Hurricane Katrina was an unrequited disaster for the city of New Orleans and its inhabitants. As a natural disaster it ranked up there with the likes of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and the 1984 Walter Mondale Presidential campaign. Much like the Chicago fire, when it was all said and done, the city lay in ruins and it was unknown whether or not it would ever rise from its watery grave again. Some even asked if it was worth resurrecting at all.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina many of its residents left, possibly for good, and resettled in Houston, among other places. Though the lights are back on, the water dammed up and the strippers are riding poles once again (the mark of any great city), New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) is struggling against a myriad of issues to reclaim its citizenry. Many people whom have left for greener, if not at least dryer, pastures have not the will nor the resources nor the desire to return to a city, which once had the dubious honor of being one of the cities with the highest murder rate in the country.
There are some such as the good Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, whom are troubled by this trend and have made vigorous attempts to bring those exiled back…so long as they are black.
Along with the history, the cuisine, the music and the culture, one major element of NOLA that is always rearing its ugly head, more so now since Katrina, is the issue of race. NOLA is known as a “black” city and now that since the hurricane there are nearly as many whites as blacks and less blacks overall, the race baiters are in a tizzy.
According to an article in the Boston Globe, “New Orleans, one of the most culturally distinct African American cities, is struggling to regain its black character.
"We need the chocolate back in the vanilla!" housing activist Endesha Juakali shouted to a crowd last month to protest the demolition of public housing damaged by Katrina.
But there were only about 20 black people listening, just a fraction of the whites who came to support the cause.
New Orleans was 67 percent African American before Katrina and 28 percent white. Now, in a city with less than half the previous population, blacks account for 47 percent and whites 43 percent.
"It will never be the same in my lifetime, we already know that," said Juakali. "The forces that control the redevelopment are going to string this thing out for at least five years. And people can't wait that long."”
Lady get a grip. First of all I hate the reference to black and white people as “chocolate” and “vanilla.” The connotations are as insulting as they are ridiculous. People act as if blacks as a race are some monolith that can easily be labeled with something as silly as a type of food. I would like to think that the collective experience and history of black people is a bit more complex than candy.
But that’s not what I’m on about. Juakali is bitching because damaged public housing is being torn down (as it rightly should given the history and adverse effect of public housing) and this somehow poses a threat to the way of life for the black population of NOLA. The associate is obvious to me, that if you take away the government subsidy, you hurt black people. More to the point, by taking away the handout, you repel black people from moving back to NOLA.
This brings up an intriguing point about the “black character” of New Orleans. Just what does it mean to be black in the first place? Is the “black character” even the defining characteristic of NOLA in the first place?
To the latter I think not. NOLA has a rich history that draws from the French, the Spanish, the occult, as well as any number of other elements. Certainly black people made their mark on that city in the sense that the provided many cultural characteristics to it such as a jazz and zydeco music, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that without black people, NOLA is struggling with its “character.”
I also get the sense that when folks like Juakali make remarks like “we need chocolate back in the vanilla,” she isn’t referring to the best in black culture. Unfortunately, there is a belief within the black community itself, as played out by the likes of Bill Cosby and Juan Williams versus Cornell West and number of black rap producers, that the character and image of black Americans is that of the rebel AKA the thug. To be black is to be an illiterate criminal or a baby factory and to be white is to be educated and employed. It’s the most idiotic debate going in this country and yet, judging by the reactions to anyone like Bill Cosby or Juan Williams who criticize this belief, it is one that is strongly clung to, no matter how illogical it sounds.
By that measure neither Barack Obama nor Cornell West are black enough to resemble the “character” of New Orleans. This brings me back to the point where I started. Assuming racist nuts Juakali are right and the character of NOLA is one of rampant crime and large doles of public assistance, why exactly would anyone want to purposely subject him or herself to that? In no other place in America does the Mayor advertise his city by announcing that if you move to his or her city, there’s a good chance you might get mugged, raped or murdered. Yet apparently Juakali, Nagin and company seem to think that such proclamations represent what NOLA and the “chocolate people” are all about.
The fact of the matter is that crime and public assistance do not represent black people. As a matter of fact, the population that mostly receives public assistance is not black people at all but rather, white women.
Just because many blacks have moved away and are not likely to come back does not mean the city is struggling with its “character.” Given the propensity for corruption in that city to begin with, even if it was struggling, that would probably be a good thing as it could with a dose of reform. New Orleans is however going through a rebirth and the fact that it might be lead by the middle class (of any color) rather than being defined by the poorest or most likely to commit a crime, is not something to be protested but welcomed.
This issue and more will be discussed this Sunday at 12:30 PM on Progressive Conservatism Live!
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