Let's step back a little here. I've remarked here or elsewhere (since there is a proliferation of Hurricane threads) that those left behind were probably poor and less able to get transportation, less educated and less convinced of the need to go, in such dire straights already that leaving was more than they could handle. And the majority of them were black.

The preponderance of this population, the 20% left behind, were black. But look at the U.S. Census figures for New Orleans before you start deciding that there was some intentional, racist motive behind this particular outcome. New Orleans has a much larger African American population than many other American cities. 67% of all New Orleans citizens in the census claim African American background. So no matter WHAT happens in New Orleans, more people are going to be black than other races.

Link to Census Home Page.

SRS