What can one say when New Orleans once again receives a black eye due to the unfortunate situation that occurred surrounding the City Council’s decision to demolish four housing projects that by history, blacks have been largely been the inhabitants.They were built during the “New Society” days as a reaction to the “Jim Crow” injustices.
How do we deal with the repetitive national news stories-- on television, radio, the Internet laden with words, images and sounds that yell “New Orleans is dysfunctional”.
Yes, I believe the City Council did the right thing to approve the demolishing of housing projects that were inhabitable, which were vestiges of the past, which were full of crime and which were dangerous.I believe the Council had a right to keep order by using reasonable force when the circumstances required it.
But, the bottom line over two years post-Katrina is defining New Orleans as a new city, today.
Over this period of time I have tried to speak out about the injustices I have personally witnessed with the Bush Administration, in particular, for not caring about the “City That Forgot to Care”.The delay in getting money to the city, the red tape that was not cut, the lack of leadership on this issue has been legion and pathetic.
But, now after two years, the City is in the rebuilding process, yet, we are having spasms over the very definition and character of this now small metropolis.
As I have repeatedly urged, New Orleans cannot and should not return to a city where poor education was rampant, crime was scaring people off the street, social services were being strained and the list of city dysfunctions were endless.
Katrina did wash open a very sore wound and now we need to heal.But, first we must decide the type of City we want to be and are capable of being given the limited federal and state resources that are coming our way.
Interestingly, there are images from yesterday’s horrible events that have not been played enough given the attention to the rebellion.
What struck me the most was the collective images of The New Orleans City Council, (made up of four whites and three blacks), an African American Mayor of New Orleans, an African American Chief of Police unanimously supporting a major decision impacting the future of the City and unanimously supporting the actions of the police to keep order.
New Orleans is changing.It is not pretty.People will be hurt both physically and emotionally.We, as a local community, as a state and as a national government must do whatever we can do to provide for those who have fallen between the cracks.But, those who do live within those shadows must realize that New Orleans is recovering from the worse disaster in American history and is basically helpless.Together, we can use our political persuasive forces and our ingenuities to do as much as we can do to make people whole.But, we must balance our actions to ensure that New Orleans is a viable community where the nation wants to help, the world’s businesses want to set up industry and where New Orleans can evolve into a 21st century city, much bigger, and much better than ever before.Most importantly, we can and we must be a city where whites and blacks do live together in the same community side-by-side helping one another.That action must begin now.
We have been wondering what more we could say about yesterday. We think we have said it from the very beginning of our postings on various sites. We used as a symbol a fleur-de-lis with every point a different color. It was meant to symbolize the necessity of a united effort of every people of every ancestry to unite to rebuild New Orleans. For decades the leaders of this city have used the difference in ancestries to get the vote. It was time to say goodbye to such tactics. Yesterday we saw people of two major ancestries uniting to create that new Nouveau Orleans. Now all regardless of our ancestries must finally recognize that we must unite and we must seek leadership not based on ancestry but based on ability. We look forward to what we have been praying for all of this years, that is, a united new Nouvelle Orleans. Written by RhettsWife
on 12/21/2007
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When are people going to quit pretending what has been the underlying current in this city for the last 25 years? I suggest you look at all the other areas decimated by Katrina and Rita. Do you see any of these people on the news day in and day out crying about the federal government? THis is a third world city and its leaders are a disgrace. Oliver Thomas, Mayor Nagin just to mention a few are totally incompetent. I suggest to you that no matter how much money is put into New Orleans it is a total waste. Its all about how much money can be stolen and handouts for people that dont want to improve their lives. Why isnt the media pounding Nagin for his incompetence. Between him and Blanco we are the laughing stock of the nation once again. The nation continues to watch the media handle our politicians with silk gloves. That why business doesnt want to come to this corrupt and incompetent environment. "Its Quality of Life" Written by Glenn F
on 12/21/2007
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I WANT TO SPEAK OF THE MEETING ITSELF. During Thursday's meeting, I was in the City Council Chamber from 9:30am to 4:30pm, and I'd like to put to rest the old refrain about 'out-of-town trouble-makers' that recalls the dismissive scorn of the civil-rights activists of the Sixties. I was sitting in the central section, and the shouts and action began in front of me and to the right of me. I recognized many of the people sitting there from previous rallies against demolition, and they were native New Orleanians, not out-of-towners. There was one outspoken young man that I had never seen, but I would estimate that three-fourths of the rest were native. It should be noted also that at least half of the developers hired to plan the replacements for the projects were from out-of-town, as their presentations during the meeting revealed, and their motives were clearly rooted in their intention to profit from the demolition. So we had out-of-towners on both sides. I HAVE A WORD TO SAY ABOUT THE CITY COUNCIL'S HANDLING OF THIS HEARING. At the end, each councilmember read a lengthy explanation of his or her vote, and it became clear that they had prepared these statements together prior to the hearing. To me, that meant that the meeting was not a hearing at all, so a lot of very busy people had just wasted their time preparing their own three-minute speeches. The deal had already been done, and we were just spinning wheels, no doubt to the considerable amusement of the councilmembers, the mayor, and the federal authorities. I judge the councilmembers harshly for this deception. Furthermore, they had the outrageous audacity to correct the public for noise while they were speaking, yet they laughed and joked while the public was speaking. In fact, one man stopped his comments and demanded their attention before proceding. It was a mockery of democratic procedures, and for that reason I found myself sympathizing with the outrage of the demonstrators. I also felt outraged, though I do not like to demonstrate in the manner they did. I left the meeting with the conviction that George Bush and his clique had their vision of what they wanted to look like, so they told Alphonso Jackson, who extorted obedience from the council. I do not know what the council would have decided, if the members had in fact been free to vote their own judgments. I have a copy of the threatening letter that Alphonso Jackson wrote to the mayor and the council. I ALSO WANT TO COMMENT ON THE DEMOLITION ITSELF. The belief that destruction of the housing will bring about a reduction in crime is an illusion. Crime and other behaviors are the result of education and training, not of public housing. If we do not understand this, then we will fail to address the issue. It is a mistake to destroy solid buildings and replace them with flimsy ones. If this issue could be addressed with objectivity, instead of with fear and with greed, we would probably save those buildings in good condition and demolish only those that are not. However, Alphonso Jackson made it clear in his letter that he would prohibit funding to New Orleans if we did that. Of course, it is possible to find the funding through other federal authorities, but the council did not overcome its fear enough to think of that. FINALLY, ON RACE. The great lesson of the day was that race was not the primary issue. Class and power were. Written by Robert Desmarais Sullivan
on 12/21/2007
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It is disgraceful that the national media chose to focus on a fight that lasted no more than five minutes and involved no more than a dozen white protesters who were from out of town. They almost comletely ignored the fact that the city council conducted a very peaceful and inclusive meeting that went on for MORE THAN SIX HOURS. Numerous former residents spoke IN FAVOR of demolition. Many others were given time to speak against it. At the end of the day the council came together and voted 7-0 for demolition, a vote that included 3 black council members. They were later joined by our black mayor. It is sickening that the national media was more interested in race-baiting which sells commercials and newspapers ads. Written by Nolaboy
on 12/21/2007
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Is this my city, 
