"It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are saying in Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day. This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have it no other way."
New Orleans Mayor - C. Ray Nagin
Ray Nagin's acceptance speech had the usual politico-speak of "togetherness" and "no black or white" but a one-color New Orleans. To both candidate's credit they did keep things fairly clean during the course of the election process. But saying that New Orleans "would once again be a chocolate city" back in the days after Katrina, and then pandering to the non-black citizens that were annoyed at his "chocolate" comment, is another example of two distinct ironies in American Politics.
One: They forget that at times, things they say in the heat of the moment comes across as dumb and Ill-spoken. And to make things worse, those very same words are hypocritical in the very end,..to say the least.
Two: That the American media gives a free pass to Black and Latino politicians who blatantly say divisive and racially charged remarks. Imagine if Mitch Landrieu would have been the Mayor of a mostly-caucasian town and would have mouthed that "This city will be a Vanilla City once again".... The press would have beat him to a pulp, the Black Community would have demanded his resignation, streets would have burned, liberals from coast to coast would have had Cry-in's, Blogger's-ville would have called him a racist supremacist and Jesse Jackson would have been mugging for every camera in sight. Go ahead and tell me that I am exagerating.
Just as society should nail to the wall any non-black public servant who makes a remark like that, so should we give no quarter to our Black American brethren who insert foot-in-mouth with such elegant aplomb.
This, and other events like this, are a constant reminder that "America the beautiful is also (at times) America the blind" (I've blatantly plagiarized and somewhat edited that line from the late ABC anchorman Frank Reynolds)
10 comments:
P.S.
I am quick to pound, but honor and credit is due. I just saw Ray Nagin give Prez Bush public thank you's for the help in getting funding for New Orlean's levies and special construction projects. All things considered, that was pretty classy. To give the Prez credit for ANYTHING in this period of Bush-bashing is pretty extraordinary, especially him being a Democrat Mayor and the noted history of both of them in the post Katrina days. Good on you Mr. Mayor!
Thank you for dropping in H.I.H.K.!
Hope to see you as a regular visitor, my regards to the orient :)
Yeah i wrigh the odd beat here and there but iam not a musician.I like the sound of Old synths real nice
thanks for your comment.
Chocolate... Sounds like he just made a serious fude to me. Better pack that away in his trunk, with the rest of his junk.
Being proud that it was a mostly black city makes sense to me. It is very much the same as "their" pride in being uneducated. "I ain't goin to no Schoo, cause I wanna be a foo".
That was the dirtiest, yuckiest smelliest city I'd ever been in. Vomit and human waste in the open streets (#1 and #2). It was all I could do to keep from gagging as I walked to my restaurant one evening a few years ago. Yeah, I guess it all makes sense.
Nagin's goal just pisses me off.
Hey, nothing wrong with the odd beat blog here and there. I appreciate the fun and good intent :)
I agree with you Publius,...but I never said his was an anti-white statement. I was trying to make the larger point that the media did not hold his feet to the fire like the would have any other person were he not of Color.
Valid point, every possible scenario is probable in the precarious New Orleans political scene. I don't think you can get every person of a particular bent or race to get together and caucass together on anything or any cause,... but it is your theory probable? yes, absolutely.
I think it sounded absurd. And I loved Frank Reynolds. And, yes, it amazes me too that if the he had said vanilla instead of chocolate, for whatever reason, he would have been burned at the proverbial stake.
Frank Reynolds was the last of the classic TV Anchors...i used to watch him religiously.
Thanks for stopping by, I enjoyed your blog as well,.. :)
Thanks for stopping by. You bring up some very thought-provoking issues, and I have enjoyed reading yours, as well.
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