Katrina's Window: Localism, Resegregation, and Equitable Regionalism

Troutt examines Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans as a lens for understanding American patterns of residential segregation, legal localism, and metropolitan inequality. The article analyzes how legal localism and municipal autonomy perpetuate segregation and regional inequality, particularly through land-use controls and zoning decisions. Troutt argues that New Orleans reflects broader American struggles between urban potential and racial identity, with historical legacies of racial and class complexity shaping post-Katrina recovery. The author explores how legal localism operates as a legal expression of the American Dream, enabling white suburban communities to maintain exclusionary practices through constitutional authority. Troutt examines mechanisms of resegregation following disaster, including restrictive housing policies and economic development patterns favoring suburban sprawl. The piece advocates for equitable regionalism approaches that address persistent segregation and inequality through recognition of metropolitan interdependence and shared responsibility for addressing historical injustices.

Topics: Civil Rights · Federalism

Keywords: Hurricane Katrina · residential segregation · legal localism · regionalism · urban policy