Jim Kouri
New Orleans mayor makes racist statements during MLK memorial
By Jim Kouri
Yesterday's festivities commemorating the civil-rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., brought out the best in people and the worst. For instance, Senator Hillary Clinton turned a New York memorial into a political firestorm as she forgot she was trying to re-invent herself in order to portray herself as a "moderate." Pandering to a black audience she used the word "plantation" to describe the Republican congress. But perhaps it was a black mayor who made the most racist comments yesterday.
The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, is being accused of making racist statements when he said he is predicting that his city will once again be "a majority African-American city." In a Martin Luther King Day speech to a crowd at City Hall, the mayor said, "It's the way God wants it to be." He added, "You can't have New Orleans any other way."
Before Hurricane Katrina displaced about three-quarters of its population, the city was more than 60 percent black. The storm spared several mostly-white neighborhoods, and hit black areas the hardest.
Nagin was faulted with not helping to evacuate blacks out of New Orleans, but finding the time to personally evacuate family, friends and officials. He was criticized by many for showing poor leadership during what's been called the worst US disaster in history.
Nagin told the crowd gathered for a Martin Luther King Day march, "It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans."
Along the city's Martin Luther King Boulevard, an area near a King statue and memorial was cleaned up and landsaped in advance of the memorial and parade. But many of the buildings nearby are abandoned and in ruins — including a major public housing project.
Critics are accusing the mayor — who himself is African-American — of uttering racist statements. They say that if a white mayor of a city or town ever said, "God wants our city to have a white majority," how long before there would be outcry from blacks, liberals and the likes of the New York Times.
Mayor Nagin was accused of racial insensitivity several weeks ago when he complained that Mexican immigrants were "changing New Orleans." He's since backed away from his complaints of illegal immigrant Mexicans taking jobs that should go to blacks and taking up residence in New Orleans.
© Jim Kouri
Yesterday's festivities commemorating the civil-rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., brought out the best in people and the worst. For instance, Senator Hillary Clinton turned a New York memorial into a political firestorm as she forgot she was trying to re-invent herself in order to portray herself as a "moderate." Pandering to a black audience she used the word "plantation" to describe the Republican congress. But perhaps it was a black mayor who made the most racist comments yesterday.
The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, is being accused of making racist statements when he said he is predicting that his city will once again be "a majority African-American city." In a Martin Luther King Day speech to a crowd at City Hall, the mayor said, "It's the way God wants it to be." He added, "You can't have New Orleans any other way."
Before Hurricane Katrina displaced about three-quarters of its population, the city was more than 60 percent black. The storm spared several mostly-white neighborhoods, and hit black areas the hardest.
Nagin was faulted with not helping to evacuate blacks out of New Orleans, but finding the time to personally evacuate family, friends and officials. He was criticized by many for showing poor leadership during what's been called the worst US disaster in history.
Nagin told the crowd gathered for a Martin Luther King Day march, "It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans."
Along the city's Martin Luther King Boulevard, an area near a King statue and memorial was cleaned up and landsaped in advance of the memorial and parade. But many of the buildings nearby are abandoned and in ruins — including a major public housing project.
Critics are accusing the mayor — who himself is African-American — of uttering racist statements. They say that if a white mayor of a city or town ever said, "God wants our city to have a white majority," how long before there would be outcry from blacks, liberals and the likes of the New York Times.
Mayor Nagin was accused of racial insensitivity several weeks ago when he complained that Mexican immigrants were "changing New Orleans." He's since backed away from his complaints of illegal immigrant Mexicans taking jobs that should go to blacks and taking up residence in New Orleans.
© Jim Kouri
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