Police used chemical spray and stun guns as dozens of protesters tried to force their way into the packed City Council chamber. One woman was sprayed and dragged from the gates. Emergency workers took her away on a stretcher.
Destroying Housing in New Orleans Tuesday, December 25, 2007; Page A24
The Dec. 20 editorial "A Better Life in New Orleans," on the decrepit state of public housing in the city, made several correct points about why public housing there needs improvement but drew the wrong conclusion.
As the editorial noted, continuing a failed approach to public housing would be "the definition of insanity." The inhuman conditions found in New Orleans's public housing were created by a long policy of calculated indifference to residents' right to live in conditions respectful of their inherent dignity as human beings.
Decades of federal and state underfunding of maintenance led to scarcities that we, as the richest country in the world, should be ashamed of.
But destroying public housing without one-for-one replacement of affordable units, without the democratic input of residents, and, most crucial, without proper heed being paid to the human right to enjoy adequate living conditions would be a step away from the values of equality and dignity that we as Americans proclaim and a step back toward the inequality that Hurricane Katrina so clearly revealed.
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