Kenyon Farrow

“THE BRIDGE TO GRETNA”

When Hurricane Katrina blew through New Orleans three months ago, thousands of people left in the city were trapped with no food, water or shelter, desperate to escape the devastation. The bridge that spans the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Gretna was one of the few ways out, until police from Gretna used force to stop pedestrians from crossing it. Since most of the police officers were white and most of the evacuees were black, the incident quickly took on racial overtones. So how — and why — were people who were only trying to walk out of a devastated city prevented from reaching relative safety? Was this really a case of racism, or merely the story of a desperate town government trying to protect its citizenry? Ed Bradley investigates what happened on “60 Minutes” this Sunday, Dec. 18, 7PM ET/PT on CBS.