"George Bush doesn't care about blacks." these are the words that Kanye West spoke during a fundraising concert for Hurricane Katrina. Not only did the sentiment expressed in those words resonate with many Americans watching the concert that day, but observing the post-Hurricane Katrina aftermath some would go a step further and argue that the U.S. government doesn't care about blacks . Although there have been several events in the history of this country that would lead to the same conclusion, it was the disproportionate suffering and devastation experienced by African Americans in New Orleans not only during Hurricane Katrina but long after the storm had passed that leads many to conclude that the United States does not care about its African American citizens. Long before the storm hit New Orleans there was already division in the city. The city appeared to be racially divided, with affluent whites living in the city's nicer neighborhoods, which unsurprisingly were located at higher elevations. While less affluent African Americans tended to reside in lower elevation neighborhoods. According to a report titled Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Return Migration to New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina, segregation in the city had been historically low compared to the rest of the country, however “in 2000, the standard index of black-white segregation showed New Orleans reached, and even went somewhat above, the national average” (Fussell, Elizabeth) When the storm hit in 2005, the effect of this seemingly unobserved difference was amplified as it became evident that the difference in altitudes would lead to conditions extremely different outcomes for residents of different neighborhoods. Acco...... half of the document ......r Katrina's Deadly Effects." Discover the Networks. February 15, 2005. November 27, 2013 .Dreier, Peter. "Katrina: A Political Disaster." Shelterforce Online (2006 ) Spring 2006. National Housing Institute. November 27, 2013. Fussell, Elizabeth, Narayan Sastry, and Mark VanLandingham “Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Return Migration to New Orleans): 20-42 2010. US National Library of Medicine, November 27, 2013. Goodman, Amy, and Juan Gonzalez 2005. Nov 27. 2013 .