“Ol' man river,
Dat ol' man river
He mus'know sumpin'
But don't say nuthin',
He jes' keeps rollin'
He keeps on rollin' along.” ….Ol’ Man River sung by  Paul Robeson

Those words sung Paul Robeson now have true meaning.  Ol’ Man ex-New Orleans Recovery Czar”, Ed Blakely’ is now singing a frightening tune that makes

little sense about a city many of us are rollin with the punches.

Unfortunately, possibly the hardest punch has come from the former New Orleans recovery czar Blakely.  Dr. Blakely was was recently interviewed in California on matters of the New Orleans recovery, race, federal response, his reasons for leaving the job and a sundry of other matters. 

Obviously, this ol’ man Blakely mus know sumpin but don’t say nuthin.  Instead, he is jes rollin along and we New Orleans citizens are wondering if he will give us specifics about what he really knows rather than just jabbing.

Then, some might say he has said too much.  Way to much.

Some whites in this community are angry that Blakely said, “"Now, the white community, there's blood in the water, and they can recapture the political apparatus and kind of put their foot back on black people's throats,"

What does this ‘ol man Blakely mean?  About whom exactly is he talking?

Is there a race power struggle going on in New Orleans?  Absolutely.  But, it is from both sides of the fence and unless I am totally naive nobody or very few want to put their shoes on anybody’s neck.  Unfortunately, in today’s day and age, whites and blacks generally vote for whom they identify the most.  One day that will change (and hopefully soon), but it doesn’t mean shoes on throats

There is racial anger discord in the community and “racially insensitivity” in the air.   Do I like it? No.  But, I don’t see all these whites wanting to stomp on blacks.

Just saying those words and conjuring those images is making a horrible indictment upon a whole population of whites in this community.  Even worse, Blakely predicted the possibility of race riots unless the next Mayor were clever.

Then, Dat ‘ol man river jes keeps rollin’ along.

Blakely also felt that the City of New Orleans, due to the interface of events of the ol’ river and a hurricane  would mean that New Orleans "isn't likely" to be around 100 years from now.

Blakely is not the only doomsday person who has slammed the Crescent City with those ideas.  Years ago, immediately after Katrina, a mid-west geologist felt that New Orleans was rapidly sinking and would have to be encapsulated by very tall walls to protect it from the outside waters and other elements.

What makes these statements so upsetting arethat they came from Recovery Czar Blakely who kept getting paid although he said “I had other things I wanted to do, and administering a recovery is not one of them."

Worse, with Blakely claiming racism of the worse sort afoot, with likely race riots and the city on a crash course with fate, why bother with a recovery?

Why would any business or family ever consider staking roots in area so unfitting?

Then, maybe this ‘ol man is just rolling his tongue.  For decades there has been much speculation about California falling into the Pacific due to an impending major earth quake.  Have there been quake catastrophes in that area of the country? Of course.  But, for now, the state still stands and the population keeps rollin’ in. 

One could say the same would occur in Oakland and that this New Orleans scenario is just Blakely bluster.  Still, his comments certainly don’t help as this city tries to attract federal money and investments.  In fact, it hurts as we do our best to suck it up and try to work hard to help one another survive the worse catastrophe in modern times.

Incidentally, his projection of the future is even more reason for the New Orleans Saints must win the Superbowl, much sooner rather than later.  Over a century has passed and the Saints have not entered the big ring.  With the Saints receivers now making super-catches, with the prospects of Blakely predicted race offenses of the cruelest kind, and the city disappearing from the underneath our feet, perhaps our NFL team best put on their supercharged shoes.  Drew Brees and company only comes around perhaps once in a lifetime.  If Blakely knows sumpin we might never get another chance.

“Ol' man river,
Dat ol' man river
He mus' know sumpin'
But don't say nuthin',

So, just maybe, we jus need to know what the ol’ man river Blakely really knows and not just what He keeps on rollin' along with words that mean little.

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