Katrina exposes race and poverty divide in the US

MANY people feel Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed New Orleans and wrecked the Gulf Coast a year ago, has exposed a deep divide of race and poverty in the United States.

But has that divide narrowed at all in the past year? And do Americans find reason to hope that it will narrow in the future?

Leah Chase, 83, a chef, is known as the queen of creole cuisine. She and her husband of 60 years, Dooky, are restoring their damaged restaurant. At the moment, they are living in a government-subsidised trailer.