Vol. 72/No. 2      January 14, 2008

AP

Homeless workers in New Orleans remove their belongings December 21 after local government gave notice of eviction from tent city they set up in front of City Hall.

The attacks are the latest examples of the social disaster—caused by capitalist greed and indifference—that has unfolded in the Gulf region for more than two and a half years since Hurricane Katrina.

At the end of November, New Orleans city officials, along with the Housing Authority of New Orleans and the federal Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD), decided to implement their plan to demolish the city’s four largest public housing developments, further reducing the housing available to working people. The 4,605 low-income public housing apartments were slated for demolition and were to be replaced by 744 low-income public housing apartments—barely 16 percent of the previous number.

Nearly two-thirds of the city’s rental housing stock was destroyed or badly damaged in the 2005 hurricane. In addition to the demolition of public housing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has now announced that it will be closing its trailer parks in the region, evicting nearly 3,000 families. The federal agency also said it will end financial assistance for nearly 3,700 more families who live in private trailer camps.

These moves led to the December demonstrations against the destruction of housing units. A December 20 protest during a city council meeting was attacked by cops using chemical spray and stun guns. After the police assault, the city council voted unanimously to go ahead with the demolition.

The federal and state housing agencies want to demolish the buildings so wealthy developers can take advantage of tax credits and build new “mixed-income”—less working-class, less Black, and more middle-class—neighborhoods that can generate greater profits for real estate capitalists.

Some critics note that at a time when affordable housing is scarce, the plan will cut back the stock of lower-cost housing and drive many Black and other working people out of the city. They also point out that the buildings are brick structures that would outlast anything HUD builds in their place.

“Some city council members said we were the cause of crime and poverty,” said Sam Jackson, a 28-year resident of B.W. Cooper public housing. “But that’s far from the truth.” Jackson attended the city council hearing and the protests. “All the problems we face from the government’s failure to maintain the buildings are the result of either not enough funds or those funds being stolen,” he said in a phone interview.

On December 21 the city gave notice of plans to remove all remaining people from a tent city of homeless workers on the steps of City Hall.

The city’s homeless population has nearly doubled since Katrina and now stands at 12,000 people, according to the local housing coalition UNITY. The problem is worsened by a post-Katrina reduction in mental health and drug abuse services. In addition, the number of shelter beds in the New Orleans area has sharply dropped. Meanwhile, average rent for a tiny “efficiency” apartment has jumped from $463 to $764 a month.

In Houston, the more than 100,000 relocated New Orleans residents also face an acute housing crisis. Most of the relocated workers were previously kept afloat by federal rental assistance. Now some of these families are losing their benefits and are ending up on the streets. A number are forced to go from one cheap motel to another or to double up in other people’s homes. Those lucky to have transportation are living in their cars.

“We have gone from pillar to post,” Brenda Hickman told the Houston Chronicle. “I can’t see myself living on the streets.” Hickman, 59, was disqualified from rental assistance after she broke up with her husband. He had been designated as head of the household and thus sole recipient for FEMA rental assistance.

In the last month, the transfer of the FEMA rental assistance program to HUD has displaced hundreds more. Many Houston landlords who previously accepted FEMA funds are opting out of the HUD program that requires tenants to start contributing to their rent payments March 1.

So far, 48 landlords representing 68 properties have dropped out of the HUD program, Spurgeon Robinson, director of Harris County’s Disaster Housing Assistance Program, told the press. Hundreds of working-class families with no money must now come up with security deposits to move once again.

Farhad Karim in New Orleans contributed to this article.  
 
 
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