"Got orders from headquarters. They makin' coffins fuh all de white folks. 'Tain't nothin' but cheap pine, but dat's better'n nothin'. Don't dump no white folks in de hole jus' so." "Whut tuh do 'bout de colored folks? Got boxes fuh dem too?" "Nope. They cain't find enough of 'em tuh go 'round. Jus' sprinkle plenty quick-lime over 'em and cover 'em up." (Hurston 171). This is an example from Hurston's Novel that portrays just how unfair the lower class is treated in the event of a disaster not only by nature, which destroys their homes and belongings, but also by the government by not being offered the same help as the upper class when recovering, even though they need it the most. The effects of a natural disaster are much harsher on the lower class because they do not have the advantages or access to resources that the upper classt. The poor have more difficulty recovering because they usually have less money saved up for an emergency like a natural diaster, cannot afford to buy food, and more susceptible to disease because of living conditions. According to ALICE FOTHERGILL and LORI A. PEEK's 2004 Poverty and Disasters in the United States: A Review of Recent Sociological Findings, "Poor people around the world suffer the greatest disaster losses and have the most limited access to public and private recovery assets, both in developing societies as well as wealthy industrialized nations like the United States,"
The comics below show in a lighthearted way, the serious issue of the lower class being mistreated and not cared about in the event of natural disasters.
The comics below show in a lighthearted way, the serious issue of the lower class being mistreated and not cared about in the event of natural disasters.