Let’s talk about being Black or brown during Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey has wrecked a lot of folks, but like Hurricane Katrina, those who are Black, brown, undocumented, poor, trans, disabled, and/or queer are heavily impacted.
Visual artist Shing Yin Khor — the artist responsible for the beloved Resistance Auntie — raised $1,000 to help those affected by Harvey through her art. Similarly, Asiey Barbie raised $730 with her livestream for Harvey. Khor and Barbie inspired me to see how I could use my skills to raise money for those affected by Hurricane Harvey, so I decided to write and edit in exchange for donations. This piece is sponsored by Sarah Sekaran, who donated to the Houston Food Bank.
We’ve seen this before.
Hurricane Harvey is destroying Houston, and as Aura Bogado pointed out on Twitter, there is a dearth of Black, Native, non-white Latinx, and/or any non-white perspectives on what is going on there. That does not even include disabled folks — who may share one or more of these identities — for whom evacuation is not as accessible for a number of reasons.
It is unsurprising, however, because there is always a serious lack of our voices when it comes to things affecting our communities. Adding to the ways we are locked out, many people of color do not have the privileges I do to sit and write about it. While I was in California during Katrina and currently still reside here, these folks are actually out there living it without receiving adequate financial or emotional support. Many of the folks affected by Harvey were also originally affected by Katrina before relocating, unfortunately.
We have seen this pattern with Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, or Ike, but the knowledge about something that’s going to happen with no visible intent to stop it is a particularly disturbing trend we are witnessing. It is terrifying when we have the technology and the foresight to predict something, but the Powers-That-Be still do not rectify it. While the death toll due to Harvey is much lower than the Katrina’s toll, the fact remains that way too many people are facing serious life changes as we wait out the storm.
Yet, like the situation in Flint, Harvey is not unique. Many American cities and Native American reservations have faced a lack of clean water for years before Flint made headlines. Flint still does not have clean water, nor do do many homes in Indian Country. Thinking globally, a third of Bangladesh is currently underwater due to flooding and over a thousand people have died between Bangladesh, Nepal, and India.
How did we get here?
In 2016 The Atlantic’s 2016 wrote a comprehensive piece of the dynamics of a forthcoming storm and what that means for our economy entitled “Houston’s Perfect Storm.” It should be noted that the argument for preparing for these events is always rooted in economics, not in the value of human life. Even with the impending end of DACA, we see headlines like “As Houston rebuilds, it will need Dreamers,” as if the only use for immigrants is labor. Regardless of this focus on money, The Atlantic’s reporting presents clear foreshadowing for what we see happening today:
“Still, scientists say, Houston’s perfect storm is coming — and it’s not a matter of if but when. The city has dodged it for decades, but the likelihood it will happen in any given year is nothing to scoff at;”
Continuing, they write that:
“Many hoped Ike’s near miss would spur action to protect the region … After decades of inaction, they hoped that a plan to build a storm surge protection system could finally move forward.”
What’s troubling is that residents of the United States live under an administration that does not believe in basic climate change science. And if the turbulent times under President Bush’s taught us anything about federal agencies, it’s that they fail in protecting and serving our most vulnerable populations. So these comments from Houston’s public safety and homeland security director, Dennis Storemski are even more outlandish when referring to a crew of government officials dead set on doing the bare minimum:
“Only a small portion of the city of Houston is at risk for major storm surge … [the city] looks forward to working with the responsible federal agencies when a solution is identified and funded.”
So while many have used the words “Hurricane Harvey” and “natural disaster” in the same sentence, we must interrogate how and why we do not start to recognize that it is manmade. Negligent policies, environmental racism, redlining, gentrification, and unfair immigration policies push people into geologically risky living arrangements, yet we then blame these same communities for tragedies that befall them. And if we’re being really honest, the decision to elect 45 in the first place is rooted in white supremacy that hurts all of us — including white people without the economic means — but poor people of color first and foremost.
What does this hurricane mean for communities of color?
Looting, for example, has become a priority for law enforcement in Houston. So much so that Houston residents are now told by the Harris County Sheriff that “[m]y jail is open and you will be arrested & charged.” We talk about the ethics of stealing from a personal residence of a similarly displaced person, but that is not what I plan to cover now. I’m thinking about “looting” from federally and locally insured businesses. As The Guardian reported in 2015, “two unarmed civilians were shot dead by local police” due to what they considered looting.
What we must remember when our self-righteous judgement creeps up is that many people have lost everything, from their personal memorabilia to the diapers that their children need. Not wants, but needs. We also know that poor communities of color are often under resourced and neglected in educational outreach efforts, making surviving even more difficult. Do not forget that during Katrina, white people would “find,” and Black people “loot.” We are dealing with constant media portrayals of Black and brown folk who are recovering their own belongings being mislabeled as crooks, thugs, and looters.
We need to take Italy’s lead and declare that “stealing” things like food in the case of need is logical, legal, and not worth throwing someone in jail. As In Defense of Looting reminds us, “[f]or most of America’s history, one of the most righteous anti-white supremacist tactics available was looting.” Poverty is racialized in the United States of America, and the longer we continue to punish people for being poor, the worse the issue is going to get. This idea may not sit right with people, but one thing I thought we could all agree on was free lunch as the standard for public school students.
What can we do?
On Wednesday The Houston Independent School District recognized the tragedy and offered three free meals a day during the 2017–18 school year. It is concerning that “HISD is still asking parents and guardians to complete and return the application,” which creates hurdles for parents, but luckily the option exists. But after I wrote a tweet about the good news, advocating that this should be standard practice, I learned how many people would rather have a child miss a meal than cover it through public tax dollars. Remember that “13.1 million children lived in food-insecure households” in 2015. But instead of focusing on the individualism that festers within so many Americans, I want to focus on something else.
The only beautiful thing to witness during this disaster is how it forces people to be inventive in how they help. We cannot change the fact that it happened, but we can shift how we respond to it and how we grow from these events. No amount of prayer by itself will provide for the people in need, so we must do everything we can within our abilities.
If you choose to donate, do not give to the Red Cross and consider supporting one of these three instead:
- #SupportBlackWomenHOU — Provides direct giving to displaced Black women
- National Black United Front-Houston — Provides an organization focused on Black liberation the means to help.
- Houston Food Bank — Provides the food bank money to restock.
If you learned something or if this essay moved you, do me a favor and make it clap as many times as you’d like (it’s a way of showing that you liked the work). Thank you. And for more on the connection between Black, Native, and brown struggles, read here:
