Protecting Diversity and Civil Rights in Emergency Response Allen Nickerson Kaplan University Protecting Diversity and Civil Rights in Emergency Response Upon looking back at the history of this great nation we have come to know and love living in known as the United States of America, there have been numerous battles for something citizens felt violated about. We think about the Civil War and numerous battles before and after this great war that have been fought in order to obtain the highest level of freedom, ownership, and status in this nation. Even more important, there has to be an account for all the lives that were lost and sacrificed to obtain something that is deemed to be as valuable as life itself. This would be equal rights …show more content…
However there was additional devastation and neglect to be found in the rescue of the citizens of New Orleans. The Un Human Rights Committee issued a report in 2006 that showed how our Government failed to make sure plans were in place to ensure that the black citizens of New Orleans were included in a plan to make sure they had adequate housing and healthcare available after the disaster. Not only were blacks affected, but people in the handicap group were also. New Orleans and the surrounding areas in the gulf coast region had plenty of warning, but yet there were numerous lives lost and more devastation with the people themselves than the property that could not have been saved. This toll does not include the losses suffered by those who are handicapped and depend on aids, such as service dogs, wheelchairs and the likes they need for everyday survival. These were losses they had to endure and yet no one knew where they were or even did enough to make sure that they were taken care of and placed in a safe place during and after the storm. This is a violation of civil rights and can be looked at as discrimination. Yes there were many people that got out of the city, and yet there were over 10,000 people housed in the New Orleans superdome. Plus there were others that were still stuck in their homes during the storm. This is a violation because there was not a clear cut …show more content…
One law that should be mentioned is the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Another big issue that is believed to have brought out the failures of emergency response would be that the government did not use the resources available for emergency response. In addition to this government actually took over the response, which limited their rescue efforts. This too eliminated much needed help for the disaster and hazard response needed from hurricane Katrina. The government was walking into situation that in essence, they had no knowledge or expertise about. Yes reports mentioned that the US Army did know that the levy system was not able to handle the storm surges experience from this storm. The government appeared to know that something of this magnitude was going to happen, yet they did nothing about it. They didn’t exercise the use of diversity by making sure the local and state authorities had a clear plan in place to help face the hazards from the potential of a storm like this. They didn’t use the knowledge the locals knew and could have put in to use in response with the knowledge the government already had about the structures in New Orleans