Ray Nagin is a Racist
I cannot believe how Ray Nagin can be mayor of New Orleans. His rhetoric is divisive, he blames the federal government for all of his city’s ills, and he makes irresponsible charges of racism coupled with his own racist comments. Take what he recently said:
“Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it’s destroyed and put stress on this country,” Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.
“Surely he doesn’t approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We’re not taking care of ourselves.”
The A.P. also indicated that “Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a “chocolate” city again. Many of the city’s black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina.”
Nagin continues:
“It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild New Orleans — the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans,” the mayor said. “This city will be a majority African American city. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn’t be New Orleans.”
There’s been a lot of focus on his “chocolate” comment, but I won’t focus too much on that, except to say that no white mayor could get away with calling his/her city a “white chocolate” city if it were predominantly composed of Caucasians. Instead, I’d like to focus on his God-talk.
So, Mayor Nagin feels that God wants New Orleans to be a majority African American city? As La Shawn Barber quips,
“I challenge all bloggers (and journalists) who criticized Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell for “divine retribution†statements to jump on New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin for making similar statements.”
Let’s take Nagin’s statement above and come up with an identical scenario…
Ray Nagin - “It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild New Orleans — the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans,” the mayor said. “This city will be a majority African American city. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn’t be New Orleans.”
Fake White Mayor - “It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild Wichita — the one that should be a white chocolate Wichita,” the mayor said. “This city will be a majority Caucasian city. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have Wichita no other way. It wouldn’t be Wichita.”
Liberals would be outraged if the latter comment were, indeed, uttered and not made up to prove a point. So, is there such thing as reverse racism or do minority races get a free pass? I believe there is such a thing as reverse racism and Nagin’s words and actions since his notoriety in the Katrina aftermath have proven him unfit to be mayor.
Tags: [Ray Nagin, racism, reverse racism, Katrina, New Orleans, La Shawn Barber, LaShawn Barber]
9 Comments so far
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chocolate city.
By thesuperstar on 01.19.06 12:12 pm
There’s no such thing as “reverse racism” as such. There’s only racism, and as Nagin shows, no race has a monopoly on it, nor does any political party (Nagin straddles two).
As to giving Nagin the amount of attention that Robertson gets, well just as soon as he gets millions of followers, hundreds of millions per year in donations, and private audiences with the president, well then Nagin will get that kind of attention from me.
By tgirsch on 01.22.06 11:55 pm
TGirsch,
A big difference between Nagin and Robertson, however, is that Nagin is an elected official. Robertson should be held accountable because of the number of people who pay attention to him, but Nagin should be given just as much attention since he is in public office - I think that sets the bar a bit higher.
By Wacko! on 01.23.06 7:53 am
Nagin is a racist. Alot of blacks are, perhaps moreso than whites. Whites just get the blame, because of something that happened generations ago.
By gary on 02.01.06 3:49 pm
Gary, Gary, Gary, come on now. I am a black man and agree that there are black racists. The statement that more blacks are racist has no merit and you know it. Everybody has a prejudice against something or someone. The “generations ago” comment was way out of line. Racism exists everywhere, especially if we have views that one group is more or less racist than another. If we were all the same hue we would seperate by hair color or something equally silly. I am sorry if you have had some bad encounters with black folk, but I have had plenty with whites, and If I ever make a generalization like you previously had I would ask myself what can I do to change my view. Oh, Nagin was totally out of line. Pray for Mr. Nagin and his view on what God wants.
By Jonathan on 02.08.06 9:29 pm
Gary, Gary, Gary, come on now. I am a black man and agree that there are black racists. The statement that more blacks are racist has no merit and you know it. Everybody has a prejudice against something or someone. The “generations ago” comment was way out of line. Racism exists everywhere, especially if we have views that one group is more or less racist than another. If we were all the same hue we would seperate by hair color or something equally silly. I am sorry if you have had some bad encounters with black folk, but I have had plenty with whites, and If I ever make a generalization like you previously had I would ask myself what can I do to change my view. Oh, Nagin was totally out of line. Pray for Mr. Nagin and his view on what God wants.
By Jonathan on 02.08.06 9:48 pm
You have confused prejudice, which everyone has, with racism. Racism is prejudice that is backed up by institutional power. By this definition, black folks cannot be racist, although they can be prejudiced. Think about it.
By futuregeek on 02.12.06 4:41 am
That’s funny and unfortunately true. If a Caucasian Mayor were to lament over a predominately Anglo-Saxon district in that same fashion, leftists would be outraged.
Myself included!
By Vel on 02.20.06 1:35 am
Ray Nagin is a totally immature child, who crapped in his pants and blames the president. He had the evacuation plan right in front of him, which clearly instructed him to use city buses, school buses and other modes of transportation to get people to safety. He sat on his ass along with the comatose governor and failed to execute the emergency plans laid out in front of them. They were the responsible parties for protecting their respective constituencies and they failed to act, and have consistently failed to accept any responsibility for their lack of leadership. It is pitiful, Nagin says he is now shocked by what the president knew, my children knew that when a cat 5 storm is bearing down on you, you react and execute the plan you have in front of you. Nagin and the governor did not act, and they are primarily to blame for the local disaster. The fact that the levees failed hindered the federal government logistical moves. The president had to call the governor on sunday nite in an attempt to get her off of her ass, to authorize federal access to the state, and she did not act. Why are these two children getting a free pass? Nagin and the governor are a disgrace and do not deserve to serve. They failed miserably, have shown no character or responsibility and should be removed immediately.
By yogi on 03.02.06 3:21 pm
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