Nagin makes racist comments and it's Bush's fault

[Garcia Bronco]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/17/nagin.city/index.html

Nagin calls for rebuilding 'chocolate' New Orleans
Black majority city 'the way God wants it to be'

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday called for the rebuilding of a "chocolate New Orleans" that maintains the city's black majority, saying, "You can't have New Orleans no other way."

"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," Nagin said in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech. "This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be."

Uptown is a reference to a mostly white part of the city.

Pressed later to explain his comments, Nagin, who is black, told CNN affiliate WDSU-TV that he was referring to creation of a racially diverse city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, insisting that his remarks were not divisive.

"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."

Before Hurricane Katrina inundated the city with floodwaters in August, forcing its residents to evacuate, about two-thirds of New Orleans' population of 485,000 was black.

However, the worst of the flooding was in mostly black areas that remain largely uninhabitable, while residents in mostly white areas that were less badly damaged have been able to return home -- prompting speculation that the much-smaller city could end up with a white majority if large numbers of black evacuees do not return.

Black residents and political leaders have complained about the slow pace of recovery in mostly black areas compared to mostly white areas such as Uptown and the French Quarter, where services have been restored and life has returned to a semblance of normal.

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."

Nagin, first elected in 2002, had been due to come up for re-election next month. However, state officials postponed the city election until April because of the disruptions caused by Katrina.


Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/17/nagin.city/index.html

[alkemical]

I guess i don't see the big deal. But then it's only some politician talking, so i take it for what it's worth.

[Garcia Bronco]

Imagine that Arnold came out in Caly and said

Arnold on Monday called for the rebuilding of a "white San Diego" that maintains the city's white majority, saying, "You can't have San Diego any other way."

What would you think then?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Imagine that Arnold came out in Caly and said

Arnold on Monday called for the rebuilding of a "white San Diego" that maintains the city's white majority, saying, "You can't have San Diego any other way."

What would you think then?

Is the majority of San Diego Spanish or White? Arnold is the Govanator of a state of 40 million while Nagin is the mayor of a destroyed city.
Not a real good analogy.

[alkemical]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Imagine that Arnold came out in Caly and said

Arnold on Monday called for the rebuilding of a "white San Diego" that maintains the city's white majority, saying, "You can't have San Diego any other way."

What would you think then?

heh, considering ahnold is a nazi sympathizer, i guess i won't need to go any further would i?

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Is the majority of San Diego Spanish or White? Arnold is the Govanator of a state of 40 million while Nagin is the mayor of a destroyed city.
Not a real good analogy.

Now that the both you have got that out of your system....back to the hypothetical..what if any white politican came out and said the samething and substitute 'chocolate' with 'White'? What then? You know what would happen so don't bother answering. My point is...the guy is a making racist comments and it's sad.

[Garcia Bronco]

If you still want to argue the proprties of the hypothetical....please substitute Arnold for Howard Dean.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Now that the both you have got that out of your system....back to the hypothetical..what if any white politican came out and said the samething and substitute 'chocolate' with 'White'? What then? You know what would happen so don't bother answering. My point is...the guy is a making racist comments and it's sad.

Nagin also referenced that "God is mad Bush and the black people" so I don't take much stock in what he has to say these days.

[Rascal]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Nagin also referenced that "God is mad Bush and the black people" so I don't take much stock in what he has to say these days.

And most of us here don't take any stock in Pat Robertson but Spider and others always drag his dumbass comments in.

[DB-Freak]

How is it exactly racist?

It's just another comment that can be included in the double standard of talking about races though.

Not that I totally disagree with black america part, but still at best a dumb religious rambling.

[DB-Freak]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Now that the both you have got that out of your system....back to the hypothetical..what if any white politican came out and said the samething and substitute 'chocolate' with 'White'? What then? You know what would happen so don't bother answering. My point is...the guy is a making racist comments and it's sad.

It's not racist.

It would be an example of double standard that is fueled by the racially paranoid and fueled.
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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."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He makes a good point I have to admit.

I don't see anything that is exactly racist unless you have a definition of racist of something else.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by DB-Freak

How is it exactly racist?

It isn't.

It's just a statement of fact, i.e., that New Orleans is/was a predominantly black city, followed by an expressed wish, i.e., that NOLA return to its original status as a predominantly black city.

An affirmatiton of culture.

It's no more "racist" than saying "I hope Little Tokyo in L.A. will stay Japanese" or "I hope little Italy in NY will stay Italian."

[Peepers]

When discussing the eventual racial composition of the city, I think messages like Nagin's will have one of two undertones:

1. I hope the blacks that used to live here come back and continue to contribue to the city.

OR

2. Whitey (sp?) needs to stay out.

1) is not racist, but 2) is. Nagin's tone seems to strike me as the second variety.

I think recognizing this dichotomy ultimately undermines the logic L.A. BRONCOS FAN uses in his Little Tokyo example. What he's saying and what Nagin's saying are two very different things.

[Rascal]

If the mayor of Salt Lake City said that they needed a rebuilding of a "vanilla Salt Lake City", the public outcry would have him hanged on the spot. Just another example of hypocrisy in this country.

[W*GS]

Interesting how the usual suspects are contorting themselves trying to spin and justify Nagin's remarks.

Why does racism from a black get a free pass from the aforementioned folks?

[Mile High Shack]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

It isn't.

It's just a statement of fact, i.e., that New Orleans is/was a predominantly black city, followed by an expressed wish, i.e., that NOLA return to its original status as a predominantly black city.

An affirmatiton of culture.

It's no more "racist" than saying "I hope Little Tokyo in L.A. will stay Japanese" or "I hope little Italy in NY will stay Italian."

or I hope that edmond can keep the spics out

errrr...wait a second, I guess that doesn't work

you are talking about both sides of your mouth

[bendog]

I don't like Nagin. He's a republican in reality, who got most of his support from the white biz community, but politics has nothing to do with it.

But, to be fair, it's not possible to compare his comments to anyone elses. The issue in NOLA is unique. The question is how to rebuild NOLA. IMO, unless people can AFFORD on their own to move to above sea level, they shouldn't go back. The ninth ward should be made a flood control plane. My opinion has nothing to do with race, but rather what makes sense economically and geographically. But, if NOLA was rebuilt that way, it's racial makeup would be much different.

[Rascal]

It's racial makeup is going to be different no matter what. A lot of the workers who are actually doing the work are mexicans (suprise suprise) who I'm sure will have no intentions of leaving.

[Antilles]

Originally Posted by Rascal

If the mayor of Salt Lake City said that they needed a rebuilding of a "vanilla Salt Lake City", the public outcry would have him hanged on the spot. Just another example of hypocrisy in this country.

You mean you didn't like Nagin's chocolate milk explanation?

Personally, I find his comments to be stupid, but not particularly offensive. The reason is, comments like Nagin’s (and your hypo more generally), are only offensive (and hypocritical) if you believe that the country should be color-blind. The problem with color-blindness, however, is that it doesn’t recognize that part of what is so insidious about racism is the history of systematic oppression that accompanies the racist sentiment. Unlike racism against blacks, racism against whites, if that’s what you want to call it, has not been historically accompanied by such oppression (and yes, I know all about the Germans in WWII and the early oppression of the Irish, but it is nowhere near the level of oppression felt by blacks in this country). Thus, the country has been willing to tolerate some pro-minority (as opposed to anti-majority) rhetoric, to a degree, for two reasons: 1) Guilt (which is not a legitimate reason), and 2) as an opportunity to provide cultural support to a traditionally underprivileged group. For example, advocating for a “predominantly black” New Orleans isn’t very different than advocating for a predominantly black University. Not too many people have big problems with all-black schools, but you can bet your ass that no one can publicly advocate for an all-white school. Is this is racist or is it simply an attempt to give blacks their own small part of a culture that has been dominated by whites?

I agree with the poster that pointed out the dichotomy between: 1. I hope the blacks that used to live here come back and 2. Whitey needs to stay out. I guess I just read Nagin’s comment as the later - as an expression of a desire to maintain a traditionally black cultural sphere.

[bendog]

Originally Posted by Rascal

It's racial makeup is going to be different no matter what. A lot of the workers who are actually doing the work are mexicans (suprise suprise) who I'm sure will have no intentions of leaving.

Agreed. But still it's ironic that federal funds going to a southern state would be used to essentially 'deblackify' a city. And, NOLA is historically sort of unique in the south. Pretty racially tolerant up until the post WWI Klan era. Nagin's an idiot, but I'd wager than 9 out of 10 african americans living in Nola before Katrian would find that I was a racist on the rebuilding issue.

[Garcia Bronco]

All of you folks make great points, but at the end of the day...he said it should remain a black city...that is preference to one race over another by a public official...and it's racist. Either one of two things...either all racism is not bad and our morals only apply to certain people/group in society...or Racism is bad no matter what kind it is and this guy is guilty of it. It doesn't matter if you find it offensive or not....it's preference of one group over another with regard to skin color and I don't think it has any place in our governments.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Peepers

When discussing the eventual racial composition of the city, I think messages like Nagin's will have one of two undertones:

1. I hope the blacks that used to live here come back and continue to contribue to the city.

OR

2. Whitey (sp?) needs to stay out.

1) is not racist, but 2) is. Nagin's tone seems to strike me as the second variety.

I think recognizing this dichotomy ultimately undermines the logic L.A. BRONCOS FAN uses in his Little Tokyo example. What he's saying and what Nagin's saying are two very different things.

Er, no, because Nagin doesn't say "whitey needs to stay out" anywhere in the quote.

Hence, the "dichotomy" is one of your own creation.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Mile High Shack

or I hope that edmond can keep the spics out

errrr...wait a second, I guess that doesn't work

you are talking about both sides of your mouth

WTF are you talking about?



If you're attributing some statement about "spics" to me, then it is you who is talking out the side of your neck (but that wouldn't be anything new.)

[Peepers]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Er, no, because Nagin doesn't say "whitey needs to stay out" anywhere in the quote.

Hence, the "dichotomy" is one of your own creation.

I never said that was his explicit word choice. I said it was the undertone of his message. Saying "You can't have New Orleans no other way [but black]." and "This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be." certainly convey that message to me. The undertone of his remarks is a sort of racial paranoia that would make a white person feel unwelcome in New Orleans. That's why his remarks are racist, and that's why your apology for him doesn't cut it.

[DB-Freak]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday called for the rebuilding of a "chocolate New Orleans" that maintains the city's black majority, saying, "You can't have New Orleans no other way."

"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," Nagin said in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech. "This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be."

Uptown is a reference to a mostly white part of the city.

Pressed later to explain his comments, Nagin, who is black, told CNN affiliate WDSU-TV that he was referring to creation of a racially diverse city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, insisting that his remarks were not divisive.

"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."

LMFAO Nice backpeddling Nagins.

Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday called for the rebuilding of a "chocolate New Orleans" that maintains the city's black majority, saying, "You can't have New Orleans no other way."

Ok that certainly isn't racially divisive.

The guy is a moron or he is really trying appeal to the black citizens or voters and show that he is "for the blacks."

Too bad the whites too are the part of everything in terms of rebuilding New Orleans.