“We Don't Do the Recovery School District”: Education and the Antiblack Terms of Neoliberal Recovery in Black New Orleans

ABSTRACT The humanitarian disaster triggered by Hurricane Katrina exposed the racial violence and class domination that structures New Orleans and the broader US South. In the immediate aftermath of the storm's destruction, the state of Louisiana transformed New Orleans' neighborhood schools into privately managed charter schools and 7000 teachers, staff, and administrators were terminated. Drawing on ethnographic field research between 2013 and 2023, this article explores the social impact of this quasi‐privatization by analyzing how the politics of space, place, and citizenship in Black New Orleans are being transformed by the jettisoning of traditional neighborhood public schools. This essay builds on critical work in Black geographies and Black studies to argue that, despite claims of success, the neoliberal policies implemented post‐Katrina have not only failed to address the educational needs of Black New Orleanians but have also reinforced a narrative of Black dysfunction that justifies ongoing state violence and neglect.