Are they katrina’s kids or Ours? The Experience of Displaced New Orleans Students in Their New Schools and Communities

Abstract

This chapter uses examples from the challenging year of teaching, learning, and heal­ing that has occurred in Austin, Texas, to discuss the complex and varied impacts of forced dispersal upon African American schoolchildren who are now attending schools across the country. This chapter provides a picture of children, teachers, and community in adjustment, including examples of effective practices in working with children dispersed from New Orleans and examples of ineffective or racist responses to new students that have been present and that we must counter.