he New Orleans city council is expecting to approve a move that would demolish 4,500 homes. Protesters have went into the city and attempted to force their way into the city council meeting. These units were damaged in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina had hit New Orleans.
The protesters have stated that destroying these houses will drive poor blacks from the city. Approval of the city council is required so that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development can continue with its plans of demolition of these public houses. They plan to replace these homes with mixed-income housing.
Before the meeting, tensions have already been high. Even as the session started, scuffles broke out in council chambers.
The plan is criticized as the critics say that this will restrict the stock of cheap housing at a time when New Orleans is still struggling to recover and rebuild from Hurricane Katrina.
“It is beyond callous, and can only be seen as malicious discrimination,” said to Kali Akuno of the group, Coalition to Stop the Demolition.
Akuno adds: “It is an unabashed attempt to eliminate the black population of New Orleans.”
At the same time, supporters of the plan say it allows the developers to take advantage of the tax breaks and build new neighborhoods with a lot of low-income housing.
There are thousands of families in the southern states hit by Katrina. Most are still living in government-funded temporary housing.