
on one side, the predominantly working class African American neighborhood of
Carrollton-Hollygrove bordering the Orleans Parish side of the canal stands
unprotected."
Since the Army Corps of Engineers took over New Orleans'
flood control system in 1965, residents said Carrollton-Hollygrove flooded 8
different times. Floodwaters reached 8 feet in some homes after Hurricane
Katrina. Making matters worse, the current city drainage system pumps
more water into the Monticello Canal than is pumped out, frequently forcing
floodwaters over into this neighborhood during most major rain events.
"The risks increase for these residents because there is
protection on one side, and no protection on the other," said Stephen
Bradberry, Louisiana ACORN head organizer and 2005 Robert F. Kennedy Human
Rights Award winner. "How can you say the community is not at risk when
you have protected one half of the community and not the other?"
"Leftovers from the age of slavery"
Dr. Robert Bea, lead investigator on the National Science
Foundation's inquiry into New Orleans' flood protection system, confirmed that
placing a levee and floodwall on one side along the Monticello Canal but not
the other had no grounding in science.
"It is perfect example of the disconnected incomplete nature
of this flood protection system," said Dr. Bea in a recent interview. "Much of
what happened [there] during Katrina represents the left-overs from the age of
slavery in the South."
The Chicago Tribune in a recent report revealed that the
$1.6 billion worth of work done by the Corp of Engineers since Hurricane
Katrina has overwhelmingly benefited New Orleans' wealthier white
neighborhoods, continuing to leave African American neighborhoods vulnerable.
Forming a human levee
To expose the inequity and garner attention to the dangers
of inadequate protection that lower income residents face, demonstrators formed
a human levee stretching over a third of a mile.
Participants included local residents, ACORN members from
across the city, United Teachers of New Orleans and AFL-CIO members, as well as
supporters from the DC-based RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights.
As protesters lined the Monticello Canal, Kerry Kennedy,
daughter of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, told the crowd how African slaves 200 years
ago in New Orleans were stacked one on top of another, forming a "human levee,"
to protect white properties from oncoming floodwaters.
Kennedy equated this to the current discriminatory flood
protection system where predominantly black neighborhoods remain vulnerable
while white communities receive increased protection. Such inequality
makes it harder for African American families to return home, in violation of
international human rights law.
"Predominantly black neighborhoods remain vulnerable
while white communities receive increased protection."
While many of New Orleans' displaced residents want to
return, they fear the risks of inadequate flood protection in
Carrollton-Hollygrove and other areas across the city. Kennedy notes that
continued government inaction to provide equitable protection, to help people
return and to let their voices be heard were violating their human rights as
internally displaced people.
While some residents have not been able to return, many
homes are showing signs of coming back. Lifetime Hollygrove resident Nyra
Humphries is almost finished repairing her home. Seeing the Monticello Canal
everyday, she cannot help but be worried that her months of hard work will be
in vain.
"It's hard to put so much time and money into my home when
there's no work done to prevent more flooding," Nyra said.
During the rally, residents demanded a temporary floodwall
be built immediately. New Orleans City Councilwoman Shelley Midura, who
represents the neighborhood, promised residents that a study to determine the
cause of the flooding would begin soon and lead to action by the Sewerage and
Water Board to build a flood wall. She remained hopeful that the Army
Corps of Engineers could eventually be convinced to build a more permanent
flood protection
"From a different angle"
Also in attendance was a church group from Milwaukee who had
been repairing homes in the 9th Ward with ACORN but took a break to
lend their support to the protest.
"We thought it was important to work on the problem from a
different angle," Freesia McKee, a student volunteer, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
"Our federal government needs to undergo a fundamental
shift towards helping all its displaced citizens to realize their rights to
return and rebuild."
After the rally Stephen Bradberry told the church group
volunteers about the struggle faced by residents to return to the city and the
hurdles placed by various levels of government.
"The people of New Orleans need you to go home and tell your
friends, tell your federal representatives about what you've seen and heard,"
said Bradberry. "Our federal government needs to undergo a fundamental
shift towards helping all its displaced citizens to realize their rights to
return and rebuild their lives and communities."
As residents return and rebuild, ACORN members and New
Orleans residents remain ready to stand up for their human rights and to hold
their government officials accountable. They believe local, state and federal
officials and must help residents to realize their human rights after this epic
disaster and assure equity as New Orleans returns and rebuilds. Perhaps
more than charity, New Orleans residents need Americans to stand in solidarity
and demand justice for their brothers and sisters who are fighting to come back
home and rebuild their lives.
Jeffrey Buchanan is a freelance
writer, human rights advocate and Program Officer with the RFK Memorial Center
for Human Rights. He can be contacted at [email protected].