The problems here are strictly local in nature. The powers that be in Louisiana and the city of New Orleans have a lot to answer for in their pathetic handling of this event. Here is where the problems lie.
President Bush, racism, the media, the Congressional Black Caucus and Jesse Jackson are nothing more than scenery, and they are all irrelevant to the actual point.
This "argument" has gone too far, and can only portend even more trouble later. Much more trouble. And all of this is highly unnecessary.
People (citizens and authorities) in NO became complacent by the numerous near misses over the course of their lifetime. Unfortunately, nature wasn't playing around this time.