New Orleans is like every other city in the United States....except its not

New Orleans is arguably the most unique city in the United States mostly because of its history. Historically they are unique people because of all the races that have inhabited the area. From the Europeans (French and Spanish), to the African Americans brought over during slavery, to the Caribbeans that come from the South. Over the years these races as well as their individual cultures have all melted together and created the culture in New Orleans.
I personally had no idea how rich New Orleans' history was. The movie we watched really gave me some insight into what has happened in the city of New Orleans over the years. They had the first free blacks, they had to buy their freedom but at least they had the option. The rest of the world had not even considered such a thought. The freed blacks ended up living pretty good lives and were free to have any job that they were able to perform. They created the first black newspaper The Tribune (L'Union.). Once the paper was in circulation they were able to spread the word of equality and basically started the Civil Rights movement. Few people outside of New Orleans know that fact. This led to the first desegregated school in New Orleans. As you can see historically New Orleans is very rich thus making it very unique.
Geographically New Orleans is unique because a lot of it is below sea level. The highest points are the banks of the river. Then they have a bay and the ocean basically surrounding them. Normally this would be a prime area for a city because you can have a port for sea travel and a river to transport goods throughout the whole country. Geography has also been a reason why New Orleans has a history of lower levels of racial violence. "Professor John Adams of the University of Minnesota has observed that two conditions commonly presage racial violence: the expectation of a better life that is routinely frustrated, and ghettos so big that blacks see only blacks, where resentment feeds incessantly upon itself." New Orleans didn't satisfy either because their ghettos "remained small and fragmented."
In the "Great Deluge" Douglas Brinkley talks about Katrina and some signs that led up to a disaster. "After [Hurricane] Betsy [in 1965] these levees were designed for a Category 3," Sheriff Jeff Hingle of Plaquemines Parish. He said that when Katrina was on its way. He knew the levees weren't going to be able to hold the water. He was urging people to evacuate.
It's sad what Katrina did to New Orleans but from what I have learned about the culture and people I don't expect anything less than a full recovery, but it is going to take some time.