Source: Guardian Unlimited

As 8/29 approaches, so does Gustav. How could one help but have a gnawing sense of deja vu? Whatever happens in the next few days, let's learn from the disaster of 2005 and the insidious rebuilding that has left out exactly what makes New Orleans special:

In the three years since, race and class stereotypes have paved the way for New Orleans' so-called "revitalisation". "We don't need soap opera-watchers right now", claimed the city council president, Oliver Thomas – perpetuating the view that New Orleans' high unemployment rate can be tracked to individual laziness as opposed to the systemic discrimination affecting most of America's inner cities. At the same time, those same forces that demonise poor and particularly black families – for their apparent "dysfunction" – are actively preventing the regrouping of some of the most close-knit black communities in the US.

It's those close-knit African American communities that the city misses more than ever now. While we tune into Obama's speech tonight, it would do us good to remember the other end of the spectrum -- the poor black families from New Orleans who haven't been allowed to return.