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In 2005, Hurricane Katrina led to substantial demographic changes in New Orleans. The city lost large numbers of its African American population and became more diverse with the arrival of more Latino migrants and more highly educated, affluent white newcomers. Demographic change has the potential to depress political trust, efficacy, and trust in others. In this essay, we show that more than 10 years after Katrina, neither white nor Black New Orleanians trust local or national government. Black residents, particularly Black women, are generally more distrustful of their neighbors, whites, Latinos, and newcomers in the city. White newcomers are more efficacious and trusting than pre-Katrina white residents. These findings provide more evidence for the thesis that race and place shape trust and that Katrina continues to have an impact on New Orleans in distinctly racialized ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of high-stakes tests in education policy, relatively little is known about opinion on this issue. We examine racial and socioeconomic differences in support for high-stakes testing. Given the achievement gaps between racial minorities and Whites and between the lower and higher status, it would be reasonable to expect that those whose children are most likely to do well on high-stakes tests would support the policy, whereas their counterparts would oppose them. However, these groups have different histories with and optimism about the public education system as well as different perceptions about how high-stakes tests will affect their children. We find that Latinos strongly support these measures, whereas African Americans and Whites oppose them primarily because African Americans are pessimistic about improving public schools and Whites are concerned about how resources will be redistributed. We also find that those of higher status are more likely to oppose high-stakes testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]