Organization:  Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center Date Published:  12/01/2005

The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC), along with the African American Forum on Race and Regionalism, the Center for Social Inclusion (CS1), the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and the Structural Racism Caucus are hosting a public forum on the role of race in rebuilding New Orleans and other affected areas in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The forum, free and open to the public, will bring together local and national civil and human rights advocates, and local leaders to share ideas on strategies to rebuild, that give people of color real choices about where to live and that provide real opportunities for healthy lives. The event will be held on Monday, December 5, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. at the GNOFHAC offices, 7868 Anselmo Lane in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Maya Wiley, executive director of CSI, comments, "Hurricane Katrina has made visible to the world the racial inequities afflicting New Orleans, Louisiana and America. Policies created these inequities and policies can end them. America has an incredible opportunity to change the face of tragedy into triumph for everyone. This forum is one step in the direction towards getting both the inequities and resulting policies on the table."
James Perry, GNOFHAC executive director comments, "We must be sure that national and local leaders working in the rebuilding process, are working not only on bricks and mortar projects, but plans and policies capable of correcting historical racial inequities. Hopefully, this forum will help to refocus leaders and cause them to keep race and poverty on the forefront as we rebuild."