Hurricane Sandy Uncovers Persisting Racial Divides in the Heart of New York

The sensation of being in a zoo overwhelms many of the Hurricane Sandy victims who stand in line at relief centers having their picture snapped by flashing iPhones. A sense of distrust between those receiving the donated goods and those donating arose in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, Sarah Maslin Nir in the recent New York Times article “Helping Hands Also Expose a New York Divide” reports. As the “haves” – those with heat and power, and mostly from the wealthier parts of town venture in to those areas hit hardest by the storm, it’s with a sense of guilt. Many of the parts of New York hit hardest by the storm were parts that already struggled with poverty.  While, as Lucas Kavner in the Huffington Post’s “For Public Housing Residents After Sandy, ‘A Slow-Motion Katrina’ comments, that most of the residents of the $1 million-plus townhouses in the wealthier neighborhoods of New York never lost basic necessities. Many of those helped by volunteers at relief centers feel condescended to by the volunteers, accentuating the dividing lines in a city long fractured by race, class and culture. 

While the efforts of many volunteers are made in good faith, Nir observes that relief efforts are makeshift, thus many volunteers have applied their own rules, enforcing a limit on blankets and food for example, and in some cases applying their own values to those they are helping. Such applications have brought much bitterness to those in areas such as the Rockaway projects. To stand in line for such basic necessities like toiletries is already degrading, but for volunteers like Bethany Yarrow, who after observing the number of poor mothers who do not breastfeed, began talk to about bringing in a lactation consultant, it becomes too much. A woman in line at a relief center in the Arverne projects tells Nir, “To be honest, I pray to God I never see these people again. The only reason these people would be out here again for us is if something like this happens again, or worse.” For Nicole Rivera among others, the face of those giving was mostly white, middle and upper class. The racial divide between those giving and those receiving is hard for many to ignore, sparking animosity and bitterness among those affected most by Sandy. As Rivera states, “The only time you recognize us is when there’s some disaster. Since this happened, it’s: ‘Let’s help the black people. Let’s run to their rescue.’” 

The persisting divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is easily observed today. The divides between class and race spur a growing animosity in times when pity and guilt fuel old grudges. Such polarization between race and class makes one wonder what the republican candidate of 2016 will need to do in order to steal some of what many times is the democrats expected constituency.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/nyregion/after-hurricane-sandy-helping-hands-also-expose-a-new-york-divide.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&hp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/public-housing-sandy-katrina_n_2103916.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

 

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