Is there Racial Inequality in Disasters?

From the Washington Post: “Nearly three in four whites doubted the federal government would have responded more quickly to those trapped in New Orleans if they had been wealthier and white rather than poorer and black, the poll found. But an equal share of blacks disagreed, saying help would have come sooner if the victims had been more affluent whites.”

I have to say, while race may not be the root problem, poverty certainly is. The real fact is that rich white people live in New Orleans, too, but they’re not the ones who got trapped. So does every city have an evacuation plan that accounts for the poor? There’s no chance. Who is clamboring for one in your city? No one.

What do you think?