Was There a Race War after Hurricane Katrina?
By Special Correspondent Nadra Kareem
Herrington, Alexander and Collins.
It’s unlikely that these names ring a bell, that upon hearing them a knot will form in your stomach as often happens to those who hear the names of another trio—Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney. The latter threesome received worldwide recognition after a lynch mob executed them in 1964 for trying to register black Mississippians to vote. On the other hand, the former threesome was shot during Hurricane Katrina by a group of men described as “white vigilantes.” Unlike Goodman, Schwerner and Cheney, however, Herrington (pictured above), Alexander and Collins survived to tell their tale.
Now, A.C. Thompson, a writer for The Nation, has launched an investigation into the shootings of Herrington, Alexander and Collins. In an article called “Katrina’s Hidden Race War,” which was published online Dec. 17, Thompson asserts that at least 11 blacks were shot as the hurricane unfolded—all by white men.
“So far, their crimes have gone unpunished. No one was ever arrested for shooting Herrington, Alexander and Collins—in fact, there was never an investigation,” Thompson writes. “As a reporter who has spent more than a decade covering crime, I was startled to meet so many people with so much detailed information about potentially serious offenses, none of whom had ever been interviewed by police detectives.”
It’s especially surprising that no arrests have been made for the shootings considering that the victims haven’t exactly kept them a secret. Herrington spoke of his ordeal in Spike Lee’s documentary “When the Levees Broke,” according to Thompson. To boot, Cox News and pro-gun blogs reportedly mentioned them as well.
The main reason Thompson believes that an uproar hasn’t broken out over the shootings is because of the pervasive portrayal of blacks as looters and thugs during the media’s coverage of Katrina. In short, while America would normally classify a group of white Southerners who went on a shooting rampage against blacks as a lynch mob, in this case such whites were considered to be innocent men simply protecting their property from lawless African Americans.
Add this episode to the long series of missteps that occurred during the chaos that was Katrina—from FEMA’s slow response to the largely impoverished victims to W.’s delayed arrival to New Orleans to Condi Rice shopping for shoes as the hurricane unwound.
It took public outcry for the FBI to conduct an investigation into the murders of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney. Perhaps similar outcry is needed to spur the authorities to hold the white vigilantes who terrorized blacks in New Orleans during Katrina responsible.
(Color of Change has an appeal to the state to investigate ready and waiting for you to fill it out here. Thanks to reader Tawra for the tip. Photo credit: Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun for The Nation)
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Spinster wrote:
Here’s to hoping that action will be taken.
(Won’t hold my breath though. Lost faith in the American justice system years ago.)
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 8:57 am ¶
Rchoudh wrote:
It’s terrible to hear of this never being investigated about. So the police didn’t take these men’s accusations seriously? How awful considering the police are supposed to protect you. I still remember the dispicable media attempts to label different groups of people different ways, even though they all suffered the same catastrophe.
At least Hurricane Katrina will continue to haunt W even if he disregards all other mishaps under his administration (Iraq, Afghanistan, the financial crisis).
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 11:57 am ¶
Lisa J wrote:
I read about this last week and just finished reading the Nation article (I have a subscription but have really fallen behind on my reading). It is really upsetting how little regard black life is given, even when we have a black president coming in to office. There is no way that if a bunch of blacks did this to some whites, especially who were victims of a horrible flood that the crimes would go unpunished and unreported. When the hurricane happened I even remember a friend who is a black Republican being disgusted at the coverage and how when they showed white people taking things from stores they talked about poor victims getting the means for survival (no matter what they had) and then showing black people with life necessities, like diapers and food, they were looters! I mean, can black folks catch a break. We can only hope that maybe with an Obama justice department someone will look into these things and there is no statute of limitations on murder, which is exactly what these people did. No one was breaking into these peoples homes, people were seeking shelter from a storm and these yahoos used it as a an excuse to kill. They probably all consider themselves good Christians too despite all of the hate they obviously have in their hearts. Sickening.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 12:21 pm ¶
Monie wrote:
I heard about this on NPR’s New&Notes (which if you have not heard has been cancelled).
This type of thing that makes me know that anyone who says America is now in a post-racial era becasue of the election of Obama is an idiot.
The people responsible for this are not going to be brought to justice.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 1:07 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
typical
I signed the petitions, but Jindal won’t do anything so as not to alarm his base or remind them of his skin tone…
It is best to go for Federal intervention; however, as the CR division has been gutted I’m not optimistic.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 1:29 pm ¶
deb wrote:
I heard about this at Democracy Now.
The part about the unidentified black man whose body was left to rot was unnerving. It wasn’t known whether he had been a victim of the vigilantes, though.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 2:01 pm ¶
Jamerican Muslimah wrote:
Sorry to distract from the story but…NPR’s News & Notes is being cancelled?! NOOOOOO!
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 2:27 pm ¶
Misspelled wrote:
Snopes.com, the site that debunks urban legends, deals with a lot of soapboxy political chain emails telling stories of made-up outrages that people circulate to get their friends pissed off over their pet issue of the day. Needless to say, a lot of them are written from the right-wing race-baiting (or gay-baiting or Muslim-baiting or immigrant-baiting) point of view — “A UNIFORMED MARINE WENT INTO A GAS STATION AND THE PAKISTANI GUY BEHIND THE COUNTER WOULDN’T SERVE HIM AND CALLED HIM A MURDERER AND THE OTHER HEROIC WHITE CUSTOMERS ALL PUT THEIR STUFF BACK AND WALKED OUT BOYCOTT THIS STORE WE ARE FIGHTING A HOLY WAR HERE OMG POLITICAL CORRECTNESS OMG ACLU OMG,” and that sort of thing. There’s a whole category on Hurricane Katrina, with people who made up stories about how they went down to volunteer after the disaster with all the good intentions in the world, and Just Couldn’t Believe how dirty and lazy and dishonest and selfish and ungrateful those damn black people could be, and now they’ve seen them for what they really are and understand that We Must Stop Coddling These People. The fact of a natural disaster — a life-and-death situation that takes everyone down an evolutionary peg — puts the thought process that leads to people writing these things into overdrive: instead of, “Hey, what’s with this strange tendency among some people not to assume all Muslims are terrorists, and what can I do to remind my fellow Americans that they totally are?” it’s, “Ah, excellent, hundreds of black families are dying under horrible conditions. Now, how to prove that they deserve it?” So if all the direness of the situation does is turn the reactionary racism up a notch, it’s no surprise that the people who think this way and were physically close to the people they blame turned to violence. In its own way it fits into the pattern of the response of white Americans in general to Katrina — “these people are animals, I always suspected, here’s my proof, we must lose no time in getting the word out,” just with guns instead of email. If people want to cling to this idea badly enough to manufacture propaganda in support of it, then of course the ones with guns are going to kill someone over it. It’s probably exactly the scenario they had in mind when they bought guns in the first place.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 2:38 pm ¶
Ugly Deaf Muslim Punk Gurl! wrote:
well, well, well!!! Thank god I don’t live in the South anymore.
I hope those racist pigs will get their asses caught and thrown into jail!
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 2:41 pm ¶
Monie wrote:
Jamerican Muslimah,
I think the last show is in March. I can’t believe that’s the show they chose to cancel, there are plenty other shows on NPR I could think to cancel before N&N. But I think we all know why News&Notes was chosen.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 2:57 pm ¶
Asada wrote:
Well, This is nothing new.
There are these “vigilante” groups at the American/Mexican border that have no problem petrolling thier towns for “illigal aliens” . Trying to “protect”. This is ONGOING and gets plenty of attention from the xenophobic media. Ironic.
“Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney” sound like another three names in this financial fiasco. I guess I’m just too young….
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 5:01 pm ¶
Eccentric1 wrote:
Video footage of white vigilantes speaking about shooting blacks post Katrina as though it were a right of passage or a badge of honor. Not sure if the video is still up.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/20/the-nation-katrina/
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 5:15 pm ¶
Lxy wrote:
I also heard the stories about White vigilantes during Hurricane Katrina. So I wouldn’t be surprised in the least that that these incidents happened.
In fact, you could say the entire Huricance Katrina event was an example of American racial cleasning, as it provided an oh so convenient opportunity to displace minorities from the New Orleans area.
There was also a people’s tribunal on the American government’s response (or lack thereof) to Hurricane Katrina. The findings were fairly damning.
http://www.iacenter.org/archive-2007/new-orleans0907.html
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 6:30 pm ¶
Paz wrote:
I had heard about the “race war” but it seemed like sensational journalism, and I dismissed it. Upon seeing the post here, I went to The Nation’s site and read the article, and chills went up my spine. I cannot believe that one man compared it to hunting during pheasant season.
The author did a good job with the article, as he made it a point to consult witnesses of shootings or those involved.
Misspelled – thanks for the site mention. I’ll bookmark it.
At least with the publication of this article, it has generated public awareness and hopefully it will be a bigger push for justice.
The Minute Men in the Southern US border are horrible as well, but they’re just protecting the US from “the illegals.” BTW, I just saw a promo for a show on ABC called “Homeland Security USA” that features ICE and others “protecting America.” WTF. I hope that piece of propaganda gets canceled quickly.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 7:24 pm ¶
Rchoudh wrote:
I’ve been to a couple of conservative websites and they love to hate everyone including “liberal” whites, “terrorist” Muslims, “illegal” latinos, “job stealing” Asians (from Asia), and “welfare” blacks. They almost never find fault with themselves or try to look beyond these gross stereotypes. During times of crisis( recession, lost wars, natural disasters) they become even more paranoid of the “others” and the “traitors”.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 8:34 pm ¶
NancyP wrote:
Some people have a total lack of empathy as well as a total lack of common sense. If the water system is no longer safe and you don’t have large amounts of bottled water at home, along with a floating wheeled cart/raft for the long trek in hot weather (water weighs a lot, and you might be carrying a child as well as supplies), you try to get clean fluids along the way if possible. Duh! I was surprised how long it took to get people to understand this.
From the merchant’s point of view, that’s what insurance is for, and insurance will pay, or not pay, whether or not someone breaks in and gets food/water. Do the right thing by “forgetting” to lock the door to the food after you’ve emptied the cash register, hung a “Your mother doesn’t work here – please be tidy” sign on the obviously empty cash register, and a “Be a mensch – get just what you need for today, and leave some for the next person” sign on the stock. If you are still there, hand out the food/water/baby nappies to unsupplied passers-by, and wish them Godspeed.
Posted 05 Jan 2009 at 10:29 pm ¶
Rona wrote:
Thanks for posting this. This is an incredible story that needs to be told, especially in the age of Obama and post-racial-ness. I’m especially pleased that A.C. Thompson, who used to write for local progressive rag the SF Guardian, is covering this important story for the nation. He’s always had an eye for really digging in and getting to the truth of tough issues.
Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 3:00 am ¶
ripley wrote:
the media silence around this is deafening.
there are killings going on all around us that don’t get much press, too – the transit police in the Bay Area shot a young black man who they had cuffed & lying facedown. On New Year’s Eve. Shot him in the back of the head.
nobody does that unless they have gotten the message that it’s ok, that black people’s lives dont’ count.
someone caught it on video (it’s awful, don’t watch it if you are upset by the real brutal violence, but if you doubt the story watch it and wake up..)
http://www.ktvu.com/video/18410140/index.html
Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 3:29 am ¶
Mike wrote:
I dont see how the murder of unarmed men can be considered a Race “War”.
That implies that they had a fighting chance.
Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 4:49 am ¶
Free wrote:
At first, after watching the video, I sighed. Then I got angry. Then I wondered what can I do? This shit has gone on all my life and before that in mother’s family’s lives in Louisiana. The silver lining is that that generation of white folks will soon fade. The cloud is that their legacy will remain.
Posted 06 Jan 2009 at 1:06 pm ¶
keith wrote:
It makes me sick to see racist get away with shooting unarmed men.
As we can see those whites down south don”t put much value on african americans lives,I hope Obama does somthing about it. if not they will keep doing it. maybe we need to march…?
Posted 07 Jan 2009 at 6:31 pm ¶
Asada wrote:
here’s is something you may want to consider as well:
http://www.alternet.org/rights/116643/obama_alone_can%27t_halt_the_surge_in_black_murders_/
just reading the comments….again , what can be done!? Some are suggesting “liberal feminists” are encouraging Black women to forget men and raise babies alone ( thusd..in thier minds..causing the violence and horrid stats on black male lives).
Ugh….who knows. We are in “social programs” up to our eyeballs….the problem is lack of concern. HOw the heck do we turn a society around to care enough ?
Posted 07 Jan 2009 at 6:51 pm ¶
Ms. Danielle wrote:
You know , I heard about at lot of shootings down there, while it was happening and just after, a including story where folks had been taken into a field and shot at–by police. I am really intrigued that this info is getting out but not at all surprised that nothing’s been done.
Everything comes to light.
Posted 09 Jan 2009 at 9:45 pm ¶