(Roland Anglin – Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy) Katrina and later Rita wreaked havoc on a Gulf region unprepared for quick recovery.  The hurricanes were also a painful reminder to America that the corrosive link between race, class, and poverty is still playing a dominant role in shaping the built environment and access to opportunity. But race, as a significant variable, is one of several variables that played a key role in what might be termed the perfect disaster. Specifically, key policy and planning choices over several years left the residents of New Orleans and other places in the Gulf Coast vulnerable. Communities of color, already marginalized in the region, have borne the brunt of affirmative and negative policy and planning choices.  The proposed research argues that policy and planning choices not to strengthen levees, the degradation of  coastal wetlands and racial segregation are all part of policy environment that restricts the pace of  change and innovation. This inertia is rooted in a policy/planning system of governance that has not modernized relative to other regions and was unable to look long-term and respond adequately to the risk of natural disaster. The paper uses historical policy analysis to illustrate the argument that the structure of governance produced poor policy and planning choices in three discrete policy areas: (1) racial advancement (2) levee construction and (3) coastal protection.