Month: March 2024

Written by Saanvi Bapat 2025 will mark the 20th anniversary of a huge tragedy, Hurricane Katrina. In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, causing widespread death, injury, and damage. But this tragedy also came with a huge racial component added.  About one-half of those who were displaced came from New Orleans. New Orleans’ social and economic composition left the storm heavily impacting the poor and African American communities. In fact, 51% of those who died were Black, and the mortality rate among Black people was 1.7 to 4 times higher than that among white people for those 18 and older.  In addition to this, initial reactions to the government’s response to the tragedy showed the divide between those of different racial backgrounds. Two-thirds of Af...

Written by Saanvi Bapat Climate change is a problem that affects every single person all over the world. But in fact, those who are most affected are already suffering from socioeconomic inequalities. BIPOC communities, or those that are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, even though they have contributed very little to it.  There is a large intersection between racial wealth inequality and the impact of climate change. The racial wealth gap highly prevalent in our world today stems from the lack of financial access for those of color due to systemic and structural racism, and as a result, these people have fewer resources to face climate change.  Climate change means higher temperatures, leading to many for...