Krugman: Tragedy in Black and White

Excerpts from his new column:

By three to one, African-Americans believe that federal aid took solong to arrive in New Orleans in part because the city was poor andblack. By an equally large margin, whites disagree....But the health care crisis hasn't had much effect on politics. And onereason is that it isn't yet a crisis among middle-class, whiteAmericans (although it's getting there). Instead, the worst effects arefalling on the poor and black, who have third-world levels of infantmortality and life expectancy. I'd like to believe that Katrina will change everything - that we'll allnow realize how important it is to have a government committed tohelping those in need, whatever the color of their skin. But I wouldn'tbet on it.