Discrimination in a Disaster Agency’s Security Culture

Abstract

The prevalence of security concerns in emergency management offers the unfortunate possibility that administrative processes may tap deep fears and engage in discriminatory practices without sufficient accountability because of secrecy, time pressure, and an organizational culture that calls for preparing for the worst. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was ostensibly intended to be a natural disaster agency, but its security culture in past decades justified plans that would have included discriminatory practices against marginalized groups. These cases should temper expectations about what government can and should do in imagining worst-case scenarios to prepare for emergencies.