Awake

Naomi Klein on Reconstruction

One of the most critical issues to face the United States in its history as a nation has been thrusted into the spotlight by Hurricane Katrina: The Reconstruction of the South.

The U.S. has never finished the task of reconstructing the South after the Civil War (1861-1865), indeed the task has been set aside and neglected for well over a century, and now the question is once again posed by countless editorial writers, displaced residents, journalists, advocates, and citizens from many different walks of life: how will we rebuild the South?

Naomi Klein, a journalist and most notably the author of No Logo, offers up her opinion on how New Orleans in particular should be rebuilt: at the direction and oversight of the evacuees.

Link: Let the People Rebuild New Orleans (The Nation, posted September 8, 2005)