Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New Orleans Nagin’s City is Clear Chocolate U.S.
bayoubuzz.com ^ | 04/01/06 | Steve Sabludowsky

Posted on 04/01/2006 3:02:40 PM PST by Ellesu

If there was ever any doubt where Mayor C. Ray Nagin stands on the issue of the racial composition of a City over which he wants to preside, there now should be no questions. On Friday, the ugly destructive specter of Chocolate City was raised once again during a debate sponsored by two major black organizations and in front of a black majority crowd. However, this time, unlike before, Nagin specifically stated that he wanted the city to return to the demography that existed before Katrina which was very much majority black.

After Nagin made his Chocolate City remarks on Martin Luther King Day he apologized for them. He even went on television and said he did not know what he was thinking of when he made the remarks. He made those same apologies on national television. That was at a time when he had no serious opposition, no whites in the race, no black ministers competing against him for Mayor and the demography of the city was uncertain.

However, at this Friday event sponsored by the National Urban League and the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation, Nagin said “yes” to a question asked whether the city should return to its pre-Katrina demographic make up.

Even worse, it appears to me that Nagin is taking this stand because of the change of demography and due to raw politics. It seems that since he is the most viable black candidate with the best chance to win the black vote, he can be more at ease with a statement which is in total opposition to his prior apologies.

For a man who prided himself on being a non-politician, he has become one—and a very untrustworthy one. He is now playing to a particular audience knowing he can get into the runoffs and hoping that the demography is there--that he will win with or without the white vote.

Ironically, his billboard signs says “Our Mayor”. The question really becomes “whom” to which he refers when he says “our”.

In reality—the debate question was absolutely stupid, incendiary, racially divisive in the first place. It never should have been asked as a yes or no question. But, that is what happens when you have a Washington D.C. organization with a clear political agenda who injects itself into a New Orleans election where people just want to get along and pick up the pieces.

His major opponents in the race all refused to answer the yes or no question-- because I believe-- the question went against the philosophy of whom they are and the type of city they want New Orleans to be. To be fair to Nagin, I agree it is also possible that they did not want to offend either the black or white community.

Still, in my view, and I want to be very clear on this point--New Orleans is a city that has been and is now made up of a variety of races and nationalities. That is its strength. The forum’s basic thrust was focused upon the some amorphous “right of return” and saying that nobody should be denied that right. I agree with the philosophic principal, but other than some unfortunate decisions by both whites and blacks who do not want FEMA trailers in their back yards, nobody in New Orleans is blocking anyone from returning. Further, arguably if there should be no impediments to the right to return, there should be no social engineering to make certain that one race would dominate over another. .

In full reality, at this time, the “right of return” is irrelevant. The main problem is whether to return. The federal government has just informed the nation that it will cost at least 8 billion dollars to make the levee system safe in the region. The federal government also said that the final FEMA maps might not be finished until 6 to 18 months and many people (blacks and whites) are depending upon those maps to decide if they want to rebuild.

The City has little infrastructure and is going broke. To make it whole, New Orleans alone would need tens of billions of dollars and Congress is dickering over 2 billion dollars right now.

So, the issue of right of return is a fallacy and the theme appears perpetrated to create a voting block for a city which might not survive at all.

For Mayor Nagin--who has apologized for even thinking about his Chocolate City remarks-- to now say he wants the city to be majority black and wants New Orleans to return to the pre-Katrina numbers is playing to a political audience after looking at the polls and the demography.

While Nagin has many other very good strengths and ultimately could be the best candidate considering all of the factors, on this single issue he has proven to be the King of flip flop and the master of calculated politics. He now has access to polls and demography. His statement Friday makes no sense when viewed with his prior statements. His apologies days after Martin Luther King Day are now hollow Chocolate.

Nagin has now shown where he stands. Former and future citizens of New Orleans must be realistic about all of the risks involved before returning. And, there must be no predetermined designs for the City to be white or black—just functional. Nagin wants New Orleans to be constructed based upon race. That is truly a shame for a person who claims to be “Our Mayor”. It is also a real setback for a City that has lived the past decade judging people based upon their inner qualities and not based upon their skin color.

Here are Nagin’s comments in windows media

Here is the total segment concerning the issue in winows meida. . Unfortunately the taping did not occur until some of the speakers began to answer the question so the audio is all that we have but it clearly tells much about this issue and the agenda of the questioner in what was suppose to be an impartial unbiased forum.

Here is also the response from Mitch Landrieu. Landrieu entered the forum late due to another commitment so he wa asked the question totally separate from the rest of the candidates. In fairness to Ron Forman, Landrieu´s response and tone of response to the questions was very similarr to Forman´s. Unfortunately, Bayoubuzz did not record Forman´s response.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: chocolate; katrina; nagin; neworleans

1 posted on 04/01/2006 3:02:42 PM PST by Ellesu
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Ellesu

If it is a viable City it will build itself, I see no reason for anymore Tax dollars to be spent on a failed City.

TT


2 posted on 04/01/2006 3:07:16 PM PST by TexasTransplant (NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSET)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ellesu

yea,well Nagin's chocolate politics thinking came straight from the "Hershey Highway"


3 posted on 04/01/2006 3:07:53 PM PST by Armigerous ( Non permitte illegitimi te carborundum- "Don't let the bastards grind you down")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TexasTransplant

I certainly don't think anymore money should be used to bring people back to New Orleans at least until another hurricane cycle is over with.

We don't know, of course, if any hurricane will hit that area this year or not....but, I think it would be a good idea to do the basics this year, and see what happens, because if they just put up "cosmetic" changes, to bring people back...and a much lower level hurricane goes through there...and blows the heck out those repairs...

Well, then----we ALL need to figure that re-populating that city just isn't feasible for a LONG time, if ever.


4 posted on 04/01/2006 3:13:29 PM PST by Txsleuth (FREEPATHON TIME~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Ellesu



He wants a chocolate city built with white money. A welfare city will fail.


5 posted on 04/01/2006 3:16:39 PM PST by SouthernFreebird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ellesu
Image hosting by Photobucket
6 posted on 04/01/2006 3:18:01 PM PST by stm (You can fix a lot of things, but you can't fix stupid)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ellesu

I can't believe the people didn't learn a lesson. He didn't send them buses, why should they send him votes?


7 posted on 04/01/2006 3:59:01 PM PST by mtbopfuyn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ellesu
"He even went on television and said he did not know what he was thinking of when he made the remarks. He made those same apologies on national television. That was at a time when he had no serious opposition, no whites in the race, no black ministers competing against him for Mayor and the demography of the city was uncertain."

I want New Orleans to 95% white! Oh, excuse me. I didn't mean to (think) say that. How politically incorrect of me to even harbor such a notion. I'll go a nationwide apology tour immediately.

8 posted on 04/01/2006 6:57:25 PM PST by StormEye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: StormEye
Permit me to correct my grammar:

I'll go on a nationwide apology tour immediately.
There, that sounds better!
(I hate making typos.)
9 posted on 04/01/2006 7:01:01 PM PST by StormEye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: StormEye

"white chocolate"


10 posted on 04/02/2006 3:09:43 PM PDT by CIDKauf (No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: TexasTransplant
If it is a viable City it will build itself, I see no reason for anymore Tax dollars to be spent on a failed City.

Corruption killed New Orleans, not Katrina. I think 90 cents of each dollar spent will go into someone's back pocket. Why reinforce failure?

11 posted on 04/02/2006 3:48:53 PM PDT by Fenris6 (3 Purple Hearts in 4 months w/o missing a day of work? He's either John Rambo or a Fraud)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson