How Hurricane Katrina and an off-script remark by Kanye West changed culture

Editor’s note:He watches “Television on the Edge: The Moments That Shaped Our CultureTonight at 9pm ET on CNN.

CNN
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As the United States works to recover from the most recent major hurricanes, cultural conversations and discussions about disaster relief efforts began in some ways more than two decades ago, during a national television campaign and a moment with Kanye West.

“I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it means they’re looting. If you see a white family, it means they’re foraging,” West said, going off-script, in September 2005 during “ “Hurricane Relief Concert” on NBC. telethon After Hurricane Katrina.

“George Bush doesn’t like black people,” West said afterward.

The provocative statements reflected the frustration of many who felt that the state and federal response to the impact of Hurricane Katrina — the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland United States in the past 50 years — was inadequate and grossly unfair, particularly to people of color or those living in rural areas. Economically disadvantaged. regions.

Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, causing severe flooding damage in cities from New Orleans to Biloxi. New Orleans faced catastrophic flooding, leaving much of the city under water after levees and flood walls failed. Thousands of people lost their lives, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the total damage from Hurricane Katrina cost more than $125 billion.

More than 25,000 storm evacuees who took refuge in the Louisiana Superdome faced unsafe conditions due to wind and water damage. The sheer scale of the disaster led to essential supplies being cut off before authorities eventually evacuated the scene.

Then-President George W. Bush faced backlash at the time after publishing a photo of himself observing the devastation from the windows of Air Force One, and because of the government’s delayed response in providing aid to these areas.

“It makes you question whether or not you live in a government that is working on your behalf,” said Van Lathan, co-host of the show. “Higher Education” podcasts.Tee told CNN. “It made you question whether or not you were an American.”

West’s comments were met with mixed reviews.

Years after Bush left the White House, he questioned West’s comments in a newspaper interview nbc.

“That was not true, and this was one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency,” Bush said in 2010.

In a new episode of “TV On the Edge: Moments That Shaped Our Culture,” CNN contributor Van Jones described the TV moment as part of the foundation for what would become the Black Lives Matter movement.

“It was a cathartic moment to have this new generation coming onto the scene and they were going to name it,” Jones said.

Comedian and actor Mike Myers, who appeared with West at the televised concert, was unaware of the artist’s previously planned comments. Myers He said In a 2014 interview, he said he was “very proud” to be standing by West’s side at that moment.

“Someone spoke truth to power at a time when someone needed to speak up.”

Of course, this was decades before West stirred up other political controversies, and before subsequent comments from him more recently were widely criticized as anti-Semitic and anti-Black.

“This moment shouldn’t be about Kanye West and President Bush,” CNN entertainment correspondent Lisa Respers France said on Sunday’s episode. “This moment should be about how much Hurricane Katrina hurt a community of people in New Orleans, the lives that were lost and the people who lost their livelihoods.”