New Orleans - A 'Chocolate' City

[Derek S]

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/01/17...ity/index.html

Originally Posted by Mayor Ray Nagin

"This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be."
...
In his speech, Nagin also said "God is mad at America," in part because he does not approve "of us being in Iraq under false pretenses."
...
"He is sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it is destroying and putting stress on this country," Nagin said.

Looks like he might be losing it a bit.

If a white mayor had said he wanted to ensure his city had a white majority there would be hell to pay.

[Russ B]

Originally Posted by dezzo

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/01/17...ity/index.html



Looks like he might be losing it a bit.

If a white mayor had said he wanted to ensure his city had a white majority there would be hell to pay.

I think that's out of context slightly - he seems to be saying he wants the place to return to how it was pre-Katrina, although I'd agree he's chosen some unwise words to express his opinion.

[Jon M]

I thought Orleans had one of the highest percentages of African-Americans compared to other US cities as it is ?

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Having read the article, what he says about it being a chocolate city is quoted below.

"How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about," he said.
"New Orleans was a chocolate city before Katrina. It is going to be a chocolate city after. How is that divisive? It is white and black working together, coming together and making something special."

Racist? I dont think so....

I think the post that kicked of the thread took some words out of context and would be better suited to the front page of the Daily Mail.

---------- Post added at 11:00 ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 ----------

Additionally reading further down the article he says....

In his speech, Nagin also said "God is mad at America," in part because he does not approve "of us being in Iraq under false pretenses."

"He is sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it is destroying and putting stress on this country," Nagin said.

He said God is "upset at black America also."
"We are not taking care of ourselves. We are not taking care of our women, and we are not taking care of our children when you have a community where 70 percent of its children are being born to one parent."

I don't think this evidence of racial discrimination when he says God is mad at America (as a whole), and he is highly critical of the black community too.

I'd say he makes a lot of sense .

[Russ B]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

Racist? I dont think so....

Agreed - I think it's also to do with the mayor being of the opinion that everyone will realise that by 'chocolate' he means 'chocolate milk'. He could have put more thought in to his wording but then again perhaps he deliberately said it like this in order to get a reaction.

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

In his speech, Nagin also said "God is mad at America," in part because he does not approve "of us being in Iraq under false pretenses."

Not sure I agree with his assertion there - if so then we're in for some nasty weather too....

[Derek S]

So if someone in the UK said its OK for immigrants / people of non-European descent to come to the UK or stay here as long as white people were kept in the majority that would be OK would it?

[Russ B]

Originally Posted by dezzo

So if someone in the UK said its OK for immigrants / people of non-European descent to come to the UK or stay here as long as white people were kept in the majority that would be OK would it?

Not if it was put like that...

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by dezzo

So if someone in the UK said its OK for immigrants / people of non-European descent to come to the UK or stay here as long as white people were kept in the majority that would be OK would it?

I dont think tahts what he's saying at all, especially since the issue has nothing to do with immigrants from other countries arriving in new orleans from elsewhere.

The point he is trying to make, IMO, is that he would like to see the mix of white/black people in new orleans that existed before Katrina, i.e. it not being just a black or white town. MAybe he is also encouraging more white people to move into the parts of new orleans that were damaged by the hurricane, especially since pre hurricane these were predominantly black areas.

As far as I can make out he is also talking about Americans (be they afro americans or white americans, they are still americans he's refering too.)

[Derek S]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

The point he is trying to make, IMO, is that he would like to see the mix of white/black people in new orleans that existed before Katrina, i.e. it not being just a black or white town.

Just as long as whitey doesn't get the upper hand eh?

[Jon M]

I hope you're not looking for a response to that Dezzo.

It implies to me that you expect SLM to respond within the boundary of an anti-white agenda, I don't think he's giving that sort of impression at all.

[Derek S]

Originally Posted by Jon M

I hope you're not looking for a response to that Dezzo.

It implies to me that you expect SLM to respond within the boundary of an anti-white agenda, I don't think he's giving that sort of impression at all.

No I'm just trying to find out what the reaction would be if a white politician said he wanted to ensure all UK cities and towns remained with a majority white population and it was OK for him to say this because God had told him so.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by dezzo

No I'm just trying to find out what the reaction would be if a white politician said he wanted to ensure all UK cities and towns remained with a majority white population and it was OK for him to say this because God had told him so.

I suggest you re-read the FULL article because thats not what this guy is saying. Feel free to ask the question tho, but suggesting that thats what this guy is saying is, IMO, out of order.

[Jon M]

The thing is, I think it's been established that the quoted article as a whole is not taking that sort of stance.
What profit is it to anyone to hypothetically argue an inflammatory point ?

[BBKing]

Gosh, point missed by a mile here.

Nagin is in trouble because the plans for NO, far from being a return to a majority black city (which it's always been), are basically ethnic cleansing - white areas are being done up, powered up and restored, black areas (which were worst hit) aren't, and residents are actively being discouraged from returning (by armed police and having their buildings sealed off). The plans announced were basically to reduce the population dramatically, mainly by not allowing the poorest (i.e. blackest, funnily enough) back in and giving their land to property developers or bulldozing it. This is not necessarily going to promote racial harmony, but it will make a lot of rich property developers richer.

Oh, and the looting stories were mostly rubbish too, as it turned out. It's a shameful episode that demonstrates that the southern US hasn't got over the Civil War yet.

Originally Posted by dezzo

Just as long as whitey doesn't get the upper hand eh?

You really don't get it, do you? That's like claiming that slavery empowered blacks because there were more of them than whites. The fact that the blacks were in chains and the whites had guns and whips is fairly relevant here - it's not numbers but power that matters, and the poor black population of NO have no power, so they don't count. KanYe West was pretty much spot on when he said 'George Bush doesn't care about black people' - he should have said 'poor people', though.

Background reading:
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/054...z,70641,2.html
http://www.democracynow.org/article..../12/09/1444207
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...katmyth26.html
http://urbanlegends.about.com/librar..._offenders.htm
http://urbanlegends.about.com/librar...olunteered.htm

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Thanks for pointing that out too BBKing. Most us have have forgotten or dont care about the repurcussiuons of the hurricane, especially in light of the re-development plans, and there are some who'd rather start accusing people of being racist, without bothering to find out what the real facts/whole picture is.