[StBernard] Welcome to the new Obama Era

[Westley Annis]

Associated Press 

NEW ORLEANS -- A coalition of civil rights attorneys have filed a federal
class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by the Louisiana Road
Home program, designed to help Hurricane Katrina victims rebuild their storm
damaged homes.




The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia.




The suit argues that by relying upon fair market estimates of storm damage,
as opposed to actual rebuilding costs, the program lowballed grants for as
many as 20,000 African American homeowners in the New Orleans area.




The lawsuit claims that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
and the Louisiana Recovery Authority continued using the formula even as
black neighborhoods struggled to get back on their feet with inadequate
funds from the program. The action seeks a recalculation of awards based
upon actual rebuilding costs.