Michael Eric Dyson on Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster

We turn now to the issue of race and the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. President Bush is expected to pay a visit to the Gulf Coast this week. Back in Washington, meanwhile, congressional hearings on the government response to the disaster continue. The Senate appropriations committee spends two days inspecting Bush's latest spending request for hurricane recovery. On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs examines "Hurricane Katrina: Recommendations for Reform."

This comes following last week's release of confidential video footage of President Bush's final briefing before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. It shows the President was given dire warnings the storm could breach levees and threaten the lives of residents of New Orleans. Yet days later, President Bush said the breach of the levees hadn't been anticipated.

The release of the video came as Bush's approval rating is at an all time low. A new CBS News poll has found the number of Americans who approve of President Bush's overall job performance is just 34 percent. Less than a third of Americans believe the president has adequately responded to the needs of victims of Hurricane Katrina. In the days after the storm hit, Bush made a pledge to the residents of the devastated city of New Orleans that the city "will rise again."

President Bush speaking last September. Six months later much of New Orleans remains obliterated and the city is struggling to rebuild. In the aftermath of the Hurricane, the government's response to the disaster came under heavy criticism. During a nationally televised telethon days after Katrina hit, hip-hop artist Kanye West broke away from his scripted comments and said "George Bush doesn't like black people."

For a look at the government response to Hurricane Katrina we are joined by professor, preacher Michael Eric Dyson.

* Michael Eric Dyson, professor of humanities at the University Of Pennsylvania and an ordained Baptist minister. He is author of a number of books, his latest is "Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster." Other books lnclude The New York Times bestseller "Is Bill Cosby Right?", "Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur," "Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line" and "Between God and Gangsta Rap."

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