Katrina's Southern “Exposure,” the Kanye Race Debate, and the Repercussions of Discussion: Souls: Vol 9 , No 1

Abstract

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many scholars and media professionals optimistically claimed that the hurricane “exposed” the racial inequality in our midst, implying that such exposure would increase understanding of structural and historical inequalities, change Americans' (especially whites') racial attitudes, and increase public support for redistributive policies aimed at eliminating racial inequality. However, surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center and political scientists at the University of Chicago in the months following the Katrina disaster indicate otherwise. To date, the reasons this “exposure hypothesis” fell flat have remained unexplored. This project aims to build a bridge between studies of public opinion and public discourse in order to answer the following: How did Americans publicly communicate about race in Katrina's aftermath? More broadly, how does contemporary race discourse influence continuing racial inequality in the U.S.? Through a content analysis of letters to the editor about Hurricane Katrina that were printed in America's largest national newspaper, USA Today, I assess the ways in which ordinary citizens discussed the role that race may or may not have played in the disaster. My results confirm those of survey researchers and suggest that Americans' discussions of race in Katrina's aftermath helped to keep racial inequality hidden from public view. Finally, I explore the possible ways in which racial dialogues could be structured in the future in order to expand Americans' thinking about race and thereby their support for race-based redistributive policies.

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For their helpful advice at various stages of this work, I thank Kim Babon and Martha Van Haitsma. I am also grateful for the intellectual stimulation of Elisabeth S. Clemens, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, and Michael C. Dawson. Finally, for his limitless generosity, encouragement, and direction, I am especially indebted to my advisor, Dorian T. Warren.

Notes

Source: Circulation figures represent the largest number of copies sold in a day as reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations during the six-month period between April 1, 2005 and September 30, 2005. Readership figures represent the number of readers on an average weekday. Readership and income figures are from the Newspaper Association of America's 2006 Newspaper Audience Database Report, which reported Scarborough Research data from telephone interviews conducted between February 2004 and March 2005.

DeParle Citation2005; Frymer, Strolovitch, and Warren Citation2005; Gilman Citation2005; Jackson Citation2005; Stevenson Citation2005; Weisman Citation2005.