Resolution on Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina was far from natural. Poor and working people were horribly affected by the racist and criminal neglect and failure to respond to this disaster and deliver emergency services to those who needed it most. In addition decades of disastrous socio-economic policies of social divestment and environmental degradation only opened the door for the tremendous damage and loss of life that was wrought by both hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. As money continues to poor into paying for the war and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the struggle for adequate funding to rebuild the Gulf Region underscores the need to fight for peace and a fundamental change in our national priorities.
Young people continue to be greatly affected by this catastrophe. The everyday struggles that working class youth face are intensified by lack of proper housing and lack of access to employment and education. Public schools remain closed, while private charter schools are opened to replace them. Youth have been subject to outrageous over-policing and arbitrary incarceration, both during the storm and in the aftermath. After enduring upheaval and trauma for nearly a year now, youth find it difficult to find mental and emotional support and other help they need.
Working class youth and youth of color in New Orleans and the entire Gulf Region are under unprecedented attack. Top-down, unjust and racist “ethnic cleansing” rebuilding policies are displacing African Americans, in a city and region that are a historic and cultural center for African American life in our nation.
New Orleans and area residents are fighting back, forging new coalitions and movements for social justice. The YCL is committed to combine our struggles for peace, social justice and workers’ rights with demanding justice for residents of the Gulf Region.
Young people from all over the country must join the battle to preserve and strengthen New Orleans and the Gulf Region as a vibrant center of activism and people’s culture, and a historic progressive voting bloc. Only a unified struggle has a chance of success.
The YCL joins the people of the Gulf Region in demanding a rebuilding process that puts people first. We oppose the rebuilding of affected areas that excludes displaced residents, mainly people of color, and the eviction of residents not present to defend themselves. We oppose granting backdoor contracts without input from residents and displaced people. Displaced residents must have the right, and access, to vote.
We demand that the government provide funds for all families to be reunited and return to their homes. Public schools must be rebuilt, upgraded and reopened, with proper funding at all levels. Special federally funded programs should aid students whose studies have been disrupted. We demand public works jobs at union wages for the displaced workers and residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We demand that the government rebuild the levies to the safest standards, to prevent another tragedy.
The YCL believes that real relief work has to be done in coordination with and under the leadership of the people of the Gulf. It must combine aid with grassroots political and electoral struggle at the local and national level.
YCL members should aim to be the glue of a movement for peace, social justice and workers’ rights. We salute YCL clubs and youth organizations that have volunteered and continue to organize work brigades to assist in the rebuilding of the Gulf Region — there is still much work to be done. This November we call on YCLers, friends and allies to join in the fight to defeat the ultra-right in Congress and work towards a real Gulf Coast reconstruction plan.
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