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]
