When Disasters Discriminate

© Sophia Paris/United Nations

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Browsing the New York Times the other day, I came across this article, "Quake Ignores Class Divisions of a Poor Land." In it, Marc Lacey and Simon Romero make this basic argument:

_{"Earthquakes do not respect social customs. They do not coddle the rich. They know nothing about the invisible lines that in Haiti keep the poor masses packed together in crowded slums and the well-to-do high up in the breezy hills of places like Petionville."}

I beg to differ. Here is the thing...when a disaster strikes, Lacey and Romero have a point. It can hit anywhere, at anytime, and affect anybody. But that's where a disaster's inability to discriminate ends. In the press coverage immediately following the earthquake in Haiti, many news and relief organizations pointed out that the reason Haiti is such a large-scale disaster is because of the lack of infrastructure that exists in the country in the first place, and fundamentally, that's true. What this argument fails to mention is that existing structural inequalities, on top of poor infrastructure, magnifies the impact of the disaster on certain people. People's ability to rebuild after an earthquake, or a tsunami, or a cyclone — it's only as strong as their place in society beforehand.

Lacey and Romero continue:

_{President Rene Preval was the most vivid example of just how democratic natural disasters can be, his grand office at the presidential palace flattened and his home badly damaged.}

That is absolutely true. There is no doubt that everyone in Port-au-Prince is facing the impacts of heavy devastation. But, while he is an extreme example, the president of Haiti is also a perfect example of the discriminatory nature of disasters. Rene Preval can rebuild. He can access relief, he can access food and fresh water, and he can use the connections and finances he had before the disaster to rebuild his life after it.

This was true in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when wealthy homeowners found that the complexities of the insurance policies they held were almost insurmountable. But with time, patience, and a lot of lawyers and money, they could get their insurance claims fulfilled. Those with little before Katrina were completely left behind, their houses abandoned because they didn't have the means to take on the structural power barriers that marginalized them before the storm.

The truth is, disasters do discriminate. Disenfranchised members of society become more so, struggling to survive, let alone rebuild livelihoods. Inequalities that existed are merely magnified, forcing some people onto the edges of society. UUSC works to lessen those deep divides — work that is more complex than traditional relief efforts — but, fundamentally important in the effort to foster long-term change.

Assuming that disasters affect everyone in the same way is dangerous. It undermines relief efforts and deepens longstanding inequalities. So when an earthquake, or tsunami, or flood, strikes, existing divisions aren't "ignored"; they are magnified. Remembering this fact is the key to rebuilding.